Minister of Public Safety Canada’s Response to Recommendations made in the Structured Intervention Unit Implementation Advisory Panel 2023-24 Annual Report
With the coming in to force of Bill C-83, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and another Act, the federal correctional system underwent a rapid transformation involving the abolition of administrative segregation and the introduction of the Structured Intervention Unit (SIU) model. This required significant adaptation and collaboration to efficiently operationalize SIUs.
As part of that work, in July 2021, Public Safety Canada (PS) announced the re-establishment of the Structured Intervention Unit Implementation Advisory Panel (the Panel) with a mandate to provide non-binding recommendations and advice to the Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), and to report to the Minister of Public Safety on its views as to whether SIUs are being implemented as intended by the legislation. The Panel’s mandate was subsequently extended until December 31, 2024, to provide additional time for further analysis in key areas.
PS and CSC remain strongly committed to the successful implementation of SIUs and appreciate the Panel’s role in the SIU regime. The Panel’s third annual report provides insight into the implementation of SIUs across federal correctional institutions.
In response to the recommendations contained in the Panel’s previous report, CSC is undertaking a research project to better understand the operational dynamics and conditions of confinement in institutions with SIUs and is building on an action plan to address the overrepresentation in SIUs of inmates who are Black, Indigenous, or who have mental health needs. As the Panel’s previous report was published relatively recently – in March 2024 – these action items are still underway and further details will be released in Fall 2024.
We look forward to the continued input and collaboration of the Panel over the final months of its mandate, as we continue to optimize SIU operations. PS and CSC continue to work towards concrete solutions to support a sustainable federal correctional system that is safe, humane and supportive of rehabilitation and reintegration.
IAP Recommendations
1. CSC must be directed immediately to examine the relationship of the operation of the SIUs to its overall operations.
CSC staff have frequently suggested that the SIU model has had negative impacts on core correctional operations and have also suggested that SIUs are responsible for an erosion of the conditions of confinement for general population prisoners. An examination of these issues must start immediately. Additionally, the narrow focus of the SIUs and their oversight must be broadened beyond the location (the treatment of prisoners in places identified as Structured Intervention Units) to encompass the practice (solitary confinement) which can occur anywhere in an institution. The operation of the SIUs cannot be separated from the operation of CSC institutions more generally. In response to this recommendation, CSC committed to conducting a review and producing a report by December 31, 2024. At the request of the Panel, Public Safety Canada asked CSC to provide the report by September 30, 2024. To date, the SIU-IAP has not been asked to provide any input in the scope of the review or an outline of the review’s terms of reference.
PS/CSC Response:
Although an institution’s SIU and its general population areas may each have distinct requirements and challenges, it is well understood by PS and CSC that these areas do not function in isolation from one another. While SIUs have dedicated resources, both areas share many of the same resources and leadership structures within an institution, and it is vital that the effective operation of one does not detract from the effective operation of the other. It is also vital that CSC’s legislated mandate is carried out to equal effect for both inmates transferred to SIUs and those in the general population. Indeed, all areas of a federal institution require the appropriate resources, policies, and staff to operate safely and effectively, to maintain an environment and conditions of confinement that are humane and conducive to rehabilitation, and to ensure timely access to interventions, services, and programs. To this end, CSC is currently undertaking work to examine and better understand the operational dynamics and conditions of confinements in institutions with SIUs.
CSC has tasked a team of Researchers to conduct a review of the operational realities of SIUs, and to identify key challenges and promising practices at different sites. Between May and August, the Research Team completed field research at the SIUs at Atlantic, Millhaven, Stony Mountain, and Kent Institutions. They spent a considerable amount of time at each site, conducting a multitude of qualitative interviews and engaging in the observation of both inmates and staff. They also spent many hours observing daily routines and procedures within the SIU, including at various times during the weekday and weekends. Across these sites, the Research team has received a high level of engagement from both inmates and staff alike. In September 2024, CSC will share the preliminary findings with the IAP, followed by a final report in December 2024, once the research has been finalized. The final report will present targeted, time-bound (short, medium, and long-term) solutions as part of a multi-faceted and comprehensive evolutionary approach.
2. CSC must be directed immediately to develop and implement a plan to reduce the high number of Black prisoners, Indigenous prisoners, and prisoners with mental health issues who are being transferred into SIUs, as well as reducing their lengths of stay in the SIUs.
