2010 Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview

2010 Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview PDF Version (1.4 MB)

Section A: Context - Crime and the Criminal Justice System

Police-reported crime rate has been decreasing since 1998

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• The overall crime rate has decreased 19.0% since 1998, from 8,915 per 100,000 to 7,224 in 2009.
• Over the same period, there was a 28.4% decrease in property crime rates, from a rate of 5,696 per 100,000 to 4,081 in 2009. In contrast, the crime rate for drug offences has increased 23.0% since 1998, from 235 per 100,000 population to 289.
• The rate of violent crime has fluctuated over the last twelve years, peaking in 2000 at 1,494 per 100,000 population. Since 2000, the rate of violent crimes has decreased 12.0% to 1,314 in 2009.
• In general, the crime rates for traffic offences and other Criminal Code offences have fluctuated since 1998.

Note:

*Unlike Statistics Canada, the Total Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Total Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada.

**The definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report are not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

These crime statistics are based on crimes that are reported to the police. Since not all crimes are reported to the police, these figures underestimate actual crime. See Figure F1 for rates based on victimization surveys (drawn from the General Social Survey), an alternative method of measuring crime.

Source: Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

*Unlike Statistics Canada, the Total Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Total Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada.

**The definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report are not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Rates are based on incidents reported per 100,000 population.

Due to rounding, rates may not add to Totals.

Crime rates are higher in the west and highest in the north

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• Crime rates are higher in the west and highest in the Territories. This general pattern has been stable over time.
• The Canadian crime rate* dropped from 8,090 in 2005 to 7,224 in 2009.

Note:

*Rates are based on 100,000 population.

Unlike Statistics Canada, the Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada. In addition, the definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report are not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Source: Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

*Rates are based on 100,000 population.

Unlike Statistics Canada, the Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada. In addition, the definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report are not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Canada's incarceration rate is high relative to most western European countries

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• Canada's incarceration rate is higher than the rates in most Western European countries but much lower than the United States, where the most recent incarceration rate was 756 per 100,000 general population.
• The incarceration rate in Canada has decreased 7.9% from 126 per 100,000 in 1997 to 116 per 100,000 in 2008.

Note:

The incarceration rate, in this figure, is a measure of the number of people (i.e., adults and youth) in custody per 100,000 people in the general population. Incarceration rates from the World Prison Population List are based on the most recently available data at the time the list was compiled. Due to variations in the availability of information, the 2006 and 2008 dates reported in Table A3 refer to when the World Prison Population Lists were published, but may not necessarily correspond to the date the data were obtained. Additionally, different practices and variations in measurement in different countries limit the comparability of these figures.

These statistics were previously reported in the 2009 Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview. No new data are available.

Source: ¹ World Prison Population List (Seventh Edition), International Centre for Prison Studies, ² World Prison Population List (Eighth Edition), International Centre for Prison Studies.

Note:

*Incarceration rates from the World Prison Population List are based on the most recently available data at the time the list was compiled. Due to variations in the availability of information, the 2006 and 2008 dates reported in Table A3 refer to when the World Prison Population Lists were published, but may not necessarily correspond to the date the data were obtained. Additionally, different practices and variations in measurement in different countries limit the comparability of these figures.

Rates are based on 100,000 population.

-- Figures not available.

These statistics were previously reported in the 2009 Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview. No new data are available.

The rate of adults charged has declined since 2001

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• Since 1998, the rate of women charged has increased from 717 women per 100,000 women in the population to 795. However, the rate for men has decreased from 3,816 men per 100,000 men in the population to 3,456.
• Over the same period, the rate of women charged with violent crimes increased by 24.7%, such that in 2009, 192 women were charged per 100,000 women in the population. In comparison, the rate of men charged with violent crimes decreased by 3.3% over the last twelve years. Since reaching a peak of 1,104 men charged per 100,000 men in the population in 2001, the rate has since decreased to 967 in 2009.
• Similarly, the rate of women charged with traffic crimes has also increased, from 78 women charged per 100,000 women in the population in 1998, to 92 in 2009. Conversely, the rate of men charged with traffic crimes has decreased 23.0% since 1998, to 523 men charged per 100,000 men in the population in 2009.

Note:

*Unlike Statistics Canada, the Total Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Total Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada.

