At a GlanceReport 4—Systemic Barriers—Correctional Service Canada
Why we did this audit
- Correctional Services Canada is mandated to prepare offenders for safe release into the community and provide programs and interventions that are responsive to the unique needs of women, Indigenous peoples, and visible minorities.
- Offenders’ initial security placements affect their potentials for parole and the lengths of the sentences that they serve in custody. Offenders initially placed at minimum security are more likely to be granted parole by the time they are first eligible for release than those at higher levels. Identifying the tools, practices, and policies that result in a disadvantage for certain groups is critical in order to remove barriers in the correctional system.
Our findings
- There was no plan or timeline in place to better reflect the diversity of the offender population in corrections staff.
- Indigenous and Black offenders were placed at higher security levels on admission into custody at twice the average rate of other offenders. However, the reliability of Correctional Services Canada security classification tool, the Custody Rating Scale, had not been validated since 2012, and its use had never been validated for Black offenders specifically.
- While Correctional Services Canada was legally required in 2019 to provide programs and services tailored to the unique needs of offenders identifying as visible minorities, it had not updated its method to collect this information on the offender population to match that used by Statistics Canada for the Canadian population.
Key facts and figures
- Indigenous and Black men were placed at maximum-security institutions at twice the rate of other offenders and made up 51% of maximum-security placements.
- Indigenous women were placed at maximum security at more than 3 times the rate of non‑Indigenous women and made up almost 70% of maximum security placements.
- Correctional Service Canada continued to face challenges in delivering correctional programs to offenders—including culturally specific programs to Indigenous offenders—by their first parole eligibility date. Timely access was significantly affected by the pandemic.
- The majority of offenders are serving short sentences (2 to 4 years), and timely access is important as most are eligible to apply for parole within a year. Of offenders serving sentences of 2 to 4 years who were released from April to December 2021, only 6% of men were able to complete their correctional programs before they were first eligible to apply for day parole.
Highlights of our recommendations
- Correctional Service Canada should improve the initial security classification process for offenders by
- undertaking a review, with external experts, of the Custody Rating Scale and its use in decision making—in particular for women, Indigenous, and Black offenders—and, on the basis of the results, taking action to improve the reliability of security classification decisions
- monitoring the level and reasons for overrides to the Custody Rating Scale results across institutions and security levels—in particular for Indigenous offenders—and ensuring the proper consideration of Indigenous social history for security classification decisions.
- Correctional Service Canada should develop workforce representation objectives that align with the offender population in custody, with particular attention to overrepresented groups (such as Indigenous and Black offenders), and should formalize gender representation objectives at women’s institutions. In both cases, Correctional Service CanadaCSC should monitor progress according to an established timeline and consider which roles and functions (such as front-line, institution‑based officers) are priorities.
Related information
| Entities | |
|---|---|
| Completion date | 20 May 2022 |
| Tabling date | 31 May 2022 |
| Related audits |
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