I'm expecting to have to send a police certificate during a later stage of my application. The guidelines state that an 'up to date' police certificate is required. When I applied for my work permit, I needed one then. So it was issued around March 2016. Would this now be considered out of date. Would I have to apply for another?
It is a very tricky situation, because some people would say yes and some people would say no.
Is your prior PCC obtained before you left your country or after? If you obtained it after you left your country, did you ever go back to your country again?if it was after and you never went back, then it may be still considered valid. But meanwhile, CIC asked the PCC to be issued within 6 months, when you file your application.
My opinion is that if it isn't much of a trouble for you to obtain another one, just on a safe bet, please get a new one.