The National Sex Offender Registry: What You Need To Know
Under the Sexual Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA), anyone who commits certain criminal offences in Canada must register his or her details on the National Sex Offender Registry. Established in 2004, the registry is a national database that holds information on convicted sex offenders. If a court finds you guilty of a designated sex offence, learn more about how the National Sex Offender Registry works, and how you must comply with SOIRA.
Information held in the registry
The National Sex Offender Registry holds current details of all convicted sex offenders in Canada. The database aims to help police investigate future crimes, but also aims to work as a deterrent for repeat offenders.
Details of the offenders held on the database include:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Current address
- Current photograph
- Any identifying marks (such as tattoos)
- Employer name and address
The database also records the sexual offence that the person committed. Anyone found guilty of offences designated by SOIRA must add their details to the registry. These offences include incest, sexual exploitation and sexual assault, as well as conspiracy to commit a sexual crime.
Database administration and access
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police owns and administers the National Sex Offender Registry, while provincial and territorial police forces input the data. These police forces also enforce the laws surrounding compliance with the conditions of the database.
Only accredited police agencies in Canada have access to the database. The public cannot see any of the details held in the registry, although campaigners believe that the authorities should allow parents to see the information. The police can only use the information held in the registry to investigate or prevent sexual crimes. There are severe criminal penalties for misuse of the data held in the registry.
Your obligations to provide information
Anyone who commits a designated sexual offence must report to a Sex Offender Information Registration Centre annually for either ten or twenty years, according to the maximum length of the sentence for the crime. In some cases, offenders must report their details annually for the rest of their life. Upon conviction, you must report your details within seven days of conviction or release from custody.
If you change your name, address or employer, you must also report the information to the registration centre within seven days. There are legal penalties if you fail to tell the authorities about any of these changes. You may face a fine of up to $10,000, two years imprisonment, or both.
Your legal obligations when you plan to travel
Once you are a registered offender, you must tell a registration centre if you plan to travel away from your main residence for more than seven consecutive days. You can do so in writing or by telephone, and you don't need to visit the centre in person. You will need to tell the centre when you plan to travel, and when you expect to return. You must also give details of where you plan to stay.
You should note that the police could use the information you provide to issue travel notifications to other police jurisdictions. These notifications will tell other police forces about your planned movements, to help investigate or prevent sexual crimes.
Your rights
Under the Sex Offender Information Registration Act, you have certain rights related to the information held on the database. These rights include:
- Only an accredited police force may see the information you give
- You can ask for a copy of the information held on you at any time
- You can ask staff at the registration centre to change information that you think is incorrect. If the staff member decides not to change the information, he or she will note your request in your file.
- You can apply to terminate a Notice to comply with the Sexual Offender Information Registration Act at any time. You can also appeal a decision not to terminate the Notice.
If you believe that anybody has breached one or more of these rights, you should consult a lawyer.
Anyone convicted of a sexual offence in Canada must comply with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act. Talk to a criminal lawyer for more advice about what you need to do in this situation.