criminal rehabilitation - help!

[toniv]

I am a Canadian living in England and married to a Brit. We want to move to Canada but he has a criminal record, 4 minor offences all over 6 years old. I am having difficulting finding out if he needs to apply for criminal rehabilitaion in order to be eligible to immigrate with me. If he does, do we submit the application for rehabilitation first and wait until he receives this to apply for a family class sponsorship, or do we submit both applications together?

Any advice/help would be gratefully received.