Can My Husband Transit Through Canada With a Felony Conviction?
“My husband has a felony conviction and we are traveling in October. One of our flight choices has a stopover in Toronto. Will that be a problem for him to transit through Toronto before continuing to our final destination?”Asked by Kim
Consultant's answer
Even if your husband is only transiting through Toronto's airport without entering Canada, he may still need authorization if he has a felony conviction. Canada considers foreign criminal convictions when determining admissibility, and inadmissibility applies to airport transit in most cases.
Whether your husband can transit depends on several factors: the nature of the conviction, how much time has passed since the sentence was completed, his citizenship, and whether he needs to claim baggage or change terminals. Generally, a felony-level offense may be equivalent to a serious offence under Canadian law, which can make someone criminally inadmissible. If fewer than ten years have passed since the completion of all sentences (including probation and fines), he would not yet be deemed rehabilitated and would need authorization to transit.
The two main options are a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP) or Criminal Rehabilitation. A TRP allows entry for a specific purpose and duration despite inadmissibility - suitable for a one-time transit. Criminal Rehabilitation is a permanent solution but only available if at least five years have passed since sentence completion, and processing takes many months. For an October trip, a TRP application would be more realistic, though processing times vary.
Citizens of visa-exempt countries transiting through Canada to the United States may qualify for the Transit Without Visa program if they meet specific conditions (valid U.S. visa, flying on an approved airline, staying airside), but criminal inadmissibility can disqualify someone from this program.
Your husband should either apply for a TRP well before October or choose a flight route that avoids Canada entirely. Arriving at a Canadian airport without proper authorization when inadmissible can result in denial of entry, detention, and significant travel disruption.