Cost of criminal records checks going up in Thunder Bay, Ontario

The cost of a purchasing a criminal record check in Thunder Bay, Ont., is going up, after the city's police services board voted Wednesday in favour of increasing the fees.

"This is all in an effort to improve customer service with regards to the access to that information that many employers and volunteer organizations require," saidStaffSgt. Derek West.

The higher fees will come into effect in a few months when police introduce an online application system for the records checks.

"That's cost recovery for the process that we would be using on what we call the virtual front counter, and so by using that online there's a process fee attached to that, so of course we want to ensure it's covered off," he said.

'Risk management tool'

Criminal record checks, which are used as a "risk management tool" by many organizations are not considered a core police function, and so the service is not funded for them, said West, adding that Thunder Bay police process more than 6,000 of the checks each year.

The checks can take anywhere from one day to weeks or months to complete, in part because it must be conducted in the jurisdiction you're living at the time you apply, said West.

"You'll find with students that come to Thunder Bay, and show a Thunder Bay address, the reality is they've just come from someplace else and that slows the process down," because police must ask services in other cities if they have any information or charges on file.

The new fees will be:

• volunteer criminal record check: from $16.50 plus HST to $25 plus HST
• all-purpose name based police record check: from $40 plus HST to $55 plus HST
• fingerprinting fee - $55.00 plus HST for Employment purposes or $30.00 plus HST for Volunteer purposes (a letter from volunteer organization required) This may be required to confirm identity or as a result of a Vulnerable Sector Hit. E.g. name, date of birth or gender match an applicant with a person on the Vulnerable Sector Database.