Can you fly private to Canada with a DUI or a criminal record?

Private flyers often assume that a charter into Canada skips the border check because the passengers never see a terminal. It does not. The aircraft lands at an airport designated for Canadian border clearance, and the passenger with a conviction faces the same question as one on an airline. The difference is that the charter has been bought and the aircraft and crew are waiting.

This page summarizes what Canada’s immigration department publishes. It is not legal advice.

The short version

• A charter lands at a border airport. A foreign aircraft must land at an airport designated for CBSA clearance unless the CBSA authorizes otherwise.
• Impaired driving can count as serious criminality. IRCC says so for alcohol and drug convictions, cannabis included, in Canada or abroad.
• The date of the offence matters. Tougher penalties took effect on December 18, 2018, and earlier offences are assessed under the penalties then in force.
• There are three routes in. A temporary resident permit, rehabilitation and deemed rehabilitation. None is guaranteed.
• The time to sort it out is before the quote is accepted. Each route is a government process with its own timeline.

Does a private flight skip the Canadian border check?

No. The Canada Border Services Agency’s charter memorandum says an aircraft from a foreign origin “must land at an airport designated for CBSA clearance unless otherwise authorized by the CBSA”. The carrier arranges the service with the CBSA and pays the additional costs of the charter clearance. Travellers are then processed by the CBSA.

Our Mexico and Canada border article sets out the aircraft side: the permits an operator needs and where it must land.

What matters for a passenger is the decision, not the paperwork. The decision on admissibility is made by an officer at the airport of entry. IRCC says border officers can refuse entry to a traveller who holds a temporary resident permit.

Can a DUI keep you out of Canada?

It can. IRCC states it directly: a conviction for driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs, including cannabis, can make a person inadmissible for serious criminality, whether it happened in Canada or abroad. A conviction in the United States counts.

The change on December 18, 2018 matters. “Tougher penalties for impaired driving came into effect on December 18, 2018”, and officers assess an earlier offence under the penalties in force at the time. Under those older penalties, IRCC says, a person may be inadmissible for criminality, a lesser category than serious criminality.

A DUI is the case IRCC addresses most plainly. Other offences turn on how Canada treats the offence, and the passenger needs advice on that.

What are the ways in?

The table shows what IRCC publishes for each. All of them are applications or assessments with an officer’s discretion, and IRCC does not publish a guarantee for any of them.

How early should you start?

Before you book. A temporary resident permit is applied for outside Canada or at a port of entry, and IRCC issues one only for compelling reasons. Rehabilitation is an application to IRCC. The pages we read give no processing time, so check IRCC’s current processing times before you plan around a date.

A trip with a firm date, such as a board meeting or a wedding, is the wrong place to find out at the airport. A passenger who learns of a problem at the border has paid for a flight that cannot do its job.

What should you tell the person arranging the flight?

Tell them early, before the quote is accepted, so the date can wait for a permit if that is the route. The decision rests with IRCC and the border officer; the broker and the operator cannot change it. Flying private internationally covers the paperwork the operator files, and our Teterboro to Toronto guide covers the trip itself.

What Jake does

Lombardi Jet Services is a broker, and a broker cannot clear a passenger for entry. Jake arranges the flight with the operator, which arranges the CBSA clearance for the aircraft.