U.S. Crimes and Canadian Equivalent

To determine whether you may be inadmissible to Canada on the basis of a past United States conviction, you, or an attorney, must consider the equivalent Canadian statute for the crime you were convicted of in the United States. This is a complex task as it involves comparing Canadian and foreign laws. 

The definition of a Canadian crime can usually be found in the Canadian criminal Code or the Canadian controlled Drugs and Substances Act.  We have listed the most common crimes that will snag visitors in the table below.

U.S Crimes that May Make you Inadmissible to Canada

If you were convicted of any of the offenses in this table which are considered to be hybrid or indictable offenses you will be considered criminally inadmissible to Canada.

Common Offences	Summary, Hybrid or Indictable?	Serious or non-serious for Canadian Immigration?
Driving Under the Influence (DUI)	Hybrid	Non-Serious
Assault	Hybrid	Serious if it involves bodily injury or death
Possession of Substance	The seriousness of the offence and the maximum sentence are dependent on the substance and the amount in possession	Non-Serious
False Pretenses	Hybrid	Depends on circumstances
Trespassing at Night	Summary
Failure to Appear	Hybrid	Non-Serious
Contempt of the Court	Summary	Non-Serious
Possession – Marijuana	Hybrid/Summary	Non-Serious
Possession – Drug Paraphernalia		Does not render someone inadmissible to Canada.
Possession –with Intent to Distribute	Hybrid	Depends on the drug in question
Failure to Stop at the Scene of an Accident	Hybrid	Serious if there was bodily injury or death
Homicide by Vehicle	Indictable	Serious
Careless Driving	Hybrid	Non-Serious
Resisting an Officer	Hybrid	Serious if it involved a weapon
Assault/ Battery on a Family Member	Hybrid	Serious if bodily injury is involved
Violating Implied Consent (Alcohol Testing)	Hybrid	Non-Serious
Disobeying Order of the Court	Hybrid	Non-Serious
Larceny	Indictable	Non-Serious unless over $5,000