**The definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report are not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Violent crimes include homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual offences, abduction, extortion, robbery, firearms, and other violent offences such as uttering threats and criminal harassment.

Property crimes include break and enter, motor vehicle thefts, other thefts, possession of stolen property, fraud, mischief and arson.

Source: Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

*Unlike Statistics Canada, the Total Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Total Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada.

**The definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report are not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Rates are based on 100,000 population, 18 years of age and older.

Due to rounding, rates may not add to Totals.

Violent crimes include homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual offences, abduction, extortion, robbery, firearms, and other violent offences such as uttering threats and criminal harassment.

Property crimes include break and enter, motor vehicle thefts, other thefts, possession of stolen property, fraud, mischief and arson.

Administration of Justice charges account for 21% of charges in adult courts

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• Administration of justice cases (offences related to case proceedings such as failure to appear in court, failure to comply with a court order, breach of probation, and unlawfully at large) account for more than one fifth of cases before the courts.
• Apart from cases of administration of justice, which has increased in each of the last two years, impaired driving is the most frequent federal statute case in adult courts.

Note:

The concept of a case has changed from previous editions of this report to more closely reflect court processing. Statistics from the Adult Criminal Court Survey used in this report should not be compared to those in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

The graph excludes Youth Criminal Justice Act / Young Offenders Act offences.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics continues to make updates to the offence library used to classify offence data sent by the provinces and territories. These improvements have resulted in minor changes in the counts of charges and cases as well as the distributions by type of offence. Data presented have been revised to account for these updates.

Source: Adult Criminal Court Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100 percent.

The table excludes Youth Criminal Justice Act / Young Offenders Act offences. The Adult Criminal Court Survey groups these offences under "Other Federal Statutes". Superior Court data are not reported to the Adult Criminal Court Survey for Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan. The concept of a case has changed from previous editions of this report to more closely reflect court processing. Statistics from the Adult Criminal Court Survey used in this report should not be compared to those in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics continues to make updates to the offence library used to classify offence data sent by the provinces and territories. These improvements have resulted in minor changes in the counts of charges and cases as well as the distributions by type of offence. Data presented have been revised to account for these updates.

Most adult custodial sentences ordered by the court are short

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• Over half (55.6%) of all custodial sentences imposed by adult courts are one month or less.
• Prison sentences for men tend to be longer than for women. Over two-thirds (67.7%) of women and just over half of men (54.1%) who are incarcerated upon conviction receive a sentence of one month or less, and 91.9% of women and 85.6% of men receive a sentence of six months or less.
• Of all convictions that result in custody, only 3.7% result in federal jurisdiction (i.e., a sentence of two years or more).

Note:

Due to rounding, totals may not add to 100 percent.

Excludes Youth Criminal Justice Act / Young Offenders Act offences and cases where length of prison sentence and/or gender was not known

Excludes data for Manitoba as information on both sentence length and gender were not available.

Superior Court data are not reported to the Adult Criminal Court Survey for Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

The concept of a case has changed in the Adult Criminal Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics continues to make updates to the offence library used to classify offence data sent by the provinces and territories. These improvements have resulted in minor changes in the counts of charges and cases as well as the distributions by type of offence. Data presented have been revised to account for these updates.

Source: Adult Criminal Court Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

Due to rounding, totals may not add to 100 percent.

Excludes Youth Criminal Justice Act / Young Offenders Act offences and cases where length of prison sentence and/or gender was not known.

Excludes data for Manitoba as information on both sentence length and gender were not available.

Superior Court data are not reported to the Adult Criminal Court Survey for Quebec, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

The concept of a case has changed in the Adult Criminal Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics continues to make updates to the offence library used to classify offence data sent by the provinces and territories. These improvements have resulted in minor changes in the counts of charges and cases as well as the distributions by type of offence. Data presented have been revised to account for these updates.

Relatively few crimes result in sentences to federal penitentiaries

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• There were about 2.4 million crimes reported to police in 2009.
• During 2009-10, 5,243 offenders were sentenced to federal jurisdiction (i.e., two years or more).

Note:

*This figure only includes cases convicted in provincial court and partial data from Superior Court. The concept of a case has changed in the Adult Criminal Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Police data are reported on a calendar year basis whereas court and prison data are reported on a fiscal year basis (April 1 through March 31).

