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2009-10
Report on Plans and Priorities

Correctional Service Canada

The original version was signed by
The Honourable Peter Van Loan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety

Table of Contents

• Minister’s Message
• SECTION 1:  DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW
  • 1.1 Raison d’être
  • 1.2 Responsibilities
  • 1.3 Strategic Context
  • 1.4 Organizational Information
  • 1.5 Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture
  • 1.6 Planning Summary and Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome
  • 1.7 Risk Analysis
  • 1.8 Expenditure Profile / Voted and Statutory Items
• SECTION 2:  ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME
  • 2.1 Custody
  • 2.2 Correctional Interventions
  • 2.3 Community Supervision
  • 2.4 CORCAN
  • 2.5 Internal Services
• SECTION 3: Supplementary Information
  • 3.1 List of Supplementary Information Tables
  • 3.2 Performance Indicators against Corporate Priorities
  • 3.3 Detailed Plans by Program Activity
  • 3.4 Further Information

Minister’s Message

As Canada’s Minister of Public Safety and Minister responsible for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), I am pleased to present to Parliament this Report on Plans and Priorities that outlines CSC’s objectives for 2009-10.

The Government of Canada is committed to working towards ensuring that Canadians feel safe in their communities. CSC has the fundamental obligation to contribute to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure, and humane control.

It is an extremely challenging time at the Correctional Service of Canada. The organization is transforming the way it does business and its operations to improve public safety results for all Canadians. Priorities for the coming year will focus on further implementation of the recommendations of the December 2007 CSC Review Panel report, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety.

In fact, responding to these recommendations through implementing its Transformation Agenda will help the Service achieve its strategic priorities. Since fiscal year 2006-07, the Service has maintained consistent focus on the following five priorities, which were developed to manage the changing offender population profile, while enhancing the Service’s contribution to public safety:

• Safe transition of eligible offenders into the community
• Safety and security of 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
• Strengthening management practices

Reporting to Parliament and Canadians through documents such as this is also an extremely important way to ensure transparent and open communications, and help increase awareness of the work CSC does in communities across Canada.

I am confident that the direction outlined in this Report on Plans and Priorities sets a clear path for the Service to continue enhancing its role as a key player in the Public Safety Portfolio. I look forward to seeing the results of the key Transformation Agenda initiatives further advancing the Service's progress toward meeting its public safety priorities for Canadians.

____________________________
The Honourable Peter Van Loan, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety

SECTION 1:  DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW

1.1 Raison d’être

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.

1.2 Responsibilities

On an average day during the 2007-08 fiscal year, CSC was responsible for approximately 13,550 federally incarcerated offenders and 8,461 offenders in the community.  However, over the course of the year, including all admissions and releases, CSC managed 20,021 incarcerated offenders and 16,599 supervised offenders in the community. ¹

CSC provides services across the country--from large urban centres with their increasingly diverse populations, to remote Inuit communities across the North.  CSC manages institutions, 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 53 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 75% of CSC’s 2008-09 Annual Reference Level² was dedicated to the provision of care and custody of offenders in institutions and in communities, which includes fixed and semi-fixed costs for security systems, salaries for correctional staff, facilities maintenance, health services, food services, and capital. Approximately 20% was allocated to correctional interventions which includes case management and offender programs. The remaining 5% was dedicated towards community supervision, which includes Community-Based Residential Facilities and community-based health services.³

CSC employs approximately 15,400 staff⁴ across the country and strives to maintain a workforce that reflects Canadian society.  Just over 46% of CSC staff are women. Slightly more than 5% are from visible minority groups, approximately 3.4% are persons with disabilities, and approximately 7% are Aboriginal.⁵  These rates are at or above the labour market availability⁶ with the exception of Persons with Disabilities where CSC is slightly below market levels.

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 40% 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 continue to be essential contributors to public safety by enhancing the work of CSC and creating a liaison between the community and the offender.  CSC benefits from the contributions of over 9,000 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 volunteer Citizen Advisory Committees at the local, regional and national levels to provide citizen feedback on CSC policies and practices.

