Foreign people having an arrest or conviction on their criminal record may be considered inadmissible to Canada and denied entrance. Any person who has ever been convicted of a misdemeanor or crime may be considered ineligible under Canadian law unless they acquire special admission clearance from the Government of Canada, particularly if the conviction occurred within the past 10 years.
People with more than one misdemeanor on their record, as well as convicts, may be permanently barred from entering Canada unless they resolve their status by filing for official entry. This implies that, absent specific permission, an American with virtually any criminal record—including a DUI or reckless driving conviction—runs the danger of having their admission to Canada rejected. Additionally, there is no presumption of innocence while traveling to Canada, thus even in the case of an arrest leading to no conviction, a border refusal may still occur.