Source: ¹ Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, Adult Criminal Court Survey and Adult Corrections Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada; ² Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

*This figure only includes cases convicted in provincial court and partial data from Superior Court. The concept of a case has changed in the Adult Criminal Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

**In order to make comparisons, data exclude Prince Edward Island and Nunavut.

Police data are reported on a calendar year basis whereas court and prison data are reported on a fiscal year basis (April 1 through March 31).

The rate of youth charged has declined since 2001

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• The rate of youth** charged has fluctuated over the past five years.
• In 2003, there was a notable decrease in all major crime categories, in part attributable to the implementation of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) in April 2003, which places greater emphasis on diversion.
• The rates*** of female youth charged with violent or property crimes have decreased since 2003, by 8.2% and 14.5% respectively. In 2009, the rate of female youth charged was 449 per 100,000 for violent crime and 553 per 100,000 for property crime.
• Over the same seven year period, the rate*** of male youth charged with violent crime decreased by 3.9% to 1,308 per 100,000 in 2009. Similarly, the rate of male youth charged with property crime declined by 30.0%, to 1,710 per 100,000 in 2009.

Note:

*Unlike Statistics Canada, the Total Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Total Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada. In addition, the definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report a re not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

**For criminal justice purposes, youth are defined under Canadian law as persons aged 12 to 17 years.

***Rates for females are based on the number of female youth charged per 100,000 female youth population (12 to 17 years) and rates for males are based on the number of male youth charged per 100,000 male youth population (12 to 17 years).

Violent crimes include homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual offences, abduction, extortion, robbery, firearms, and other violent offences such as uttering threats and criminal harassment.

Property crimes include break and enter, motor vehicle thefts, other thefts, possession of stolen property, fraud, mischief and arson.

Source: Uniform Crime Reporting Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

*Unlike Statistics Canada, the Total Crime Rate in the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview includes traffic offences and offences against federal statutes to provide a measure of all criminal offences. As a result, the Total Crime Rate reported here is higher than that reported by Statistics Canada. In addition, the definitions for Violent, Property and Other Criminal Code offences have been revised by Statistics Canada to better reflect definitions used by the policing community. As a result of these changes, comparable data are only available starting in 1998 and the data presented in this year's report are not comparable to the data reported in previous versions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

For criminal justice purposes, youth are defined under Canadian law as persons aged 12 to 17 years.

Rates for "Total" are based on 100,000 youth population (12 to 17 years).

Violent crimes include homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual offences, abduction, extortion, robbery, firearms, and other violent offences such as uttering threats and criminal harassment.

Property crimes include break and enter, motor vehicle thefts, other thefts, possession of stolen property, fraud, mischief and arson.

The most common youth court case is theft

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• Following the enactment of the Youth Criminal Justice Act in 2003, fewer youth are in court.
• Theft is the most common case in youth court.
• Homicides and related offences account for 0.1% of all youth cases.
• Females account for 23% of all cases, but they account for 38% of common assaults***.

Note:

*"Other Administration of Justice" includes the offences failure to appear, failure to comply, and breach of recognizance.

**Youth Criminal Justice Act offences include failure to comply with a disposition or undertaking, contempt against youth court, assisting a youth to leave a place of custody and harbouring a youth unlawfully at large. Also included are similar offences under the Young Offenders Act, which preceded the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

***The data exclude cases where gender is unknown. In Manitoba, gender is unknown for all cases.

The concept of a case has changed in the Youth Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the youth court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics continues to make updates to the offence library used to classify offence data sent by the provinces and territories. These improvements have resulted in minor changes in the counts of charges and cases as well as the distributions by type of offence. Data presented have been revised to account for these updates.

Source: Youth Court Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

*"Other Administration of Justice" includes the offences failure to appear, failure to comply, and breach of recognizance.

**Youth Criminal Justice Act offences include failure to comply with a disposition or undertaking, contempt against youth court, assisting a youth to leave a place of custody and harbouring a youth unlawfully at large. Also included are similar offences under the Young Offenders Act, which preceded the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The concept of a case has changed in the Youth Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the youth court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

The Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics continues to make updates to the offence library used to classify offence data sent by the provinces and territories. These improvements have resulted in minor changes in the counts of charges and cases as well as the distributions by type of offence. Data presented have been revised to account for these updates.

