Montrealers, how did you do your criminal record check and how long did it take?

First off, congrats to everyone who’s been shortlisted! I’m currently trying to figure out the criminal record check except I have been travelling in Asia and am currently stuck because of the crisis in the Middle East and I can’t find tickets home until the end of the month. I’ve already emailed the Montreal JET desk to inform them of my situation. I’m hoping to ask a friend to book an appointment for me with the SPVM for when I can be there in person and hopefully get it that way but I can’t reliably access their website from abroad so I’m still not sure how to go about it. I wanted to know:

a. Do you need to go through the SPVM for a criminal record check and if so, under what category? Or is there another agency that can do it?

b. How long did it take from asking for an appointment to receiving the document?

Thank you in advance!

by duchessofankh