Opening Statement before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts
Systemic Barriers—Correctional Service Canada
(Report 4—2022 Reports of the Auditor General of Canada)
9 February 2023
Karen Hogan, Fellow Chartered Professional AccountantFCPA
Auditor General of Canada
Mr. Chair, thank you for this opportunity to discuss our report on systemic barriers, which was tabled in the House of Commons on May 31st, 2022. I would like to acknowledge that this hearing is taking place on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. Joining me today are Carol McCalla and Steven Mariani, who were responsible for the audit.
In this audit, we examined whether Correctional Service Canada, or CSC, was meeting the diverse needs of its offender population. We found that CSC had failed to identify and eliminate systemic barriers that persistently disadvantaged certain groups of offenders. The over‑representation of Indigenous and Black offenders in custody had worsened with higher security classifications, the late delivery of correctional programs, and the delayed access to release on parole. We raised similar issues in 2015, 2016, and 2017, and this audit found that CSC had done little to address differing correctional outcomes, particularly for Indigenous and Black offenders.
Disparities were present from the moment that offenders entered federal institutions. For example, Indigenous and Black men were placed at maximum-security levels at twice the rate of other offenders and made up half of all maximum-security placements.
We also found that Indigenous women were placed at maximum security at more than 3 times the rate of non-Indigenous women and made up almost 70% of the women in maximum security.
The reliability of CSC’s Custody Rating Scale for initial security placements had not been validated since 2012—and its use for Black offenders had never been validated at all. We found that corrections staff frequently overrode the scale’s security rating to place Indigenous offenders at higher security levels with little consideration of culturally appropriate and restorative options.
Correctional programs are intended to prepare offenders for safe release on parole and support their successful reintegration into the community. We found that timely access to correctional programs had continued to decline across all groups of offenders since our earlier audits, and it worsened during the COVID‑19 pandemic. By December 2021, only 6% of men offenders had completed the programs they needed before they were first eligible to apply for parole.
While the majority of offenders were released on parole before the end of their sentences, Indigenous offenders remained in custody longer and at higher levels of security until their release. Since the onset of the pandemic, Indigenous and Black offenders were more likely to be released at their statutory release dates.
Indigenous and Black offenders were also more likely to be released directly into the community from maximum-security institutions. In particular, Indigenous women made up two thirds of those released from maximum security at women’s institutions, and were unable to benefit from a gradual transition to the community that supports their successful reintegration.
With respect to its workforce, CSC’s efforts to support greater equity, diversity, and inclusion fell short. CSC committed to building a workforce that reflects the diversity of its offender population, but it had not yet established a plan to bridge these representation gaps. We found workforce representation gaps across institutions with regards to Indigenous and Black offenders as well as gender representation gaps among staff at women’s institutions.
This is our fourth audit since 2015 that shows poor and worsening outcomes for different groups of offenders. CSC has taken little concrete action to change the seemingly neutral policies, procedures, and practices that produce these outcomes. CSC acknowledged in November 2020 that systemic racism is present in the correctional system. It is long overdue that CSC remove the systemic barriers identified in this report.
Mr. Chair, this concludes my opening remarks. We would be pleased to answer any questions the committee may have. Thank you.