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Minister’s Message

The Public Safety Portfolio of the Government of Canada continues to establish ambitious plans and priorities and to achieve successes in ensuring the safety and security of Canadians. As the Minister of Public Safety, I am pleased to present to Parliament this Report on Plans and Priorities that outlines our further objectives for 2008-2009.

This year, Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) played an important role in maintaining a just, peaceful and safe society while helping the Government to uphold its crime prevention agenda. CSC worked to ensure the safety and security of Canadians by focusing on programs that support the safe transition of eligible offenders into the community, providing effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders, improving capacities to address mental health needs of offenders, and strengthening management practices.

In the coming year, we will continue to support the transformation of the federal corrections system and to advance important law reforms. The Government of Canada convened an independent panel to conduct a review of CSC's operational priorities, strategies and plans.

The independent panel’s report, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety, was released in December 2007 and contains 109 recommendations. Over the course of the next year, we will be looking to implement this report in order to modernize and reform Canada’s corrections system.

Thanks to the ongoing commitment and dedication of Public Safety Portfolio staff and partners, I am confident that we will continue to enhance the safety and security of Canada in the year to come.

__________________________________________

The Honourable Stockwell Day, P.C., M.P.

Minister of Public Safety

 

Commissioner's Message

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is working hard to protect the safety and security of Canadians. The 2008-2009 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) outlines our plans to sustain the public safety results we achieve in the context of increasingly complex challenges.

Recognizing the need to develop our workforce to meet the demands of the future, we will continue to strengthen our practices with respect to managing our most precious resource - our people. To this end, in response to changing workforce demographics and projected labour shortages, we are about to enter the second year of implementation of our comprehensive three-year strategic plan for human resources. As described in this RPP, continued implementation of this plan is among our top priorities for 2008-2009 and is central to our effort to strengthen management practices at CSC.

At the same time, our work in institutions will continue with new measures to enhance the safety of both staff and offenders through improved security practices. We will also continue to focus our attention on the safe transition of eligible offenders to communities, on enhancing our capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders, and on improving our capacities to address the mental health needs of offenders.

In April 2007, the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, announced the appointment of an independent panel to review the operations of CSC. This review has recently been completed and the panel’s report outlines a roadmap for CSC to strengthen its contributions to public safety. The report, which includes 109 recommendations, sets a long-term agenda for the transformation of corrections at the federal level. It is now under active consideration by the Government and will likely have a major impact on corrections for years to come.

As we move forward in 2008-2009 and beyond, I am confident that the CSC team will continue to work with enormous dedication to deliver the best possible public safety results for Canadians.

__________________________________________

Keith Coulter, Commissioner

 

Management Representation Statement

 

SECTION I:  OVERVIEW

This section presents general information about the Correctional Service of Canada and focuses on the current strategic context and priorities of the organization.

1.1 Raison d’être and Operating Environment

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is an agency within the Public Safety Portfolio. The Portfolio brings together key federal agencies dedicated to public safety, including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the National Parole Board, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and three review bodies, including the Office of the Correctional Investigator.

CSC contributes to public safety by administering court-imposed sentences for offenders sentenced to two years or more. This involves managing institutions (penitentiaries) of various security levels and supervising offenders on different forms of conditional release, while assisting them to become law-abiding citizens. CSC also administers post-sentence supervision of offenders with Long Term Supervision Orders for up to 10 years.¹

At the end of the 2006-07 fiscal year, CSC was responsible for approximately 13,200 federally incarcerated offenders and 8,000 offenders in the community. Over the course of the year, including all admissions and releases, CSC managed 19,500 incarcerated offenders and 14,000 supervised offenders in the community.²

CSC has a presence from coast to coast to coast--from large urban centres with their increasingly diverse populations, to remote Inuit communities across the North. CSC manages penitentiaries, mental health treatment centres, Aboriginal healing lodges, community correctional centres and parole offices. In addition, CSC has five regional headquarters that provide management and administrative support and serve as the delivery arm of CSC's programs and services. CSC also manages an addictions research centre, a correctional management learning centre, regional staff colleges and a national headquarters.

CORCAN, a Special Operating Agency of CSC, provides work and employability skills training to offenders in institutions in order to enhance job readiness upon their release to communities, and to increase the likelihood of successful reintegration. CORCAN also offers support services at 37 community-based employment locations across Canada to assist offenders on conditional release in securing employment. CORCAN’s services are provided through partnership contracts internally (CSC and CORCAN) as well as externally with other government organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, and private enterprises.

Approximately 72% of CSC's 2006-07 Annual Reference Level³ was dedicated to the provision of care and custody of offenders in institutions and in communities, which includes such fixed and semi-fixed costs as security systems, salaries for correctional staff, facilities maintenance and food. The remaining 28% was allocated to rehabilitation and case management services.⁴

CSC employs approximately 15,200 staff⁵ across the country and strives to maintain a workforce that reflects Canadian society. Slightly more than 5% are from visible minority groups, approximately 4% are persons with disabilities, and approximately 7% are Aboriginal.⁶  These rates are at or above the labour market availability⁷ of workers in these operational groups for the types of employment offered by CSC. Just under 46% of CSC staff are women.