1.3 Strategic Context

In December 2007, after completing an in-depth review of our federal correctional system, an Independent Review Panel delivered its report, A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety.⁷ This report was endorsed by the Government in Budget 2008 allowing CSC to address some of its current challenges; better support its current priorities; and provide CSC with a clear direction based on an integrated set of transformation initiatives that will contribute to improved public safety results for all Canadians.  

As a result of the Review Panel’s report and recommendations, CSC will be initiating activities in each of the five key areas identified in the report:

• Offender Accountability
• Eliminating Drugs from Prison
• Employability/employment
• Physical Infrastructure
• Enhanced community supervision capacity

The Panel report also acknowledged an urgent need for broader implementation of Aboriginal-specific interventions to address the persistent disproportionate representation of Aboriginal peoples in the criminal justice system.  CSC will continue to be responsive to the disparities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders and address the gaps in correctional results via the Aboriginal Continuum of Care as outlined in CSC’s Five-year Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Corrections 2006-2011.⁸  This area continues to be an ongoing priority for CSC, and is consistent with initiatives being undertaken by all levels of government with regards to Aboriginal peoples. 

As part of the 2008 Federal Budget, the Government endorsed a comprehensive response to the recommendations of the CSC Review Panel and committed "$122 million over two years to ensure that the federal corrections system is on track to implement a new vision to achieve better public safety results". ⁹ 

Budget 2008 invested in this new vision by addressing some of the Panel’s key recommendations and by setting the foundation for changes to the federal corrections system.  Budget 2008 stabilized funding for the CSC while detailed planning for the transformation is undertaken. In addition, Budget 2008 provided funding for the first critical stage of transformation to allow CSC to enhance safety and security within the institutions, by dealing more effectively with the growing number of offenders with gang affiliations, and by increasing the Service’s capacity to detect and eliminate drugs in penitentiaries. These investments will provide correctional staff with the tools and training they need to do their jobs safely and more effectively. The passage of Budget 2009 will enable CSC to continue to make gains on the progress of its plans as well as to proceed with the transformational agenda laid out in this Report on Plans and Priorities.

The Panel Report identified other steps that could be taken to better address the needs of offenders in institutions. Programs should address the varied offender needs in a more integrated way and results should be clearer and measured in greater depth. As well, acquiring employment and employability skills must be one of the priorities for offenders who hope to transition safely and successfully back into the community.

The Report also supported the need to improve the transition of offenders from institutions to the community. Stronger links between institutional and community staff should foster a continuum of planning and enable offenders to build on gains made from institutional programs as they move to the community. A focus on transitional employment opportunities, including specific opportunities for Aboriginal offenders, was identified as an important element of a successful transition plan.

CSC must also strengthen its community capacity to ensure offenders are accountable for their behaviour in the community. Simultaneously, the Report supported CSC in making more effective use of residential facilities and specific programs to meet the needs of offenders with mental health disorders.

As an immediate response, CSC undertook numerous rapid initiatives, to be reported upon in the forthcoming 2008-09 Departmental Performance Report, that could be quickly implemented and create the energy and momentum for implementing a transformation agenda. CSC is committed to sustaining that momentum and achieving the promise for a transformed correctional system, and these initiatives are the backbone of this Report on Plans and Priorities.

With the guidance of a team of subject matter experts, a Transformation Agenda for CSC has been developed. While the roots of the Agenda draw directly from the 109 recommendations of the Panel Report, the Commissioner has challenged all staff and partners to contribute innovations, enhancements, and creative ideas to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of CSC. Assistant Commissioners and Regional Deputy Commissioners have been tasked to develop plans to capture and report on the initiatives in their areas in preparation for accepting accountability for continuing the gains made under the Transformation Team’s leadership.

Further, CSC has taken measures to maximize the effectiveness of its efforts by integrating its various planning processes. For example, CSC’s Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management is linked directly to the business priorities and its Corporate Risk Profile. It will be revised to reflect the internal Transformation Agenda as well as the agenda for change under Public Service Renewal.

