Take a look at, Montréal (City) v. Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse), 2008 SCC 48, for the latest position on criminal offence pardons and hiring suitability.

The case has a very extensive discussion on pardons and their effect on rejecting and hiring job candidates. The case is based on Quebec statutory provisions but the underlying principles are generally applicable.

It seems to say that you don’t get to consider the offence in light of the pardon, but depending on the nature of the offence and how it relates to the job there is a rebuttable presumption regarding candidate suitability.

In other words, if you reject a candidate with a pardoned criminal offence, you:

a) have some explaining to do; and,
b)you better have a good explanation.

Criminal records can keep you from getting a good job, can keep you form getting U.S citizenship, getting a state issued professional or commercial license, enrolling in the military and most importantly having peace of mind.

But there is always hope. Many tools are available to an experience criminal defense attorney sugar land when it comes to attaching your criminal case.