Can I be found inadmissible for security reasons without ever being charged with a crime?

Yes. Security-related inadmissibility under immigration law does not require a criminal charge or conviction anywhere — it's a distinct assessment based on immigration officers' own findings about a person's conduct, associations, or activities, applying a different standard than a criminal court would. Someone can be found inadmissible on security grounds even if no criminal justice system, in Canada or elsewhere, ever laid a charge.

This reflects the fact that security inadmissibility is meant to address risks — espionage, subversion, terrorism, and related conduct — that a criminal justice system might not capture in the same way, or that occurred in a place where no prosecution was realistic or occurred at all. The standard immigration officers apply, and the kind of evidence they rely on, including intelligence-type information, can look quite different from what a criminal court would require to convict.

Because a security inadmissibility finding is treated as serious and carries significant consequences, and because the assessment doesn't depend on the criminal justice outcome at all, anyone facing questions about past associations, travel, or activities that could raise this kind of concern should seek experienced legal advice early, rather than assuming that having no criminal record means there's nothing to worry about.