hie, i’m currently on a study permit but yesterday i made a stupid mistake and wa charged with theft under , my court date is in june but i have to give my fingerprints to police, i have to apply for work permit in november, will it be rejected? Somebody please help , i’m really scared
Work permit charged with theft under
- Thread starter Jassi1796
- Start date
I would be more worried about the court date in June. Based on that only can you think about your next steps. You seem to be worried about the wrong thing.
If they ask you to disclose if you have been arrested, charged etc. Then you need to disclose it. How severely it affects your work permit depends on what you were charged on. If it is a misdemeanor or a felony.
Just curious would a international student be able to get legal aid or they have to pay for their own lawyer?
Canada does not have misdemeanors or felonies. Canada has summary offences, hybrid offences, and indictable offences.
So what will shoplifting under $10 come under and will i get diversion. I’m really worried
Oh, that is interesting to know. I guess this would be a summary offence since the value of goods stolen is low.
Edit: answered my own question.
Unfortunately for you, according to the Criminal Code, theft under $5000 is a hybrid offence. The IRCC policy is to treat all hybrid offences as indictable. That would render you criminally inadmissable - not just for the work permit, but for anything in Canada.
Diversion is a decision to be made by the prosecutor. For a theft of a $10 item, I would argue you should receive diversion - which would be a good outcome if diversion happens before the charge.
However - you've been charged. So you have to now answer "yes" to the question of "have you ever committed, been charged with, or convicted of a criminal offence." You'd have to answer yes even if you hadn't been charged, because you committed the offence.
You need a lawyer, and fast. This is a case that should have charges dropped. Unless you have a history of other arrests and interactions with the police. I'm really surprised you've been charged with a theft of a $10 item.
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It's not. Theft under $5,000 is a hybrid offence, and according to IRCC, that's treated as an indictable. Pretty much worst possible scenario for OP.
Yeah, I did my own digging and I am surprised it is a hybrid offense for such a low amount. From what I read in this site.
http://lawfacts.ca/criminal/diversion
If OP gets a diversion, two things can happen. One the charges are withdraw, in this case OP doesn't have a criminal record.
If the charges are stayed. Then the OP has to wait for a year before the criminal record is cleared, and should not get in trouble.
Best bet for OP is to have a diversion and for the charges to be withdraw.
Have you had any interactions with the police prior to this theft incident? Any arrest, charge, invitation to the station for a conversation?