1.4 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 operations.

National Headquarters: Provides support to the Commissioner and the Executive Committee and delivers services to all of CSC such as: correctional operations; public affairs and parliamentary relations, human resource and financial management expert advice; national investigations and audit; performance assurance; policy and planning; program development; functional leadership on Women offender and Aboriginal offender initiatives; research; legal services; health services and information management.

Regional Headquarters (RHQ): Provides management and administrative support to National Headquarters in the delivering of programs and services; develops regional policies, plans and programs for performance measurement, human resources and financial management, federal / provincial / territorial relations and public consultation; manages health services to offenders and provides information to local media, the public and stakeholders.

Local Operations: CSC manages 57 institutions, 16 Community Correctional Centres and 84 Parole Offices and sub-offices.  A description of institutional security level classifications (i.e., maximum, medium, minimum and multi-level) is available on CSC’s website.¹⁰

Ontario Region serving Ontario as far west as Thunder Bay and Nunavut Territory.  (RHQ-Kingston)
Quebec Region serving Quebec.  (RHQ-Laval)
Pacific Region serving British Columbia and Yukon Territory.  (RHQ-Abbotsford)
Atlantic Region serving New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador. (RHQ-Moncton)
Prairie Region serving Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario west of Thunder Bay and the Northwest Territories. (RHQ-Saskatoon)
National Headquarters (Ottawa)

The Commissioner is the Agency Head of CSC and is accountable to the Minister of Public Safety. Under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the Commissioner is responsible for the control and management of the Service and all matters connected with CSC. The Commissioner leads the Executive Committee of national and regional officials which sets the vision and agenda for correctional service delivery across the country.  Additional information regarding the specific functions depicted in the chart below is available on CSC’s website.

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, the incident investigation process, and information management services.  The Senior Deputy Commissioner acts as Commissioner when required. 

The five Regional Deputy Commissioners are responsible for the overall management of CSC operations within their respective regions, implementation of correctional policy, and leadership in providing advice on criminal justice system matters. The Regional Deputy Commissioner provides direct supervision to the Directors of Parole Districts while the Assistant Deputy Commissioner Institutional Operations, who report to the Regional Deputy Commissioner, provides direct supervision to the Wardens of penitentiaries.

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.

The Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs is responsible for the integrity of community and institutional programs and policy across CSC and for improving the development and delivery of community supervision security, security intelligence, case management, programming, chaplaincy and restorative justice, as well as CORCAN.

The Assistant Commissioner, Policy, Research and Performance Assurance is responsible for corporate policy and research in support of the government agenda; federal, provincial / territorial and international relations; and the offender redress mechanisms as well as the delivery of services under the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act.  Additional responsibilities include accountability for evaluation, internal disclosure programs, the informal conflict management system, integrated business planning and reporting, and to ensure mechanisms are in place to analyze, monitor and measure CSC’s performance on delivering correctional results. 

The Assistant Commissioner, Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer is 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.
The Assistant Commissioner is also responsible for the direct management and operations of health services, excluding mental health treatment centres; which report to the senior management of the Region in which they are located.

The Assistant Commissioner, Human Resource Management is responsible for the management of human resource across the Correctional Service, including renewal of the CSC workforce, health of the workplace, labour relations, staffing, classification, and the design and delivery of training, learning and development programs for all employees.

The Assistant Commissioner, Public Affairs and Parliamentary Relations is responsible for 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. The Sector is responsible for the Parliamentary Relations between CSC and the Minister’s Office as well as Information Services to Victims of Crime.

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.

1.5 Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture

CSC’s Program Activity Architecture describes the major thrusts in activity which supports achievement of the organization’s strategic objective.  It captures the long-term strategic direction for CSC by ensuring 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, and performance management program.

