Record Suspension Clinic: Empowering You to Move Forward with Confidence

On January 31, 2025, Peacebuilders had the pleasure of hosting Record Suspension Clinic and Reintegration Support Day (“the Clinic”) at and with The 519, as well as Prisoners’ HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN) and the Black Legal Action Centre. The Clinic was carried out under the banner of Peacebuilders’ Record Suspension Support Program (RSSP), which is generously funded by Public Safety Canada and offers free, personal and confidential support to individuals applying for a record suspension. Additionally, the program offers workshops on criminal records and record suspensions for community members and agencies. Through the RSSP Program, Peacebuilders aims to enhance access to record suspensions and by extension, promote successful reintegration.

Through the Clinic, we were then able to bring this program directly to and into community itself. At the Clinic, we offered record suspension appointments, an information session on records and record suspensions, and a service fair featuring other agencies that offer reintegration-related supports at the Clinic. The Clinic was attended by 69 participants, including the 23 participating agencies, as well as approximately 10 record suspension appointments, of which, three clients were eligible and able to proceed with their record suspension application.

Based on the engagement and feedback we received from various attendees, the information session helped us raise awareness about records and record suspensions, providing necessary information in accessible ways that could help attendees better navigate the record suspension process for clients and/or their own purposes. Related to this, the information session also helped us break down any misunderstandings or knowledge gaps that attendees initially had about record suspensions, including those potentially preventing them from considering and/or applying for one. Attendees shared that they felt more informed about records, with some further inquiring about arranging personal Information Sessions for their organization.

We were also told that the Clinic’s record suspension appointments were a helpful prompt for participating attendees to finally and in some cases, safely begin and/or inquire into getting their record suspended. Some participants and their support networks had shared how hesitant they were to even think about getting their record suspension for years for reasons ranging from not knowing what supports exist to possibly facing the paralyzing stigma that can come with being justice-involved. While not every person was actually eligible to apply for a record suspension, we were able to answer questions they had, including what they may need to become eligible.

Finally, participating agencies expressed how the Clinic was helpful in deepening their own understanding of record suspensions and how to better support their own clients with record suspension needs, as well as being able to connect with other agencies at the service fair. Agencies described being able to learn about other agencies they were not initially aware of and making important connections that they were hopeful could transform into meaningful partnerships.

Most importantly, in a context where people who have been involved in the justice system, including those who have been incarcerated, are too often forgotten and at times, targetted, the Clinic helped serve as a critical reminder that their needs, interests, perspectives and lives matter. In particular, the criminal record that comes out of that involvement is a barrier to life-sustaining resources and opportunities essential to being able to survive and thrive. A criminal record often acts as a marker that exposes people to ongoing stigmatization and discrimination, pushing them further onto the margins of society, stripping them of their humanity and robbing them of a full sense of belonging. All of which can prevent them from being able to fully participate in society, despite the expectation for them to do so. Ultimately, criminal records can have the effect of continuing to punish a person even after their sentence is done.

What the Clinic then helped us shed light on is why record suspensions are an integral resource in the face of those harsh realities, and represented the importance of supporting reintegration efforts. As the Clinic was only made possible through different joint efforts and collaboration, we were further reminded that it takes a village to bring people back into it and hope that the RSSP Program continues to be part of that landscape.

For more about the Record Suspension Support Program, please contact records@peacebuilders.ca or 437-217-2328, or visit our website for more!