The most common disposition for youth is probation

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• Consistent with the objectives of the YCJA, fewer youth are sentenced to custody. In 2008-09, about 15% of all guilty cases resulted in the youth being sentenced to custody. This compares to 21% of all guilty cases in 2004-05.
• In 2008-09, 60% of youth found guilty were given probation. This rate has remained relatively stable since the implementation of the YCJA in April 2003.
• Of the new YCJA sentences, deferred custody and supervision orders were handed down most frequently. In 2008-09, almost 4% of all guilty cases received such an order.

Note:

*"Other" includes absolute discharge, restitution, prohibition, seizure, forfeiture, compensation, pay purchaser, essays, apologies, counselling programs and conditional discharge, conditional sentence, intensive support and supervision, attendance at non-residential program and reprimand.

Data for Saskatchewan on Deferred Custody and Supervision would be reported under the "Other" category as YCJA sentencing data are not available.

Each case may receive more than one disposition. Therefore, sanctions are not mutually exclusive and will not add to 100%.

The concept of a case has changed in the Youth Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the youth court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Source: Youth Court Survey, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada.

Note:

*Data for Saskatchewan on Deferred Custody and Supervision would be reported under the "Other" category as YCJA sentencing data are not available.

**"Other" includes absolute discharge, restitution, prohibition, seizure, forfeiture, compensation, pay purchaser, essays, apologies, counselling programs and conditional discharge, conditional sentence, intensive support and supervision, attendance at non-residential program and reprimand.

Each case may receive more than one disposition. Therefore, sanctions are not mutually exclusive and will not add to 100%.

The concept of a case has changed in the Youth Court Survey to more closely reflect court processing. As a result, these figures should not be compared to the youth court statistics reported in previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview.

Section B: Corrections Administration

Federal expenditures on corrections increased in 2008-09

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• The total expenditures on federal and provincial corrections in Canada for 2008-09 were $3.85 billion, for a per capita cost of $115.76.
• Expenditures on federal corrections in Canada were $2.28 billion dollars, for a per capita cost of $68.30. Over the five year period from 2004-05 to 2008-09, there has been a 39.5% increase in expenditures on federal corrections, and this increase is 30.7% after adjusting for inflation.
• Expenditures for provincial/territorial corrections in Canada were $1.78 billion, for a per capita cost of $53.51. Over the five year period from 2004-05 to 2008-09, there has been a 28.8% increase in expenditures on provincial/territorial corrections, and this increase is 18.4% after adjusting for inflation.*

Note:

*The percentage changes omit data from Prince Edward Island and Nunavut as information from these jurisdictions were not available for 2004-05.

Federal expenditures on corrections include spending by the Correctional Service Canada (CSC), the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) and the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI). The expenditures for the CSC include both operating and capital costs. CSC expenditures exclude CORCAN (a Special Operating Agency that conducts industrial operations within penitentiaries).

Constant dollars represent dollar amounts calculated on a one-year base (2002) that adjusts for inflation, thus allowing the yearly amounts to be directly comparable. Changes in the Consumer Price Index were used to calculate constant dollars.

Source: Correctional Service Canada; Parole Board of Canada; Office of the Correctional Investigator; Statistics Canada Consumer Price Index.

Note:

Due to rounding, constant dollar amounts may not add to "Total".

Per capita cost is calculated by dividing the total expenditures by the total Canadian population and thus represents the cost per Canadian for federal correctional services.

Constant dollars represent dollar amounts calculated on a one-year base (2002) that adjusts for inflation allowing the yearly amounts to be directly comparable. Changes in the Consumer Price Index were used to calculate constant dollars.

CSC employees are concentrated in custody centres

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• The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has a total staff of about 17,480.**
• Approximately 76% of CSC staff work in institutions.
• Staff employed in community supervision account for 8% of the total.

Note:

*These parole officers are situated within institutions, with the responsibility of preparing offenders for release.

**CSC has changed its definition of employee. Previously, the total number of employees included casual employees, employees on leave without pay and suspended employees. These categories have been removed from the total as of 2005-06. These numbers represent active employees and employees on leave with pay as of March 31, 2010.

Source: Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

*The "Other" category represents job classifications such as trades and food services.

