If you are thinking about clearing your criminal record in Canada, the cost is usually the first thing you want to pin down. The good news is that the government fees are modest and fixed. The bigger variable is how much you pay for help. This is a full 2026 breakdown of every cost involved in a record suspension, still commonly called a pardon, from fingerprints to the filing fee, so you can budget with confidence.
For a plain-language walkthrough of the whole process, see our guide on how to get a pardon in Canada. If you are not sure whether you qualify yet, start with record suspension eligibility.
The $50 Government Filing Fee
Every applicant pays the same filing fee to the Parole Board of Canada (PBC). As of 2026 that fee is $50. It is paid to the Receiver General for Canada by certified cheque, money order, or credit card using the PBC payment form.
This fee is required no matter how you apply, whether you do everything yourself or use a service. It is the one cost nobody can avoid or discount.
Fingerprinting: $25 to $75
To get your criminal record, you need to be fingerprinted at an RCMP-accredited location. The price depends on the provider and your city. Most accredited agencies charge between $25 and $75. Electronic submission is worth asking for, because it returns your record in about two to four weeks instead of six to eight.
The fingerprinting fee usually includes the RCMP certified criminal record itself, so there is rarely a separate charge for the record. Keep in mind the record is only valid for a limited window, so it is best to get fingerprinted after you have gathered your other documents, not before.
Court Record Fees: $10 to $50 per Courthouse
For each conviction, the PBC requires a certified copy of the court record from the courthouse where you were convicted. Fees vary widely by province and even by courthouse, ranging from about $10 to $50 each. If your convictions are spread across more than one city, you pay for each courthouse separately.
This is also where many applicants discover surprises, such as an old victim surcharge that was never paid. Confirm your balance is zero at each courthouse, because an unpaid amount means your waiting period has not actually started.
Police Record Checks: $0 to $65 per Jurisdiction
You need a local police record check from every place you have lived during the relevant period, which is five years for summary offences and ten years for indictable offences. Some police services provide these at no charge for record suspension purposes, while others charge up to $65. The typical cost sits somewhere in the middle.
Total DIY Disbursements: Roughly $200 to $400
Add the pieces together and a typical applicant with one or two courthouses and one or two police checks spends in the range of $200 to $400 in total, including the $50 filing fee. Someone who has moved often or has convictions in several cities can land at the higher end, occasionally above $400. These are the unavoidable, real-world costs of the documents themselves.
A representative example: filing fee ($50) plus fingerprinting ($60) plus two court records ($60) plus two police checks ($90) comes to about $260.
Full-Service Pardon Companies: $1,000 to $2,000+
Traditional pardon companies handle the paperwork on your behalf. Their service fees generally run from about $1,000 to $2,000, and some premium providers charge well beyond that. Remember that this is on top of the government disbursements above, so the all-in number is often $1,400 to $2,500 or more.
What you are paying for is convenience. Someone fills out the forms, requests your documents, helps with your personal statement, and mails the package. None of this requires legal training. The record suspension process is administrative, with no court appearance and no hearing. Be cautious of any company that promises faster PBC processing, because the review period is set by the Board and cannot be rushed.
MyPardon: $299, One Time
MyPardon sits between doing everything alone and paying a full-service company. For a one-time fee of $299, the tool scans your RCMP record, confirms your eligibility, pre-fills all six PBC forms with your information, guides you through your personal statement, and tracks your documents so nothing is missed.
You still pay the government disbursements directly, the same as any applicant, but you avoid the four-figure service markup. It also comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Cost Comparison at a Glance
| Option | Service fee | Plus disbursements | Typical all-in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself | $0 | $200 to $400 | $200 to $400 |
| MyPardon | $299 | $200 to $400 | $500 to $700 |
| Full-service company | $1,000 to $2,000+ | $200 to $400 | $1,200 to $2,400+ |
The disbursements are the same in every row because they are paid to the government and third parties regardless of how you apply. The only thing that changes is the help you pay for on top.
Is It Worth Paying for Help?
Doing it yourself costs the least in dollars but the most in time and risk. The PBC returns a meaningful share of applications for avoidable errors, such as blank fields, dates that do not match the court record, an expired record, or an unpaid fine. Each return can add months to your timeline.
A full-service company removes the effort but charges a large premium for administrative work. A guided tool aims for the middle. It removes the guesswork and the error risk for a fraction of the company price. The right choice depends on how confident you feel with paperwork and how much your time is worth.
The Bottom Line
The government portion of a record suspension is reasonable, usually $200 to $400, and it is unavoidable. Everything above that is the price of assistance, and it ranges from nothing to several thousand dollars. Decide how much help you want, then choose the option that matches. If you want to know whether you qualify before spending anything, the free eligibility check takes about two minutes.