Two occupational groups, for the most part exclusive to CSC, represent over half of all staff employed in operational units. The Correctional Officer group comprises 41% of staff, while another 15% of staff are in the Welfare Programmes category, the group that includes parole and program officers who work in the institutions and in the community. The remainder of CSC's workforce reflects the variety of other skills required to operate institutions and community offices--from health professionals, to electricians, to food service staff--as well as staff providing corporate and administrative functions at the local, regional and national levels. All staff work together to ensure that the institutions operate in a secure and safe fashion and that offenders are properly supervised on release.

Volunteers have been essential contributors to public safety for many years by enhancing the work of CSC and creating a liaison between the community and the offender. CSC benefits from the contributions of over 8,100 volunteers active in institutions and in the community. CSC volunteers are involved in activities ranging from one-time events to providing ongoing services to offenders and communities, including tutoring, social and cultural events, faith-based services and substance abuse programming. CSC also engages a volunteer Citizen Advisory Committee at the local, regional and national level to provide citizen feedback on CSC policies and practices.

1.2 Organizational Information

CSC is organized to provide effective correctional services in a fiscally responsible manner. There are three levels of management: national, regional and local.

National Headquarters

Provides support to the Commissioner and the Executive Committee and delivers services to all of CSC including: provision of information to Parliamentary Committees, Central Agencies and the public; ministerial liaison; communications and citizen engagement; correctional operations; human resource and financial management expert advice; national investigations and audit; performance assurance; policy and planning; program development; leadership on women offender and Aboriginal offender initiatives; research; legal services; and information management.

Regional Headquarters

Provides support to National Headquarters in the development of Commissioner’s Directives and national programs; implements national policies and manages correctional operations in the region; develops and implements regional procedures, plans and programs for performance measurement, human resources, financial management, federal/provincial/territorial relations and public consultation; and provides information to the media, elected officials, interest groups and the public.

Institutional/Parole Offices

CSC manages 58 institutions, 16 Community Correctional Centres and 71 Parole Offices. A description of institutional security level classifications (i.e., maximum, medium, minimum and multi-level) is provided in the Glossary, at the end of this report.

 

The Commissioner is the Agency Head of the Correctional Service Canada and is accountable to the Minister of Public Safety. An Executive Committee of national and regional officials sets the vision and agenda for correctional services delivery. Specific functions are depicted in the following chart and outlined in the paragraphs below:⁸

 

The Senior Deputy Commissioner supports the Commissioner by focusing on the management of operational and strategic issues, providing leadership on Aboriginal initiatives and oversight of policy and program development for Aboriginal offenders, overseeing the incident investigation process, and acting as Commissioner when required. As of July 2007, the Senior Deputy Commissioner acquired additional accountabilities, including the Information Management Technology Branch and the Performance Assurance Sector.

The five Regional Deputy Commissioners are responsible for the management of CSC operations within their respective regions, implementation of correctional policy, and leadership in providing advice on criminal justice system matters.

The Deputy Commissioner for Women provides functional leadership and corporate expertise on women offender issues, including program and policy development and implementation, through collaboration with other sectors at National Headquarters and with the Regions in order to monitor operational activities at the institutional and community levels.

The Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs is responsible for the integrity of community and institutional operations across CSC and for improving the development and delivery of security, case management, programming, chaplaincy and victim services.

The Assistant Commissioner, Policy and Research is responsible for corporate policy and research in support of the government agenda; federal, provincial, territorial and international relations; and fairness and equity of correctional practices through offender redress mechanisms and delivery of services under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.

The Assistant Commissioner, Performance Assurance is responsible for ensuring mechanisms are in place to analyze, monitor and measure CSC's performance on delivering correctional results. In addition, Performance Assurance is accountable for evaluation, internal disclosure programs, the informal conflict management system, integrated business planning and reporting. The Assistant Commissioner is currently the Senior Values and Ethics Officer.

The Assistant Commissioner, Corporate Services is the Chief Financial Officer for CSC, and as such is the most senior departmental executive in charge of the financial management function and responsible for supporting the Commissioner in his role of Chief Accounting Officer. The Assistant Commissioner is also accountable for the operational planning function; the contract and procurement function; the design, construction, engineering and maintenance of all federal correctional facilities; the departmental environmental program; the vehicle fleet; the food and clothing services; and other administration services such as office accommodation and telecommunications.

The Assistant Commissioner, Health Services is responsible for improving the quality of health services provided to inmates, while ensuring that policies are applied consistently. In addition, the Health Services Sector will ensure standardized practices and provide greater integration of physical and mental health services. In September 2007, the Assistant Commissioner also became responsible for the direct management and operations of health services, excluding mental health treatment centres.

