Please be aware that this process can take up to eight months.  If further information is required, please contact 604-925-7300.

If you were arrested, fingerprinted, and charged with an offence in West Vancouver which resulted in a non-conviction finding in court (see list below); you can submit a request for the destruction of your identification documents relating to your criminal record history.

Please Note: If you have been convicted of an offence anywhere in Canada, you will be required to apply for a record suspension, formerly known as a "pardon." Please see Record Suspension Section above for more information.

There are varying waiting periods that must expire before you can begin the destruction process for a non-conviction finding in court (holds start from date of disposition):

• Stay of Proceedings     one year
• No Charge Laid            one year
• Withdrawn                    three months
• Dismissed                    three months
• Acquitted                      three months
• Not Guilty                     three months

 

Each request is looked at on a case-by-case basis and destruction requests may be denied in some cases.  There is no legislation in place that requires a police agency to destroy identification documents.

Most police agencies have developed their own policy with respect to requests of this nature and will use some discretion in making a decision as to whether a particular request will be granted or denied.

Should a request not be granted, the processing fee will be returned to the requestor with a letter advising of the denial of the request.

If a request is granted, the process will include the destruction of the following:

•    all identification documents gathered upon arrest, such as your fingerprints and photograph
•    the criminal record history pertaining to West Vancouver charges ONLY contained in the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC)  database held at the RCMP central repository in Ottawa

The information compiled as a result of the police incident(s) will remain in our local records management system, wherein destruction or removal is not within our policy or guidelines, and the results of the court proceedings will remain in the court’s database.  Please note that the incident and court information may be disclosed during a police record check process.

Identification documents held in other cities

If you have non-conviction findings in other jurisdictions, you will be required to make application to each police agency for destruction of identification documents.  Each police agency has developed their own policy with respect to destruction requests; therefore, it is advisable to contact each separate agency to ascertain what their process for destruction is.

How to make an application

Complete the WVPD Request for Destruction Form and drop off your form at our front counter. 

We require two pieces of current, Canadian government-issued identification, one of which must have a current photo.

Once RCMP Ottawa has complied with our request, we will send you another letter confirming that the West Vancouver Police Department and the RCMP Central Repository in Ottawa have destroyed your criminal record file, fingerprints, and photographs, and that the information has been removed from the Canadian Police Information Centre (CPIC) database.