Barrie-Innisfil MP and Minister of Red Tape Reduction Andrea Khanjin looks on as Solicitor General Michael Kerzner makes an announcement at Barrie Police Headquarters in Barrie, Ont., May 7, 2026. Photo-Julius Hern/Barrie360.
The Ontario government is looking to make changes that will speed up police record checks for vulnerable sectors. This aims to cut down the waiting times for individuals applying for jobs or volunteer positions with children, seniors, and people with disabilities.
The suggested amendments, which were revealed as part of a future legislative package, would alter the province’s Police Record Checks Reform Act. This change would enable designated police services to handle vulnerable sector checks for applicants who live outside their local area.
“When those checks take weeks or months, the impact is real,” Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said at Barrie Police headquarters during Thursday’s announcement. “It can delay hiring, it can slow access to critical services, it can prevent people from volunteering. They are essential to ensure that those who will be working or volunteering with vulnerable people are carefully screened.”
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Vulnerable sector checks involve more detailed screening than standard police record checks. This often leads to longer processing times due to high demand from applicants.
“It would impact the person who wanted to volunteer for their kids coaching at school or something like that,” Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston told Barrie360. “And organizations that we want to see way more people volunteer for because it makes our community better.”
If these changes go through, designated police services could assist with processing applications during busy periods regardless of where the applicant resides in Ontario.
The province stated that this implementation would need coordination with federal partners like the RCMP and Public Safety Canada so that designated police services could access federal databases. With this information shared among various jurisdictions, those services could efficiently process checks together.
Kerzner noted that collaboration across jurisdictions doesn’t pose any risks since they will follow existing protocols throughout the process.
“Protections will remain in place and safeguarding vulnerable people will continue to be the highest priority,” Kerzner added. “This is about reducing wait times.”
Ontario police services conduct over one million police record checks each year; over 70 percent of these are categorized as vulnerable sector checks.
In Barrie alone, nearly 14,000 criminal record checks were processed in 2025; out of those, 11,354 were classified as belonging to the vulnerable sector.
“These numbers have been increasing year after year,” Johnston said. “Applicants included people starting new jobs such as teachers, early childhood educators or personal support workers.. The process of obtaining a criminal record or vulnerable sector check can sometimes be lengthy. But it’s absolutely necessary to have a record of how many people are needed to protect members of our community.”
Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston speaks at an announcement at Barrie Police Headquarters in Barrie, Ont., May 7, 2026. Photo-Julius Hern/Barrie360.
Johnston mentioned that an average criminal record check in Barrie takes about 14 days before being returned; however, those within the vulnerable sector category take longer.
“We know the impact that a delay can have on an applicant,” he said. “Because vulnerable sector check applicants may require additional follow-up like attending their local police station for fingerprinting.”
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) president and CEO Gail Hunt stated that modernizing this system could help hospitals and other large organizations reduce hiring delays while keeping safety standards intact.
“In some cases patient access to care can be affected if we’re delayed filling a role immediately because administrative processes cannot keep pace with demand,” she said.
“By bringing in this piece of legislation and by going forward with our regulations we want to make sure you can get your record check anywhere in the province,” Kerzner added. “You are going to get it with certainty so you can go about volunteering or having a job.”
Kerzner mentioned these changes will be introduced in Ontario’s legislature within the next few weeks.
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Barrie Police Chief Rich Johnston speaks at an announcement at Barrie Police Headquarters in Barrie, Ont., May 7, 2026. Photo-Julius Hern/Barrie360.
Johnston mentioned that an average criminal record check in Barrie takes about 14 days before being returned; however, those within the vulnerable sector category take longer.
“We know the impact that a delay can have on an applicant,” he said. “Because vulnerable sector check applicants may require additional follow-up like attending their local police station for fingerprinting.”
Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) president and CEO Gail Hunt stated that modernizing this system could help hospitals and other large organizations reduce hiring delays while keeping safety standards intact.
“In some cases patient access to care can be affected if we’re delayed filling a role immediately because administrative processes cannot keep pace with demand,” she said.
“By bringing in this piece of legislation and by going forward with our regulations we want to make sure you can get your record check anywhere in the province,” Kerzner added. “You are going to get it with certainty so you can go about volunteering or having a job.”
Kerzner mentioned these changes will be introduced in Ontario’s legislature within the next few weeks.
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