The Assistant Commissioner, Human Resource Management is responsible for human resource management strategies, management of administrative and human resource activities and interpretation of human resources-related policies, directives and guidelines.

The Assistant Commissioner, Communications and Citizen Engagement is responsible for leadership in the development of the voluntary sector and communication engagement initiatives, for the implementation of communication policy, and for the development and implementation of strategies to improve media and public understanding of CSC's mandate, policies and programs, through outreach activities and public consultation, as well as the design, production, dissemination and evaluation of multi-media products.

The Executive Director, Executive Secretariat is responsible for Ministerial liaison and Parliamentary relations to support the Commissioner and the Minister in fulfilling CSC's mandate.

The Director and General Counsel, Legal Services Unit provides advice on legal risks in the development of correctional policy, programs and services, as well providing legal advice to CSC on litigation.

The Chief Audit Executive is responsible for the management of the internal audit function, which is designed to assess and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes within CSC.

 

1.3  Program Activity Architecture

The Management Resources and Results Structure of a federal department or agency identifies the organization’s strategic outcome(s), describes the activities supporting these outcomes and establishes the structure by which the organization will manage these activities. The Program Activity Architecture, an inherent part of the Management Resources and Results Structure, establishes an inventory of activities and sub-activities that allows the organization to clearly and accurately demonstrate results and value-for-money to Parliament, Central Agencies and Canadians against the priorities, expected results, plans and day-to-day operations it sets out to achieve.

In 2006-07, CSC worked closely with Treasury Board Secretariat program and policy analysts to strengthen and refine its Management Resources and Results Structure while ensuring it complied with the Treasury Board Management Resources and Results Structure policy. The result is an amended Management Resources and Results Structure that is comprehensive and well understood across the organization and that provides meaningful insight into program effectiveness for management decision-making purposes.

As part of the recent exercise to amend its Management Resources and Results Structure, CSC modified its single strategic outcome to better reflect the paramount importance of CSC's contribution to enhancing public safety while ensuring continued alignment to the Government of Canada "Safe Homes, Safe Communities" priority.

In addition, the amended Program Activity Architecture better reflects the way CSC manages its operations, capturing the long term strategic direction for CSC and allowing for better internal alignment of financial and human resources, results commitments, operational plans, milestones and deliverables, corporate risk profile, management control framework, audit plan, evaluation plan, management accountability framework, performance management program, etc., against the Program Activity Architecture. Treasury Board of Canada approved the amended Program Activity Architecture in June 2007.

Furthermore, CSC moved from a predominantly financially-oriented Program Activity Architecture to a clearly defined results-based architecture that is well aligned to support the organization's strategic outcome. CSC has aligned its financial 'envelope framework' to its amended Program Activity Architecture to ensure that the appropriate allocation of approved budgets is in line with the activities and functions performed by CSC officials.

As required under Phase 2 of the Management Resources and Results Structure Implementation Roadmap, efforts are currently underway to improve upon the already strong performance measurement framework that is available to senior management to support decision-making. In addition, CSC is taking immediate steps to develop a system to capture and report on all components of its Management Resources and Results Structure as part of the Phase 3 requirements of the Management Resources and Results Structure Roadmap.

Combining non-financial performance indicators and measures with its robust and rigorous financial and risk management frameworks will position CSC to evaluate its operational performance relative to the resources entrusted to the organization and to take the necessary actions to ensure the organization continues to achieve results for Canadians.

Below is a comparison of CSC's previous Program Activity Architecture, down to the Program Activity level, and the amended Program Activity Architecture adopted by organization for fiscal year 2008-09.

Previous PAA

Strategic Outcome: Offenders are safely and effectively accommodated and reintegrated into Canadian communities with due regard to public safety
Program Activity: Care & Custody	Program Activity: Rehabilitation & Case Management	Program Activity: CORCAN (Special Operating Agency)

 

New PAA 

Strategic Outcome: The custody, correctional interventions, and supervision of offenders, in communities and institutions, contributes to public safety.
Program Activity: Custody	Program Activity: Correctional Interventions	Program Activity: Community Supervision	Program Activity: CORCAN (Special Operating Agency)	Program Activity: Internal Services

1.4  Summary Information 

Note: CSC received 2-year interim funding for 2007-08 and 2008-09 to address its most pressing needs. At the time of publishing this RPP, it is uncertain whether this funding will be extended, which accounts for the decrease in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

Financial Resources ($M)

2008­-09	2009-10	2010-11
$ 2,174.2	$ 2,014.7	$ 2,001.5

Human Resources (FTEs)

