How is a vulnerable sector check different from a criminal record check?

A vulnerable sector check is a police information check plus a check for whether a person has a record suspension (pardon) for sexual offences. The RCMP's certified criminal record check is a different product, fingerprint-based, and for personal use its results go directly to the applicant; there is no option to send them to a third party. For a vulnerable sector check, the hiring or volunteer organization makes the request.

Sources: https://rcmp.ca/en/criminal-records/criminal-record-checks/vulnerable-sector-checks and https://rcmp.ca/en/criminal-records/criminal-record-checks/types-certified-criminal-record-checks