**These parole officers are situated within institutions, with the responsibility of preparing offenders for release.

***CSC has changed its definition of employee. Previously, the total number of employees included casual employees, employees on leave without pay and suspended employees. These categories have been removed from the total as of 2005-06. These numbers represent active employees and employees on leave with pay as of March 31, 2010.

Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100.

The cost of keeping an inmate incarcerated has increased

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• The federal average daily inmate cost has increased from $241 in 2004-05 to $300 in 2008-09.
• In 2008-09, the annual average cost of keeping an inmate incarcerated was $109,699 per year, up from $87,919 per year in 2004-05. In 2008-09, the annual average cost of keeping a male inmate incarcerated was $106,583 per year, whereas the annual average cost for incarcerating a woman was $203,061.
• It costs substantially less to maintain an offender in the community than to keep that individual incarcerated ($29,476 per year versus $109,699 per year).

Note:

The average daily inmate cost includes those costs associated with the operation of the institutions, such as salaries and employee benefit plan contributions, but excludes capital expenditures and expenditures related to CORCAN (a Special Operating Agency that conducts industrial operations within penitentiaries). In 2001-02, the cost allocation methodology was refined to better reflect expenditures directly related to offenders. In additio n, the cost of keeping a woman incarcerated includes the cost of maximum security units for women co-located within institutions for men.

Source: Public Accounts of Canada, Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

The average daily inmate cost includes those costs associated with the operation of the institutions, such as salaries and employee benefit plan contributions, but excludes capital expenditures and expenditures related to CORCAN (a Special Operating Agency that conducts industrial operations within penitentiaries). In 2001-02, the cost allocation methodology was refined to better reflect expenditures directly related to offenders. In addition, the cost of keeping a woman incarcerated includes the cost of maximum security units for women co-located within institutions for men.

The number of Parole Board of Canada employees

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• The total number of full-time equivalents used by the Parole Board of Canada has increased since 2000-01.

Note:

Section 103 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act limits the Parole Board of Canada to 45 full-time members.

Source: Parole Board of Canada.

Note:

*As of 2006-07, the Receiver General and Treasury Board Secretariat reporting requirements have been changed from Business Line to Strategic Outcome. Consequently, data regarding Conditional Release Openness and Accountability is unavailable prior to 2006-07.

**The Parole Board of Canada transferred the Information Technology function to the Correctional Service of Canada effective April 1^st, 2007. This represented a reduction of 23 full-time equivalents.

Section 103 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act limits the Parole Board of Canada to 45 full-time members.

The number of employees in the Office of the Correctional Investigator

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• The total number of full-time equivalents at the Office of the Correctional Investigator has increased over the last year.
• In 2009-10, approximately 5,500 complaints/inquires* were received by the Office of the Correctional Investigator.

Note:

*The Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) may commence an investigation on receipt of a complaint by or on behalf of an offender or on its own initiative. Complaints are made by telephone, letter and during interviews with the OCI's investigative staff at federal correctional facilities. The dispositions in response to complaints involve a combination of internal responses (where the information or assistance sought by the offender can generally be provided by the OCI's investigative staff) and investigations (where, further to a review/analysis of law, policies and documentation, OCI investigative staff make an inquiry or several interventions with Correctional Service Canada and submit recommendations to address the complaint). Investigations vary considerably in terms of scope, complexity, duration and resources required.

Source: Office of the Correctional Investigator.

Health care is the most common area of offender complaint received by the Office of the Correctional Investigator

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• There were 5,483 complaints/inquires* received at the Office of the Correctional Investigator in 2009-10.
• Health care (15.0%), institutional transfers (7.2%), and administrative segregation (7.1%) accounted for 29% of all complaints.
• The number of individual complaints processed by the OCI has decreased in recent years because the OCI has reallocated resources to sharpen its focus on systemic issues and death in custody investigations.

Note:

*The Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) may commence an investigation on receipt of a complaint by or on behalf of an offender or on its own initiative. Complaints are made by telephone, letter and during interviews with the OCI's investigative staff at federal correctional facilities. The dispositions in response to complaints involve a combination of internal responses (where the information or assistance sought by the offender can generally be provided by the OCI's investigative staff) and investigations (where, further to a review/analysis of law, policies and documentation, OCI investigative staff make an inquiry or several interventions with Correctional Service Canada and submit recommendations to address the complaint). Investigations vary considerably in terms of scope, complexity, duration and resources required.

Source: Office of the Correctional Investigator.