2008-09	2009-10	2010-11
15,945	15,537	15,473

Voted and Statutory Items displayed in the Main Estimates

Vote or Statutory Item	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2008-09 Main Estimates	2007-08 Main Estimates
30	Operating expenditures	1,717.1	1,529.5
35	Capital expenditures	263.6	153.7
(S)	Contributions to employee benefit plans	193.5	186.8
(S)	CORCAN revolving fund	-	-
	Total Department or Agency	2,174. 2	1,870.0

Explanation of the major differences between 2008-09 and 2007-08 Main Estimates:

• One-time funding of $148.6 million to address CSC's most critical operating and capital funding integrity challenges.
• $72.4 million for the National Capital, Accommodation & Operations Plan:  Adjustments are required due to the fluctuation in population levels and changes in offender profile, both incarcerated and in the Community, necessitating specific offender programs and specific accommodation measures such as one new maximum security unit in Kent Institution and in Saskatchewan Penitentiary respectively.
• $41.8 million to compensate for signed Collective Bargaining, mostly for Correctional Officers.
• $16.0 million for the increased costs in health care delivery, prescription drugs and Methadone Maintenance Program to inmates requiring treatment.
• $18.9 million approved in previous years for the Health Information Management Module and for various construction initiatives subsequently deferred to 2008-09 along with the approved funding.

Planned Spending and Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)
($ millions)	Forecast Spending 2007-2008	Planned Spending 2008-2009	Planned Spending 2009-2010	Planned Spending 2010-2011
Custody:  Offenders are provided reasonable, safe, secure and humane custody.	1,379.7	1,632.0	1,506.9	1,498.1
Correctional Interventions: Offenders’ individualized risks and needs are addressed.	490.3	424.6	407.6	403.2
Community Supervision: Re-offending in the community is reduced	0.0	117.6	100.2	100.2
CORCAN	77.5	83.7	85.4	85.4
Budgetary Main Estimates	1,947.5	2,257.9	2,100.1	2,086.9
Less: Respendable revenue (Corcan)	-77.5	-83.7	-85.4	-85.4
Total Main Estimates	1,870.0	2,174.2	2,014.7	2,001.5
Adjustments
Supplementary Estimates
- Funding to address challenges related to items such as capital rust out, maintenance of basic safety and security within institutions and meeting basic legal and policy program obligations	84.9
- Funding for the development of a unit and the addition of a unit at the Saskatchewan penitentiary	6.1
- Funding related to the transfer of responsibility for parole administration from the Province of British Columbia to the federal government (horizontal item)	6.0
- Funding to permit the implementation of the new Federal Victim’s Strategy and the establishment of the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (horizontal item)	2.8
- Funding for the federal correctional facilities in New Brunswick to accommodate provincial offenders	1.0	1.5	1.5	1.5
- Funding for activities that are essential to the continued implementation of the Public Service Modernization Act (horizontal item)	0.3
- Funding in support of the Federal Accountability Act to evaluate all ongoing grant and contribution programs every five years (horizontal item)	0.1
- Transfer from National Parole Board - For the transfer of information technology services	2.6
- Transfer from Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness - For the Public Education and Citizen Engagement Strategy	0.3
($ millions)	Forecast Spending 2007-2008	Planned Spending 2008-2009	Planned Spending 2009-2010	Planned Spending 2010-2011
- Transfer from Canada Heritage - To ensure that new and existing federal policies, programs and services respond to the priorities and needs of ethnocultural communities (Inclusive Institutions Initiative)	0.1
- Transfer to Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada - For the National Managers’ Community	-0.1
- Funding for Mandatory Minimum Penalties		55.7	90.6	77.4
- Funding for Quasi-Statutory expenditures required to meet Correctional Service of Canada’s  mandate	16.1
- Funding to cover increased Workers Compensation costs due to a rise in the number and the nature of incidents in federal institutions	3.2
Total Supplementary Estimates	123.4	57.2	92.1	78.9
OTHER ADJUSTMENTS
- Funding for signed Collective Agreements	37.2
- Employee Benefit Plan for signed Collective Agreements	7.4
- Operating budget carry forward from 2006-2007	59.0
- Impact of new Internal Audit Policy (horizontal initiative)	0.5
-Capital carry forward to future years	-43.7
Total Other Adjustments	60.4
Total Adjustments	183.8	57.2	92.1	78.9
Total Planned Spending	2,053.8	2,231.4	2,106.8	2,080.4
Total Planned Spending	2,053.8	2,231.4	2,106.8	2,080.4
Less: Non-respendable revenue	-7.4	-7.9	-7.9	-7.9
Plus: Cost of services received without charge	90.7	98.6	98.3	96.7
Total Departmental Spending	2,137.1	2,322.1	2,197.2	2,169.2
Full Time Equivalents	15,624	15,945	15,537	15,473

At this time, CSC's planned spending table forecasts a decrease of more than $160M from 2008-09 to 2009-10 and 2010-11. This is almost entirely due to the 2-year interim funding which was received for 2007-08 and 2008-09 to address challenges related to items such as ageing institutional facilities, maintenance of basic safety and security within institutions and meeting basic legal and policy program obligations. At the time of finalizing this RPP, a decision had not yet been taken with respect to the period beyond 2008-09.

