British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (BW PIPA) allows employers to ask applicants to provide personal information when they apply for jobs if that information is “reasonably required” for their hiring decisions and this information cannot be established through less intrusive means. Job applicants also are often requested to complete criminal record checks, including statutorily-required record checks and police information checks. In some sectors, such as childcare facilities, adult care facilities, and teachers, it is easy to establish that a criminal record check is “reasonably required,” but in other sectors, record checks might be unnecessary and highly privacy-invasive.