Note:

*The Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) may commence an investigation on receipt of a complaint by or on behalf of an offender or on its own initiative. Complaints are made by telephone, letter and during interviews with the OCI's investigative staff at federal correctional facilities. The dispositions in response to complaints involve a combination of internal responses (where the information or assistance sought by the offender can generally be provided by the OCI's investigative staff) and investigations (where, further to a review/analysis of law, policies and documentation, OCI investigative staff make an inquiry or several interventions with Correctional Service Canada and submit recommendations to address the complaint). Investigations vary considerably in terms of scope, complexity, duration and resources required.

**OCI has updated the categories of complaints to better reflect their corporate priorities and the changing nature of the complaints that they received in the 2009-10 fiscal year. As a result, some categories reported in previous years have been changed or removed.

• The category of "Conditions of Confinement" has been broken down into a number of other specific categories which better captured the complaint. Therefore, no data are available for 2009-10.
• "Other" refers to other types of complaints not specified in the table and includes: Claims Against the Crown, Community Programs/Supervision, Correspondence, Death or Serious Injury, General Decision/Implementation, Diet, Discipline, Discrimination, Food Services, Harassment, Health and Safety/Worksite, Ion Scan/Drug Dog, Mental Health, Methadone, Official Languages, Operation/Decisions of the OCI, Release Procedures, Requests for Information, Search and Seizure, Sentence Administration/Calculation, Temporary Absence Decision, Urinalysis and Use of Force. In 2009-10, Double Bunking, Hunger Strikes and Uncategorized were added to the "Other" category and Requests for Information was removed.

The number of individual complaints processed by the OCI has decreased in recent years because the OCI has reallocated resources to sharpen its focus on systemic issues and death in custody investigations.

Section C: Offender Population

Federal offenders under the jurisdiction of the Correctional Service of Canada

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Definitions:

Total Offender Population includes male and female federal offenders who are incarcerated (serving their sentences in federal or provincial institutions and those on temporary absence), offenders who are temporarily detained, actively supervised and those that have been deported.

Incarcerated includes male and female federal offenders serving their sentences in federal or provincial institutions.

Community Supervision includes federal offenders on day parole, full parole, statutory release, or in the community supervised on a long term supervision order, as well as those who are temporarily detained or paroled for deportation.

Actively Supervised includes federal offenders on day parole, full parole or statutory release, as well as those who are in the community on long-term supervision orders.

Temporarily Detained includes offenders who are physically held in a provincial detention centre or a federal institution after being suspended for a breach of a parole condition or to prevent a breach of parole conditions.

Deported includes offenders for whom a deportation order has been enforced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

In addition to that total offender population, there are excluded groups such as:

On Bail includes offenders on a judicial interim release; they have appealed their conviction or sentence and have been released to await the results of a new trial.

Escaped includes offenders who have absconded from either a correctional facility or while on a temporary absence and whose whereabouts are unknown.

Unlawfully at Large includes offenders who have been released to the community on day parole, full parole, statutory release or a long term supervision order for whom a warrant for suspension has been issued, but has not yet been executed.

Note:

*The definition of "Offender Population" has changed from previous years. As such, comparisons to previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview should be done with caution.

Source: Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

*In addition to this total offender population, 79 offenders were on bail, 124 offenders had escaped, and 488 offenders were unlawfully at large.

It is possible for an offender under federal jurisdiction to serve his or her sentence in a provincial institution. The data presented include these offenders as they are still under federal jurisdiction.

The definition of "Offender Population" has changed from previous years. As such, comparisons to previous editions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview should be done with caution.

The number of incarcerated federal offenders increased in 2009-10

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• Following consecutive increases from 2004-05 to 2007-08, there was a decrease in 2008-09, then an increase of 1.9% in 2009-10.
• The provincial/territorial sentenced offender population in custody decreased 9% from 2000-01 to 2008-09 while the remand population increased by more than 80% during this period. Since 2005-06, the number of remanded inmates has exceeded the number of sentenced inmates in provincial/ territorial custody.**

Note:

*The data reflect the number of offenders incarcerated at the end of each fiscal year. A fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

The term "Incarcerated Federal Offenders" refers to those offenders who are currently serving a sentence of two years or more in a federal or provincial correctional facility. These numbers include those offenders who are in the community on some form of temporary absence at the time of the count. These numbers do not include those offenders who have had their supervision period suspended and are temporarily detained.

