Almost a third of police probes involving members of foreign diplomatic missions in Canada in the last five years saw the subjects of the investigations leave the country before charges were laid or prosecuted.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press through an access to information request list 67 incidents involving members of foreign missions that required police involvement between Sept. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2025.
In 22 of those cases, the subject of the criminal probe left Canada before charges were laid or before the court process was completed.
Nine of those incidents involved allegations of impaired driving — the most common offence where the suspect or accused left before the legal process was completed.
The 22 cases also include four incidents of sexual assault, three involving domestic violence and several involved serious traffic offences such as stunt driving and driving on a suspended licence.
One incident involves the adult child of a consular official being arrested on multiple warrants linked to human trafficking allegations in two provinces. The documents say charges were laid and that a court date was set, but the home state recalled the suspect before court proceedings began.
Another case involved the dependent of a foreign representative with diplomatic immunity allegedly possessing unnamed narcotics. The representative's posting in Canada ended before police could finish their investigation, the document outlines.
Fen Hampson, an international affairs professor at Carleton University, said diplomatic immunity plays an important role for mission staff to ensure they can do their duties without political interference.
This immunity is part of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations that outlines the rules for countries having foreign missions in another state.
Hampson said the intent of diplomatic immunity is to protect ambassadors and other consular officials from harassment and prosecution, but humans are flawed and some with immunity will get drunk and drive a car.
In some of these cases, Canada requested that the home nation for a suspect waive diplomatic immunity so the person in question could face charges.
However, Hampson said that these requests don't need to be honoured if a country wants to avoid embarrassment.
"If you're coming from a country where you're a relative of the prime minister, the president or the king, as the case may be, they may do absolutely diddly squat," Hampson said.
The names of those countries where mission members were subjects of investigations are redacted in the documents, and specific dates and locations of the incidents are not included.
The documents state in cases where a subject leaves the country before an investigation is complete, a section of Global Affairs Canada will raise the issue with the mission, while a court can issue a warrant if charges have already been laid.
Diplomats can face consequences in their home county after they leave Canada. Hampson pointed to a 2001 case where a former Russian diplomat, Andrei Knyazev, killed an Ottawa woman, Catherine MacLean, while driving drunk.
Knyazev left Canada but was reportedly convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the incident in Russia.
Hampson said even if it is unknown what legal consequences people may face, he added it's unlikely they would not face professional reprisal.
"These people are told by their bosses 'you're going home,' right. It's a big black blotch on your career, and in some countries it will be a career ender," Hampson said.
"We don't know because these people go home and are never heard from again, and certainly don't come back to Canada."
There are cases where the legal process regularly proceeds. This includes a dependent of a foreign representative with diplomatic immunity pleading guilty to possessing child pornography. A sentence is not mentioned, but the documents note the individual is no longer in Canada.
That is one of six cases that resulted in a conviction of a person associated with a foreign mission.
In the remaining cases, police either did not lay charges or simply issued a warning in minor matters.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