1.5  Strategic Context

In recent years, the offender population has been increasingly characterized by offenders with extensive histories of violence and violent crimes, previous youth and adult convictions, affiliations with gangs and organized crime, serious substance abuse histories and problems, serious mental health disorders, higher rates of infection with Hepatitis C and HIV and a disproportionate representation of Aboriginal people. For example:⁹

• The proportion of men homicide offenders has increased from 22% in 1997 to 25% in 2006.¹⁰
• More than one out of ten of new male offender admissions are initially rated as requiring maximum-security (13%) while more than one out of four are rated minimum-security (30%). There is an increasing trend for maximum designations since 1996-97 (6% to 13%, or +117%). There is also an increasing trend for maximum designations since 1996/97 for new women offender admissions (4% to 11%, or +64%).
• More than one out of six men offenders in federal custody have gang affiliations and this phenomenon has been dramatically increasing since 1997 (12% to 16%, or +33%). One out of ten women offenders in federal custody have gang affiliations and this has been increasing since 1997 (7% to 13%, or +85%).
• More than one out of ten men offenders in federal custody have been identified at admission as presenting mental health problems and this proportion has risen since 1997 (7% to 12%, +71%).
• One out of five women offenders in federal custody were identified at admission as presenting mental health problems and this proportion has risen since 1997 (13% to 21%, +61%).

Effective management of the more challenging and complex offender population requires  new training and equipment for staff, an increase in specialized services--most notably in the provision of mental health care for offenders--and more distinct and targeted interventions, all of which result in the need for additional resources. Moreover, with a greater proportion of offenders serving sentences of under three years (over 50% for new offender admissions¹¹), CSC is faced with having less time than in the past to deliver correctional programming and other necessary interventions.

Close to ninety percent of CSC's expenditures are non-discretionary or prescribed by legislation (e.g., salaries, utilities, food, medical services).¹²  These expenditures are driven by factors beyond CSC's direct control (e.g., inflation, price fluctuations, and new employee contracts) and are escalating. 

Another major challenge is the basic maintenance requirements of CSC institutions. CSC has one of the largest facility portfolios in the Government of Canada, consisting of a variety of institutions, community correctional centres and parole offices¹³ in communities across Canada. Together, these represent nearly 200 different sites. These facilities date from the early 1800s to the present, with most being over 40 years old.

On March 19, 2007, shortly after the 2007-08 RPP was finalized, the Government announced, in the Federal Budget, interim funding over the two subsequent fiscal years (2007-08 and 2008-09) to address CSC's most pressing operational needs. Subsequently, on April 20, 2007, Minister of Public Safety, Stockwell Day, announced the establishment of an Independent Panel to look at CSC's operational policies, strategies and business plans in order to determine future directions for the Service, as part of the Government’s commitment to protecting Canadian families and communities.

The Independent Panel released its report on December 13, 2007, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety. It includes 109 recommendations, focusing on five key themes:

1. Offender accountability
2. Elimination of drugs from prisons
3. Offender employment and employability
4. Physical infrastructure
5. Elimination of statutory release, and moving to earned parole

These themes define a potential long-term transformation agenda for CSC. The Independent Panel’s recommendations are currently under active consideration by the Government.

1.6  Priorities, Result Commitments and Measurement Strategies

This section presents the background for each strategic priority, the associated challenges and the direction CSC needs to follow to address these challenges; as well as results commitments and measurement strategies.

Given the challenges described previously, CSC continues to pursue five priorities   established in 2006-07, in order to sustain its public safety results:

• Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community;
• Safety and security for staff and offenders in our institutions;
• Enhanced capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders;
• Improved capacities to address mental health needs of offenders; and
• Strengthened management practices.

In support of each priority, CSC developed result commitments. These targets will ensure that CSC remains focussed on results that matter to Canadians and that its progress against its priorities, in the long term, is measurable and transparent.

CSC also identified plans in order to ensure specific, concrete actions would be undertaken. These plans are summarized at the end of this section, and detailed in
Section 2.

Priority: Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community

Based on current law and practice, over ninety percent of inmates will at some point in their sentence be released into the community under supervision. The changing offender profile and trends toward shorter sentences present new challenges with regard to managing an offender’s risk and needs.

As the following tables show, while CSC has achieved a small decline in violent re-offending while under supervision, there has been an increase in violent re-offending within two years after sentence completion.

Re-Offending with a Violent Conviction while on Supervision

		01-02	02-03	03-04	04-05	05-06
Violent Convictions	Year	249	250	246	232	192
	3-year average	266	262	248	243	223
Release Flowthrough	Year	16,611	16,382	16,168	16,156	16,368
	3-year average	16,870	16,656	16,387	16,235	16,231
Rate	Year	1.5%	1.5%	1.5%	1.4%	1.2%
	3-year average	1.6%	1.6%	1.5%	1.5%	1.4%

Source: Offender Management System (April 8, 2007).