**Source: Adult Correctional Services Survey - Corrections Key Indicator Report for Adults and Young Offenders, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada

Source: ¹Correctional Service Canada.; ²Adult Correctional Survey - Corrections Key Indicator Report for Adults and Young Offenders, Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, Statistics Canada

Note:

Incarcerated includes male and female federal offenders who are currently serving a sentence of two years or more in a federal or provincial correctional facility. These numbers include those offenders who are in the community on some form of temporary absence at the time of the count. These numbers do not include those offenders who have had their supervision period suspended and are temporarily detained.

The figures for federal offenders reflect yearly snapshots as of the last day of each fiscal year. A fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

The figures for provincial and territorial offenders reflect annual average counts.

-- Data not available.

The number of admissions to federal jurisdiction has increased

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• After peaking at 8,609 in 2006-07, the number of admissions has decreased by 2.7% to 8,380 in 2009 -10.
• The number of warrant of committal admissions has fluctuated over the past decade, and increased by 8.5% from 2008-09 to 2009-10.
• The number of women admitted to federal jurisdiction under warrants of committal increased from 274 in 2005-06 to 313 in 2009-10.

Note:

*"Other" includes transfers from other jurisdictions (exchange of services), terminations, transfers from foreign countries, and admissions where a release is interrupted as a consequence of a new conviction.

These numbers refer to the federal jurisdiction admissions during each fiscal year and may be greater than the actual number of offenders admitted, since an individual offender may be admitted more than once in a given year. A fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

Source: Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

*"Other" includes transfers from other jurisdictions through exchange of services, terminations, transfers from foreign countries, and admissions where a release is interrupted as a consequence of a new conviction.

These numbers refer to the federal jurisdiction admissions during each fiscal year and may be greater than the actual number of offenders admitted, since an individual offender may be admitted more than once in a given year. A fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

The number of women admitted from the courts to federal jurisdiction has increased over the past decade

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• In the last ten years, the number of women admitted to federal jurisdiction increased 35.5% from 231 in 2000-01 to 313 in 2009-10. During the same time period, there was an increase of 21.9 % in the number of men admitted to federal jurisdiction.
• In the last four years, the number of women admitted to federal jurisdiction under warrants of committal has fluctuated little, between 308 and 318.
• Overall, women continue to represent a small proportion of the total number of admissions (i.e., 6.0% in 2009-10).
• As of April 25, 2010, there were 503 women incarcerated in Canada under federal jurisdiction.

Note:

A warrant of committal is a new admission to federal jurisdiction from the courts.

Source: Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

A warrant of committal is a new admission to federal jurisdiction from the courts.

Offender age at admission to federal jurisdiction is increasing

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• In 2009-10, 36.6% of offenders admitted to federal jurisdiction were between the ages of 20 and 29, and 27.0% were between 30 and 39 years of age.
• The distribution of age upon admission is similar for both men and women.
• The median age of the population upon admission has increased from 32 in 2000-01 to 33 in 2009 -10.
• The number of offenders between the ages of 40 and 49 at admission has increased from 696 (16.3%) in 2000-01 to 1,065 (20.3%) in 2009-10. Similarly, the number of offenders between the ages of 30 and 34 increased from 716 (16.7%) in 2000-01 to 789 (15.0%) in 2009-10.

Note:

A warrant of committal is a new admission to federal jurisdiction from the courts.

Source: Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

A warrant of committal is a new admission to federal jurisdiction from the courts.

Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100 percent.

The average age at admission is lower for Aboriginal offenders than for non-Aboriginal offenders

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• Of those offenders admitted to federal jurisdiction in 2009-10, 50.9% of Aboriginal offenders were under the age of 30, compared to 37.8% of non-Aboriginal offenders.
• The median age of Aboriginal offenders at admission is 29, compared to a median age of 33 for non-Aboriginal offenders.

Note:

A warrant of committal is a new admission to federal jurisdiction from the courts.

Source: Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

A warrant of committal is a new admission to federal jurisdiction from the courts.

Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100 percent.

