New screening rules for those who want to work with or care for children and other vulnerable people are drawing criticism for causing major backlogs in the approval process.

Under the new rules, if an applicant's gender and birthdate happen to match that of a registered sex offender, the applicant has to be fingerprinted.

The RCMP, which instituted the Canada-wide rules last month, said in a statement to CBC News the approach is meant to catch convicts who have legally changed their names.

But one man who is trying to get his 11-year-old niece out of foster care said the new provisions are causing unnecessary delays.

The man had to apply for what is known as a "vulnerable sector" check with York Regional Police in Newmarket, Ont., north of Toronto, before starting the process of bringing his niece into his home. But his birthdate matches that of a pardoned male sex offender, so he was told he had to be fingerprinted.

"I find the whole thing creepy. It's like I'm guilty and I have to prove my innocence," said the Newmarket, Ont., man, who did not want to be named in order to protect the identity of his niece.

"I feel like I've been sort of targeted."

The need for fingerprinting stands to delay his application by a couple of months, he said, during which time his niece will have to stay in foster care.

"They basically told me I would have to wait weeks before I could even get fingerprinted … the system is all backlogged," he said.

The RCMP said it hopes to complete all fingerprint checks within 120 days.

'There should be a finer tooth-comb'

York Regional Police Supt. Rick Finn said there has to be another way.

He said his department is now fingerprinting about 60 applicants a week, up from about 10 a year before the new rules were passed.

"I think there should be a finer tooth-comb used to eliminate possible records," he said. "This seems a little wide, just to rely on a date of birth."

The police force is hoping to submit fingerprints electronically to the RCMP by September in order to cut down on the wait time, Finn said.

Meanwhile, the Newmarket family said they are hoping to have their niece home by September, but they're not sure that will happen.