Return to Federal Custody with Violent Conviction within 2 years Post-Sentence Completion¹⁴

		00-01	01-02	02-03	03-04	04-05
Offenders who completed their sentence and were re- admitted for a violent offence	Year	233	222	242	233	271
	3-year average	228	221	232	232	249
Total number of offenders who completed their sentence in this period	Year	4,636	4,690	4,634	4,523	4,543
	3-year average	4,529	4,576	4,653	4,616	4,567
Rate	Year	5.0%	4.7%	5.2%	5.2%	6.0%
	3-year average	5.0%	4.8%	5.0%	5.0%	5.4%

Source: Offender Management System (April 8, 2007).

The increasing return to federal custody as depicted in the above table contributes to the changing offender profile as outlined in Section 1.5 and the greater concern for both staff and public safety. Furthermore, approximately 36% of offenders who complete their sentence will be convicted of a new crime, the majority receiving some type of provincial sentence.

Due to that changing offender profile, and in the context of limited resources, CSC has been finding it an increasing challenge to reduce levels of re-offending in the community, including violent re-offending. In this context, CSC is committing to preventing an increase in the level of violent re-offending over the next three years in order to sustain its contribution to public safety: 

CSC compares the rate of re-offending during supervision with the rate after the period of supervision has been completed. This is done in order to assess the enduring effect of efforts the offender undertook to change their behaviour, as well as to signal to us social factors that may diminish the offender’s ability to remain law-abiding and thus enable us to identify future program options that could mitigate those factors.

Priority: Safety and Security for staff and offenders in our institutions

The changing offender profile presents new and/or elevated risks and needs. CSC is concerned about the vulnerability of institutional staff, inmates, and visitors to acts of physical or verbal aggression, including serious assaults and bodily injury.

CSC has undertaken numerous measures to increase the safety level of our penitentiaries. However, the presence of staff and security cameras, and the consequences of institutional discipline or further criminal charges, are not deterring inmates sufficiently from committing assaults. Part of the problem is the continued introduction and use of illicit drugs.¹⁷ While CSC is working with police, security intelligence officials, and other partners on an array of activities to reduce the entry and consumption of drugs in institutions, the sale or use of drugs in the institutional environment can lead to aggression, intimidation, and violence.

 

Staff Assaults¹⁸ (by Inmates)

		02-03	03-04	04-05	05-06	06-07
Staff Assaults	year	465	367	293	375	355
	3-year average	478.7	446.7	375.0	345.0	341.0
Institutional Staff19	year	11,277	11,480	11,260	11,247	11,339
	3-year average	10,985	11,267	11,339	11,329	11,282
Rate	year	4.1%	3.2%	2.6%	3.3%	3.1%
	3-year average	4.4%	4.0%	3.3%	3.0%	3.0%

Source: Offender Management System (April 8, 2007).

Inmate Assaults (by Inmates)

		02-03	03-04	04-05	05-06	06-07
Inmate Assaults	year	540	468	463	558	556
	3-year average	530.7	506.0	490.3	496.3	525.7
Number of Inmates (Institutional Flowthrough)	year	18,588	18,532	18,623	19,039	19,490
	3-year average	18,628	18,567	18,581	18,731	19,051
Rate	year	2.9%	2.5%	2.5%	2.9%	2.9%
	3-year average	2.8%	2.7%	2.6%	2.6%	2.8%

Source: Offender Management System (April 8, 2007). Institutional Flowthrough as of April 8, 2007.

The two charts above should be viewed together. The 3-year average for assaults on staff show a downward trend whereas that for inmate assaults on inmates has remained relatively stable. This suggests that while inmate violence remains a serious issue, staff’s ability to prevent that violence from resulting in an assault on them is improving. Hence, although some gains have been made on this issue, there is additional room for improvement in CSC's commitment to make institutions safe environments for everyone.

Front-line staff have identified that the climate in institutions is changing, with assaultive behaviour becoming more pronounced and with more incidents of aggressive, intimidating behaviour that is problematic but short of reportable assaults.

The increase in instances of bodily fluids and waste being thrown on staff and verbal assaults such as threats to harm, has only recently been fully appreciated for its impact. These incidents are now better understood as precursors to physical violence and indicative of an ingrained lack of respect for others. They are understood to have lasting and significant impact on staff and offenders' sense of safety and security, and as hampering effective interaction between staff and offenders.

In response to these challenges, and in the context of tight resource constraints as outlined in Section 1.5, CSC is committing to achieving the following results over the next three years: 

CSC is further looking for ways to capture other indicators of relevant behaviours such as gang affiliation or intimidation and threats, which indicate a propensity towards violent behaviour and which reflect the experiences reported by staff.