19% of the federal incarcerated offender population is aged 50 or over

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• In 2009-10, 55.8% of incarcerated offenders were under the age of 40 while 37.8% of the Canadian population was under the age of 40.
• In 2009-10, 19.0% of the incarcerated federal offender population was aged 50 and over, while 43.0% of the Canadian population was aged 50 and over.
• The community federal offender population was older than the incarcerated population; 30.4% of offenders in the community were aged 50 and over, compared to 19.0% of the incarcerated offenders in this age group.

Note:

*Preliminary Postcensal Estimates, July 1, 2010; Demography Division, Statistics Canada.

Incarcerated includes male and female federal offenders serving their sentences in federal or provincial institutions, as well as those on temporary absence.

Source: Correctional Service Canada; Statistics Canada.

Note:

*Preliminary Postcensal Estimates, July 1, 2010; Demography Division, Statistics Canada.

Incarcerated includes male and female federal offenders serving their sentences in federal or provincial institutions, and those on temporary absence.

Community supervision includes federal offenders on day parole, full parole, statutory release or in the community supervised on a long term supervision order, as well as those who are temporarily detained or paroled for deportation.

The data presented is a snapshot of the offender population as of April 25, 2010.

Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100 percent.

65% of federal offenders are Caucasian

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• The federal offender population is diverse; however, 65.6% of offenders identify themselves as Caucasian.
• Since 2004-05, the Aboriginal population has increased from 3,498 to 3,989.

Note:

These data are self-identified by offenders while they are incarcerated, and the categories are not comprehensive; therefore, the reader should interpret these data with caution.

"Aboriginal" includes offenders who are Inuit, Innu, Métis and North American Indian.

"Asian" includes offenders who are Arab, Asiatic, Chinese, East Indian, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South East Asian and South Asian.

"Hispanic" includes offenders who are Hispanic and Latin American.

The data reflects the total offender population, which includes male and female federal offenders who are incarcerated (serving their sentences in federal or provincial institutions, and those on temporary absence) and offenders who are on community supervision. Community supervision includes federal offenders on day parole, full parole, statutory release, or in the community supervised on a long term supervision order, as well as those who are temporarily detained or paroled for deportation.

Source: Correctional Service Canada.

Note:

The data reflects the total offender population, which includes male and female federal offenders who are incarcerated (serving their sentences in federal or provincial institutions and those on temporary absence) and offenders who are on community supervision. Community supervision includes federal offenders on day parole, full parole, statutory release, or in the community supervised on a long term supervision order, as well as those who are temporarily detained or paroled for deportation.

These data are self-identified by offenders while they are incarcerated, and the categories are not comprehensive; therefore, the reader should interpret these data with caution.

The data reflect the number of offenders active at the end of each fiscal year. A fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31 of the following year.

Due to rounding, percentages may not add to 100 percent.

The religious identification of the offender population is diverse

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• The religious identification of the current federal offender population is diverse. The two most frequently declared religions are Catholic (38.6%), and Protestant (19.9%).
• Religious identification is unknown for 7.4% of offenders, whereas 15.6% stated they have no religion.

Note:

Religious identification is self-declared by offenders while they are incarcerated, and the categories are not comprehensive; therefore, the reader should interpret these data with caution.

"Catholic" includes offenders who are Catholic, Roman-Catholic, Greek-Catholic, Native-Catholic and Ukrainian-Catholic.

"Orthodox" includes offenders who are Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and Ukrainian Orthodox.

"Protestant" includes offenders who are Anglican, Baptist, Christian Missionary, Christian Reform, Church of Science, Hutterite, Lutheran, Mennonite, Moravian, Native Spirit, Nazarene Christ, Pentecostal, Philadelphia Church of God, Presbyterian, Protestant, Salvation Army, Seventh Day Adventist, United Church, Christ Methodist, Christ Wesleyan and Worldwide Church.

"Other" includes other declared identifications such as Agnostic, Atheist, Baha'i, Christian Science, Hindu, Independent Spirit, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon, Rastafarian, Scientology, Siddha Yoga, Taoism, Unitarian, Pagan, Sufiism, Wicca and Zoroastrian.

The data reflect the total offender population, which includes federal offenders who are incarcerated (serving their sentences in federal or provincial institutions, and those on temporary absence) and federal offenders who are on community supervision. Community supervision includes federal offenders on day parole, full parole, statutory release, or in the community supervised on a long term supervision order, as well as those who are temporarily detained or paroled for deportation.