Monitoring systems need to be put in place to ensure that these, and analogous groups, are not disadvantaged by CSC when they are under special restrictions in SIUs or elsewhere. More generally, it is important that procedures be put in place to monitor the treatment of different groups (e.g., Black people and Indigenous people) in the SIUs and elsewhere in the CSC system. Procedures need to be designed in order to determine whether the treatment of these groups is different from that of other groups in Canada’s penitentiaries. The actions taken must also prevent the prolonged isolation of these prisoners in any other forms of restrictive custody. In response to this recommendation, the Minister asked CSC to provide an action plan within 90 days and report on progress every 120 days. The Panel has requested that the action plan and subsequent progress reports be shared. To date, the Panel has not received the plan or any progress reports.Footnote 1
PS/CSC Response:
Addressing systemic discrimination and the overrepresentation of Indigenous people, Black persons, and people with mental health issues continues to be a key priority for the Government of Canada, both within Canada’s criminal justice system more broadly and its correctional system. For their part, both PS and CSC remain committed to addressing the overrepresentation of racialized and marginalized groups in the federal correctional system through the ongoing analysis and implementation of strategic initiatives to address its root causes and provide measures to address inequities/challenges. CSC continues to revise its culturally relevant correctional programming and interventions to better target the unique needs and challenges faced by Indigenous and Black offenders. In addition, CSC’s Anti-Racism Framework and Actions is intended to foster an inclusive and equitable environment within federal corrections, and its Ethnocultural Action Framework is intended to support ethnocultural offenders, including black and racialized groups.
More specifically, CSC is also developing a Black Offender Strategy to respond to the needs of Black offenders, which will be available under CSC’s Anti-Racism Framework and Actions. The Strategy’s development has been continuing under a phased approach, with the first phase including the compilation of a list of ongoing initiatives, pilots, interventions, services, supports, and activities that have been put in place by regions and sites and linking them to gaps and challenges identified by research and CSC’s data. A draft of the first phase of the Strategy has now been shared for consultation with the various regions and sectors as well as CSC’s National Ethnocultural Advisory Committee. The initial consultation process is planned to be completed by September 2024; once comments have been received, indicators will be developed to enable CSC to monitor the results of the Black Offender pilots.
CSC and PS also share the Panel’s concern with respect to the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in federal corrections and SIUs. As recently outlined in the PS and CSC Responses to Recommendations in the SIU IAP 2022-2023 Annual Report, various initiatives are underway aimed at addressing these concerns. These initiatives have included appointing a Deputy Commissioner of Indigenous Corrections at CSC, creating Indigenous Intervention Centres, enhancing culturally relevant correctional programming for Indigenous men and training for staff, and strengthening partnerships with Indigenous communities. Work is ongoing on the security classification tools to ensure they are culturally responsive for Indigenous Offenders.
CSC is advancing efforts to strengthen the services and supports available to inmates with mental health needs. These efforts include strengthening Intermediate Mental Health Care services, and initiating a comprehensive review of Regional Treatment Centres. This review will ensure standardized, high-quality care, and improved coordination and management of inmates with complex mental health needs, with appropriate consideration for gender and cultural responsiveness. In addition, recognizing the significant co-occurrence of substance use and mental health issues, CSC is reviewing its substance use services and supports, with the goal of advancing a more comprehensive and nationally consistent continuum of care by 2026. Furthermore, to support an aging offender population, CSC is developing a comprehensive geriatric model of care, inclusive of mental health, to support the wellness and independence of older persons in federal custody.
CSC is also developing a comprehensive health and human resource (HHR) strategy. This multi-year endeavour will develop a forward-looking strategy for 2025-2030 and will focus on the recruitment, orientation, and retention of registered health professionals to improve the capacity of front-line teams, including mental health professionals. As part of the HHR strategy, Health Services is committed to building a diverse workforce that is representative of the population it serves, recognizing that Indigenous and Black offenders benefit from having access to varied staff who reflect and understand their identities and lived experiences. The 2025-2030 HRR strategy is expected to be finalized in April 2025.
In addition, CSC is developing a comprehensive national plan for partnerships, which will explore, build and enhance partnerships with stakeholders, external health services and other organizations. This national plan will support CSC facilitating access to culturally-responsive and person-centered health care for offenders in federal custody.
Anticipated to be finalized by March 2025, the national plan will focus on partnerships in the following areas:
- Access to community hospital beds including forensic beds.