Enhanced Capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders

There is a considerable gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders with respect to re-offending, both while under CSC supervision in the community, and following the completion of their sentence.

According to a recent Statistics Canada report,²⁰ crime rates on Reserves are about three times higher than crime rates elsewhere in Canada and violent crime rates are significantly higher; rates of spousal violence are 3½ times higher among Aboriginals than among non-Aboriginals; and Aboriginal people are 10 times more likely than non-Aboriginals to be accused of homicide involving alcohol and/or drug consumption. The  report suggests that social disruption, particularly on Reserves, will remain a significant challenge, and that most Aboriginal communities’ focus on crime prevention will continue to be diverted by the need to improve clean water, health, housing, and education to support economic development.

As the following table shows, the gap between Aboriginal re-offending versus non-Aboriginal re-offending while under CSC supervision has decreased somewhat over the past five years:²¹

However, the gap in re-offending within two years of end of sentence is increasing,²² which is not surprising given the lack of adequate Aboriginal community capacity for offenders once they are no longer supervised.

On the other hand, the gap in re-offending within five years of end of sentence has been decreasing marginally.²³ This may be due to the fact that in the initial two-year post-supervision period offenders are more vulnerable to re-offend than during the longer term  when they have had more time to adjust to living without supervision.

CSC will continue to address the continued disproportionate representation of Aboriginal offenders within CSC institutions. A critical component of this effort is strengthening partnership with Aboriginal stakeholders.

In response to these challenges, and in accordance with its Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Corrections (2006-2011), CSC is committing to achieving the following result over the next three years: 

Priority: Improved capacities to address mental health needs of offenders

Mental health disorders are three times more likely among CSC inmates than the general population. The number of offenders with identified mental health needs is increasing. At the same time, community capacity for support of mental health cases is eroding.

Penitentiaries are, by their very nature, closed environments where all offender interactions can be strained and difficult. Inmates can not always easily avoid other offenders they find unpleasant or frightening. Even offenders without mental disorders find the environment stressful and continued levels of stress can lead to inappropriate behaviour, aggression, despondency or depression. Offenders with mental health disorders may be subject to abuse; unpredictable behaviours may become a source of fear or suspicion in others; and the acting out associated with some disorders can be violent towards others or self-destructive.

Inmates with untreated mental health disorders cannot fully engage in their correctional plans. They may compromise the safety of other inmates and front-line staff, and may become unstable within the community upon release, particularly where service providers may not perceive offenders as one of their client groups.

Federal inmates are excluded from the Canada Health Act and their treatment is not covered by Health Canada or provincial/territorial health systems during their incarceration. As a result, CSC provides a full-spectrum response to the broad and multi-dimensional mental health needs of offenders. CSC has developed an overarching Mental Health Strategy that has five²⁴ components. Late in 2006-07, the Government of Canada provided two-year funding to address the most urgent requirements within three components of CSC's Mental Health Strategy, namely: clinical screening and assessment, enhanced provision of primary mental health care in all CSC institutions, and consistent standards and approach in CSC mental health treatment.  Implementation in these areas began in 2007-08.

In addition, in 2006-07 CSC continued development of the one previously funded component of its Mental Health Strategy, namely, the Community Mental Health Initiative.²⁵  The goal of the Community Mental Health Initiative is to ensure that inmates requiring mental health services receive the best possible preparation for reintegration, and can transition to the community mental health system at the appropriate time with continuity of support.  The funds are earmarked for discharge planning; transitional care; specialized mental health staff working out of selected parole offices to provide support to offenders with mental health disorders in Community Correctional Centres and in Community Residential Facilities; annual mental health training for staff of selected parole offices, Community Correctional Centres and Community Residential Facilities; and funds for specialized services such as psychiatric and psychological interventions.

In response to these challenges, CSC is committing to achieving the following result over the next three years: 

Priority: Strengthened Management Practices

CSC's most recent Management Accountability Framework assessment by the Treasury Board Secretariat identified three areas where additional attention is required: Human Resource Management, Values and Ethics, and Internal Communications.

An important focus for CSC is in strengthening its human resource management. This is increasingly important in today’s changing workforce--changing demographics, projected labour shortages, effective labour relations and evolving learning needs present new and important challenges. To ensure that CSC meets these challenges and to strengthen its human resource management, CSC developed the three-year Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management (2007-2010), which is approaching the second year of implementation.

The plan focuses on four priorities for the organization: strengthen human resource management practices; build an effective representative workforce; provide learning, training and development; and improve workplace health and labour relations.

Another way CSC is strengthening its management practices is by further promoting ethical awareness and decision making through the organization. Building on the ethical training workshops piloted at 17 operational units during fiscal year 2007-08, CSC intends to expand the workshops to ensure a large percentage of staff and managers at all levels of the organization have the necessary tools and skills to apply ethical decision making skills in day-to-day work. Additionally, CSC will work to benchmark ethical indicators as a basis of assessing the effectiveness of the ethical initiatives undertaken.