Combining non-financial performance indicators and measures with its robust and rigorous financial and risk management frameworks, positions CSC to best evaluate its operational performance.   It also permits CSC to take necessary actions to ensure the organization continues to produce meaningful public safety results for Canadians, relative to the resources entrusted to the organization.

CSC modified its Program Activity Architecture in 2008-09 shifting to a smaller number of business lines. This has significant impacts when comparing previous Plans and Priorities as well as previous Departmental Reports on Plans. A significant change will be seen in the financial reports. Previously, costs for some activities, such as information management, were spread across the business lines where the technology was used. Under the current Treasury Board model for Program Activity Architectures, those costs are reported under Internal Services Activity.

The other business lines in the CSC’s Program Activity Architecture reflect the structure of CSC’s correctional environment. Offenders spend time in "Custody" in institutions and they spend time being managed in the "Community under Supervision". In both the institution and the community, offenders are offered "Correctional Interventions" aimed at helping them assume their accountability to become and remain law-abiding citizens. Indeed, some interventions begin while the offender is in the institution and continue or are maintained once the offender returns to the community. For example, the offender may learn employment-related skills in institution and then participate in job placement programs once in the community.

The Program Activity Architecture has an Activity labelled "CORCAN", a separate agency within CSC that provides the employment and job readiness programs for offenders as well as producing products for the marketplace. This year, CORCAN is shown as a separate Activity because of its financial revolving fund, their work however, is reported under the Correctional Interventions CORCAN Employment and Employability Program.

1.6 Planning Summary and Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

While many departments have multiple Strategic Objectives, CSC has one; its contribution to public safety.

CSC has 5 over-arching priorities representing broad desired outcomes that include initiatives presented in A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety¹¹ as well as other actions that are part of our ongoing commitment to effective correctional practice or part of our Transformation Agenda.

CSC also has a Corporate Risk Profile (see Section 1.7 Risk Analysis). Since CSC has just one Strategic Objective it may be useful to examine the links between that Objective, CSC’s Priorities, as well as the relevant Program Activity areas and Corporate Risks.

1.7 Risk Analysis

CSC continues to face significant challenges in addressing various risks that impact on delivering effective correctional services which lead to public safety results for Canadians.

The offender population profile has been changing. Offenders arrive at federal custody with criminal histories involving violent offending, mental health problems, substance abuse problems, gang and organized crime affiliations and higher rates of health issues such as infectious disease. To meet the risks posed by the current offender population and to be as efficient as possible, CSC must transform the way we do our business, deliver our services, and contribute to protecting the public. Every aspect of our operations and management is being examined for ways to improve, make better use of our resources, and identify economies and efficiencies to invest in activities that produce better public safety results.

Like many government departments, CSC faces the risks posed by experienced staff retiring and strong competition in the labour market to attract diverse professionals and skilled workers. Attracting and retaining a skilled workforce that is able to succeed in a difficult working environment has always been a challenge. We are managing these risks through our Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management.

There is a risk that offenders will not make the most productive use of the time they serve and the programs available to them and consequently re-offend when released to the community. CSC is transforming its interventions, improving opportunities for enhancing the employability of offenders, making institutions safer, reorganizing our schedules, and setting expectations that motivate offenders to make productive use of each day.

To align our actions to the risks we face, CSC has created a Corporate Risk Profile that identifies various risks and the strategies for mitigating them in the areas of:

• Sustaining an aging physical infrastructure
• Addressing potential pandemic readiness
• Reducing re-offending and violence
• Implementing Strategic Human Resource Management and Deployment of our staff
• Responding to offender physical and mental health issues
• Creating the capacity to meet the needs of Aboriginal Offenders
• Effectively managing financial and technological resources.
• Building and sustaining partnerships and relationships
• Fostering a responsive and adaptive organization

The strategies for mitigating these risk areas are reviewed quarterly to support executive decision-making. As well, the Risk Profile informs CSC’s Audit Plan and Evaluation Plan as seen in Section 3.1 , Tables 6 and 7 respectively.