- External health care services to meet health care needs.
- Post-release services to ensure continuity of care.
- Engagement with educational/professional development partners.
- Anti-racism, diversity and inclusion.
- Over-representation of Indigenous and Black offenders sentenced to serve time in federal corrections.
Anticipated outcomes of the national plan include partnerships with a focus on supporting priority populations such as Black people, Indigenous Peoples and Older Persons in Custody as well as a standardized tracking database tool to track and document interactions with partners, nationally and regionally . For example, CSC Health Services is engaging with the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health to leverage their expertise on anti-black racism to address racial disparities in health care and enhance mental health service provision for black offenders. CSC is also engaging with thought leaders in Indigenous Mental Health, such as Thunderbird Partnership Foundation to improve the health and mental health services for Indigenous offenders; this includes attention to models of care that are grounded in and value culture and connection to community.
Within 90 days of issuing the response to the IAP 2022-2023 Annual Report, CSC submitted an initial action plan to the Minister on June 11, 2024. Consistent with the commitment to provide updates every 120 days thereafter, CSC is working on a progress report on the implementation of the solutions outlined in the action plan, which will be submitted to the Minister by October 9, 2024. These updates will be subsequently shared with the IAP.
While the overrepresentation of racialized and marginalized groups is a government-wide priority which requires government-wide solutions, PS and CSC are committed to taking the steps necessary to reduce levels of overrepresentation throughout the federal correctional system, including in transfers to SIUs.
3. Procedures need to be developed to ensure that decisions made by CSC employees concerning important matters related to SIUs and other forms of restricted movement will be reviewed quickly by a person who is truly independent of CSC. This would start with the initial decision to place a prisoner in an SIU.
At the moment, for example, a decision concerning placing and keeping someone in an SIU need not be reviewed by an external person until the prisoner has been in the SIU for approximately 90 days. Reviews prior to that time are made by CSC employees responsible to CSC alone and whose job and job prospects relate primarily to CSC.
The decision to place a prisoner in an SIU is an important one that can have lasting impacts not only on the prisoner’s mental health but also on their subsequent treatment in CSC penitentiaries (e.g., classification, institutional placement, etc.). Details of how these independent reviews can take place efficiently and effectively need to be developed. What is abundantly clear is that there is a need. There were no specific commitments made to address this recommendation in last year’s response.
PS/CSC Response:
With respect to the timeliness and effectiveness of independent oversight more broadly, it is important to emphasize that the Independent External Decision Makers (IEDMs) reviews of the initial transfer decision after 90 days represents only one of the many safeguards in place to ensure internal and external oversight of SIU transfers and conditions of confinement. Taken as a whole, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) and the Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations (CCRR) employ several oversight mechanisms designed to effectively balance the safe and humane custody of federal inmates, including their health and access to services and interventions, with the safety and security of other inmates and correctional staff. Not only can the duration of an inmate’s transfer to an SIU result in a review by an IEDM, but reviews can also be triggered by an inmate’s conditions of confinement and healthcare considerations. For instance, a review is triggered if an inmate has not received a minimum of four hours per day outside of their cell, and at least two hours of interaction with others, for five consecutive days, or 15 cumulative days over a 30-day period. In addition, registered health care professionals employed or engaged by CSC serve to protect inmates’ physical and mental health, and can make recommendations to change conditions of confinement, or request the removal from an SIU based on an inmate’s health. Health care professionals maintain clinical independence and conform with professionally accepted standards.
PS is committed to ensuring the effectiveness of the oversight provided by IEDMs within the SIU model and the timeliness of their reviews and decisions. IEDMs provide a vital safeguard function; and there is a clear benefit to continuously supporting IEDM operations and seeking opportunities to improve and streamline the independent review process. To this end, PS and CSC have provided IEDMs with decision-writing training provided by the Canadian Council of Administrative Tribunals and a professional service provider – a respected authority on administrative decision-making. The goal of the training was to provide them with high-quality, independent advice on how to efficiently produce robust and concise decisions that will withstand scrutiny, conform to the principles of administrative justice, and be clearly and easily interpreted by inmates and correctional staff. This aimed to promote greater consistency amongst IEDM decision-writing and allow for the rapid implementation of IEDM decisions. PS and CSC will continue to explore other ways to better support the important work done by IEDMs and to strengthen their oversight role.
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