Inadmissibility & TRP · Impaired Driving
Entering Canada with a DUI: Temporary Resident Permits
Since December 2018, a single impaired-driving conviction, anywhere in the world, can make you criminally inadmissible to Canada. A Temporary Resident Permit can still get you across the border, and rehabilitation can fix the problem permanently.
2018
DUI became serious criminality
1
Conviction can bar entry
5 yrs
Until criminal rehabilitation
TRP
The short-term solution
The problem
Why one DUI can keep you out of Canada
Since December 18, 2018, driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, cannabis included, is treated as serious criminality in Canadian immigration law. A single conviction, whether it happened in Canada or abroad, can make a foreign national criminally inadmissible.
This catches people by surprise constantly: business travellers, tourists, people transiting to Alaska, often at the border itself, years after a misdemeanour they’d all but forgotten.
There are two tracks: enter Canada now despite the conviction (a Temporary Resident Permit), or become admissible again permanently (rehabilitation). See our inadmissibility & TRP services and visitor visas.
Your options
Three ways forward
Which route fits depends on when the offence happened, when your sentence ended, and how soon, and how often, you need to enter Canada.
Short term
Temporary Resident Permit
A discretionary permit that lets you enter despite inadmissibility, when your reason to enter outweighs the risk to Canada.
- Apply abroad or at a port of entry
- A compelling, documented reason required
- Valid for a set period; fee applies
Criminal rehabilitation
The permanent fix. Available once five years have passed since the end of your sentence, including probation, one application, resolved for good.
- Eligible 5 years after sentence ends
- Permanent, no more TRPs
- Processing can take a year or more
Deemed rehab & record suspension
For older offences treated as non-serious, generally pre-December 2018, enough time (usually 10 years) can resolve inadmissibility on its own. Canadian convictions need a record suspension.
- Mostly pre-Dec 2018 offences
- Generally 10 years after sentence
- Canadian convictions: record suspension
Step by step
How a TRP application works
01
Assess the inadmissibility
Confirm how your offence equates under Canadian law, and if you’re actually barred.
02
Build the compelling reason
Document why your need to enter outweighs any risk to Canada.
03
Gather the records
Court documents, proof the sentence is complete, police certificates.
04
Apply, well before travel
File abroad in advance; port-of-entry applications are for genuine urgency.
05
Plan the permanent fix
File criminal rehabilitation as soon as you’re eligible.
Before you travel
What you need to know about TRPs
A TRP is powerful but discretionary, treat it as a planned application, not a border formality.
- Your need to enter must outweigh any risk to Canada, and be documented
- Even with a valid TRP, CBSA can still refuse entry at the border
- Court records, sentence-completion proof and police certificates are required
- Apply well ahead of travel, do not just show up and hope
The permanent fix
Rehabilitation: put the DUI behind you
Criminal rehabilitation becomes available five years after the end of your sentence, probation included. It’s a one-time application that permanently resolves the inadmissibility, but processing often takes a year or more, so it pays to file the moment you qualify.
Because the 2018 change made impaired driving serious criminality, deemed rehabilitation, resolving itself with the passage of time, often doesn’t apply to newer offences. For most post-2018 DUIs, the realistic routes are a TRP now and criminal rehabilitation when eligible.
Work with me
How I help
For travellers
Visitors & business travellers
- Assessing whether your record actually makes you inadmissible
- Building a compelling, documented TRP case for your trip
- Port-of-entry strategy where urgency genuinely justifies it
- Timing criminal rehabilitation the moment you qualify
For frequent travellers
Long-term solutions
- TRP strategies for recurring business travel
- Criminal rehabilitation applications, start to finish
- Record suspensions for convictions inside Canada
- Contingency planning if a border refusal has already happened
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Quite possibly. For offences on or after December 18, 2018, impaired driving is serious criminality and time alone usually won’t cure it. For older offences, deemed rehabilitation may apply, generally ten years after the sentence ended. The dates decide everything.
That’s the riskiest option. Port-of-entry TRPs exist for genuine urgency, but an unprepared arrival invites refusal, which itself goes on your record. Apply in advance, with documents.
Documented needs that matter: work obligations, family events, humanitarian reasons. The officer weighs your need to enter against any risk to Canada, the stronger and better-evidenced the need, the better your odds.
You become eligible five years after completing your sentence, probation included, and processing can take a year or more on top. File as early as eligibility allows.
No. A TRP authorizes entry, but CBSA officers retain discretion at the border. Travel with your full supporting file, every time.
Notes
This information is current as of July 2026 and is provided for general information only. It is not legal advice. Immigration programs, fees and requirements change frequently, and eligibility always depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, please book a consultation.
Don’t let one conviction close the border
The right combination of TRP and rehabilitation depends on your dates, your record and your travel needs. Book a consultation and we’ll map it precisely.