4 million Canadians have a criminal record. Companies not hiring them are missing out, say advocates

During her time in prison, Emily O'Brien came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to find a job after her release, so she developed an idea for starting her own business. 

Now as chief executive of her company, Comeback Snacks, O'Brien makes a point of hiring people with criminal records.

That makes her something of an exception in Canadian business.

A new report being released Wednesday says many Canadian companies remain unwilling to hire people with criminal records, even when they have the skills or experience needed for the job. 

"When I was in prison, I met people in there with so much talent," O'Brien said in an interview with CBC News. "I really think that businesses are missing out." 

The report is based on interviews of 400 hiring managers at Canadian companies, conducted on behalf of the John Howard Society of Ontario, a non-profit agency that advocates for humane responses to crime and its causes. 

More than half of those interviewed said their businesses run criminal record checks on job candidates, and roughly four in 10 of those said they automatically reject anyone with a record, regardless of the specifics. 

"It didn't matter whether the record was old, what type of offence it was, whether it was relevant to the position," said Safiyah Husein, senior policy analyst for the John Howard Society of Ontario. 

Some four million Canadians have a criminal record on the books, according to a federal government estimate.

"That's our neighbours, our friends, our family," Husein said in an interview.  "Hiring people with criminal records is really vital for a successful reintegration. It allows people to support themselves and their families, it prevents future reoffending." 

Three-quarters of the hiring managers who participated in the interviews said they had never knowingly employed anyone with a criminal record, despite the latest figures from Statistics Canada show more than 700,000 job vacancies across the country. 

Husein says stereotypes and biases held about people with criminal records are at the root of the reluctance to hire.

"People generally believe that somebody with past criminal justice involvement would not be trustworthy, would have a risk of further incidents on the job, and this is just not the case," she said.

Husein points to research cited in the report from the U.S. and other jurisdictions that suggests people with a criminal past have lower job turnover, equal or better job performance, and no higher risk of workplace misconduct than employees without a record.