In addition, CSC has been actively engaged with its major unions on issues arising out of the 2005 Public Service Employee Survey, in particular around issues of grievances and harassment. In addition, CSC will continue to use the Joint Learning Program that engages union-member line staff and managers to teach courses in anti-harassment and respecting differences. CSC will seek evidence, by way of staff surveys, that we have reduced workplace conflict through more ethical interactions.

Finally, a major focus for the next three years and beyond will be to continue improving internal communications. This includes effectively communicating to staff the information coming out of the Independent Panel recommendations and the Government’s response. CSC will improve existing communication tools, develop new ones and deliver consistent, regular messaging from the Commissioner, as well as face-to-face meetings, videoconferencing and town halls when possible.

CSC is improving its two-way communications by streamlining processes for employee feedback. The biannual Executive Development Symposiums will be more focussed to help ensure that executives receive consistent messages that they can take back to staff. To assist employees with communicating, CSC will launch and promote an internal communications toolkit, which includes information for all levels of staff on improving communications at all levels.

CSC will hold a second Internal Communications Survey before the end of fiscal year 2007-08 to measure progress on key areas and initiatives since the last Survey in the Spring of 2007, and to identify new areas for improvement. It is significant to note that this survey will include questions to gauge the effectiveness of the initial internal communications around the transformation of the Service flowing from the CSC Independent Panel’s report and recommendations. Those results will attempt to benchmark the results of internal communications activities in individual sectors and regions to provide Executive Committee members with useful data they can use to change/improve their internal communications efforts.

In addition to addressing the above areas of focus related to the Management Accountability Framework assessment, in 2007-08 CSC implemented a Corporate Risk Profile, which will serve as the foundation of a new integrated risk-based decision-making process to guide management decision-making. In 2007-08, major plans and strategies for the organization such as CSC's Human Resource Plan, Research Plan, and Evaluation Plan used the Corporate Risk Profile as a basis for identifying planned initiatives.

In 2008, CSC's Program Activity Architecture, Management Accountability Framework Assessment, Corporate Risk Profile and the various risk-based plans mentioned above will be integrated into a Business Plan for the organization.

The next step will be to create Functional Risk Profiles that draw in the Regional and Sector based risks and strategies and which links them to CSC's Legal Risk Management Profile. In this way, the organization will have an integrated risk foundation that will facilitate planning decisions at the field as well as corporate level.

In pursuing the above management improvement challenges, CSC is committing to achieving the following result over the next three years: 

Plans and Priorities by Program Activity

The following table lists, by Program Activity, CSC's plans for the next three fiscal years and for each plan indicates the associated strategic priority. The plans are further described in Section 2 of this report. Note that the Program Activity CORCAN does not appear in this table as there are no plans associated with it.

Program Activity	Plans	Ongoing  Priority
Custody
	Continue to increase safety and security of CSC's institutions	Safety and security for staff and offenders in our institutions
	Improve capacity to deliver essential physical health care services to inmates	Safety and security for staff and offenders in our institutions
	Improve capacity to deliver mental health care to offenders in institutions	Improved capacity to address mental health needs of offenders
	Implement the Correctional Officer Deployment Standards	Strengthened management practices
	Ensure CSC's ability to deal with a potentially growing number of radicalized offenders, including terrorists	Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community
	Improve interception and interventions to reduce the presence of drugs in institutions	Safety and security for staff and offenders in our institutions
Correctional Interventions
	Expand measures to reduce violent reoffending	Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community
	Improve capacity to address the unique needs and risks of Aboriginal offenders, including Aboriginal women offenders	Enhanced capacities to provide effective intervention for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders
	Enhance internal and horizontal collaboration on Aboriginal community development issues (Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Corrections)	Enhanced capacities to provide effective intervention for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders
	Enhance community partnerships	Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community
	Enhance the employability of offenders prior to release	Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community
Community Supervision
	Improve the safety and security of staff working in the community	Strengthened management practices
	Improve the safety and security of offender supervision	Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community
	Improve capacity to deliver mental health care to offenders under community supervision	Improved capacity to address mental health needs of offenders
	Enhance the employment results for released offenders	Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community
Internal Services
	Achieve an effective and representative workforce	Strengthened management practices
	Enhance CSC's Training and Development Capacity	Strengthened management practices
	Contribute to the improvement of the health of CSC's Workforce and promote effective and responsive labour relations	Strengthened management practices
	Enhance physical infrastructure	Strengthened management practices
	Enhance Information Management/Information Technology infrastructure	Strengthened management practices
	Enhance organizational capacity to adjust to changing government priorities and direction	Strengthened management practices
	Ensure CSC's financial sustainability	Strengthened management practices
	Enhance National Victim Services Program	Strengthened management practices
	Improve the greening of CSC's operations	Strengthened management practices

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