Where can I get a background check?

You may require a licence from the Commission to operate in New Brunswick in one or more of the regulatory areas for which we are responsible. Many of our licence applications require an adult criminal record check, which you can obtain either from a police agency or one of the Commission-approved background check vendors listed below.

Commission-approved background check vendors have provided a letter certifying they have met our minimum requirements and terms and necessary documentation, including a copy of their privacy policy or policy on how they manage their collected data.

If you are a background check vendor and are interested in being included on this list, please check out our approval process and minimum requirements and terms.

Approved Background Check Vendors

The Commission's Background Check Vendor Requirements

MINIMUM REQUIREMENT AND TERMS

To be listed on the Commission’s website as a Commission-approved background check vendor, the vendor must send a letter signed by an authorized officer of the vendor, certifying the vendor meets the following minimum requirements:

1. The vendor is incorporated in a Canadian jurisdiction and maintains a registered office within a Canadian province or territory, and undertakes to immediately advise the Commission if this is no longer the case.
2. The vendor ensures that the appropriate consent is obtained from the Commission licence applicant to conduct background checks and provide the results to the Commission.
3. The vendor has policies and procedures in place to ensure full compliance with the provincial and federal statutory privacy obligations and common law privacy obligations.
4. The vendor stores and maintains all data, whether electronic or otherwise, that is collected in the course of conducting and completing a background check, whether electronic or otherwise, within Canada, and does not store data outside Canada.
5. The vendor has access to and is able to conduct a proper search of the National Criminal Records Repository maintained by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to certify whether a proper search for the applicant within this database returns a “Clear”, “Not Clear” or “Unable to Complete” result on the existence of a criminal conviction, for which a pardon and a record suspension has not been granted, at any time prior to the date upon which the search is conducted.

In addition, the letter to the Commission must acknowledge specific agreement with the following terms:

1. Approval of a request to become an approved background check vendor is at the sole discretion of the Commission.
2. No legal rights accrue to the vendor as a result of being listed as an approved background check vendor on the Commission website, and the Commission may, in its sole discretion, terminate such approval without notice to the vendor, at any time.
3. Approval of a request to become an approved background check vendor may not be assigned or otherwise transferred.

The vendor must provide the following documents with its request for approval:

1. Proof of incorporation within a Canadian jurisdiction, together with particulars of the vendor’s registered office and agent for service.
2. A copy of the current vendor user agreement which an applicant is required to consent to, in order to obtain a background check from the vendor.
3. A copy of the vendor’s privacy policy or any other policy describing how the vendor manages data collected from a person seeking a background check from the vendor.
4. A copy of any agreement with the RCMP or any other police agency authorizing the vendor to conduct searches of the National Criminal Records Repository or enabling the vendor to request that such searches be conducted on its behalf.

The letter must be addressed to:

Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick
Attn: General Counsel Division
85 Charlotte Street, Suite 300
Saint John, NB E2L 2J2

The Commission will review the vendor’s application and post a list of those vendors who have successfully met our criteria to the Commission website.