1.8 Expenditure Profile / Voted and Statutory Items

The figure below displays the allocation of CSC funding by Program Activity for 2009-10.  CSC funding is primarily allocated to Program Activity 1 (Custody) as it relates to operations of our institutions.  Previously some common services type costs were allocated across the business lines where the cost was actually incurred. In accordance with current Treasury Board guidelines, most of those costs are now reported under Internal Services.

The passage of Budget 2009 will enable CSC to continue to make gains on the progress of its plans as well as to proceed with the transformational agenda laid out in this Report on Plans and Priorities.

2009-10 Allocation of Funding by Program Activity

Voted and Statutory Items

This table illustrates the way in which Parliament approved CSC resources via main estimates.

SECTION 2: ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME

This section explains i) how CSC’s program activities, and the plans associated with them, support CSC’s single strategic outcome, and ii) how progress toward achieving the strategic outcome will be measured and reported in CSC’s 2008-09 Departmental Performance Report.

2.1 Custody

As mandated in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, CSC contributes to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by carrying out sentences imposed by the courts through the safe and humane custody of offenders.

Creating safe conditions within institutions is critical to enabling offenders to focus on the programs and activities that will change their behaviour. Eliminating illicit drugs in the institutions, enhancing our security intelligence capacity, and enhancing our capacity to provide the treatment to offenders with mental health problems are important parts of achieving a safe environment where offenders take accountability for their behaviour. Providing safe institutions is also essential to attracting, retaining, and enabling a skilled staff to affect those interventions with offenders in pursuit of changing their behaviour.

Setting precise numeric targets for correctional activities is a challenge because the offender population is constantly changing. Offenders who succeed in changing their behaviour eventually return to the community and may be replaced with others who bring the same or different needs. CSC is transforming the way it meets the challenges. Some of the investments CSC will make will need to be tested in pilot projects before being rolled out nationally. Some strategies will produce an impact immediately; others will need time to change attitudes and ingrained behaviours. CSC remains committed to demonstrating that the direction of our transformation is consistent with our targets while finding the best ways to quantify the magnitude of the results in ways that are meaningful to Canadians.

Program Activity Summary: This program activity ensures that offenders are provided with reasonable, safe, secure and humane custody while serving their sentence.  This program activity provides much of the day-to-day needs for offenders in custody including a wide range of activities that address health and safety issues as well as provide basics such as food, clothing, mental health services, and physical health care.  It also includes security measures within institutions including drug interdiction, and appropriate control practices to prevent incidents.

Planning highlights

In order to achieve the expected results, CSC has planned:

• an integrated set of initiatives to eliminate drugs in institutions;
• strategies to manage conflict between inmate sub-populations;
• enhancements for sharing security intelligence to prevent further criminal activity;
• enhancements or improved capacities to assess and address the needs of offenders particularly as they relate to infectious disease and mental health; and
• methods to maximize the level of safety within the institution.

Details of the activities that will produce these results can be found in Section 3.3

Benefits for Canadians

In addition to the punishment aspect of the sentence, Canadians hold offenders accountable for changing their behaviour. CSC has a reputation for offering high quality needs assessments and for offering innovative programming to meet those needs. Making institutions safe, secure, and drug-free is critical to creating an environment where offenders can concentrate on becoming law-abiding.

Teaching offenders how to resolve conflicts and deal with their emotions without violence will make all members of society safer; especially the families and communities to which the offender returns when released or at the end of their sentence.

Some offenders will try to continue their criminal connections and activity while incarcerated, such as drug trafficking. The Security Intelligence work CSC does with its criminal justice and police partners contributes to making institutions safer but also contributes to making communities safer when criminal associates in the community, who try to get drugs into institutions, are arrested and convicted.

Addressing the needs of offenders with mental health problems not only reduces their vulnerability but can reduce the risk they represent to others. Creating an integrated approach to meet those needs promotes the most cost-effective way of delivering services, especially in the community.

2.2 Correctional Interventions

As mandated in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, CSC contributes to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by assisting the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens through the provision of programs in penitentiaries and in the community.

CSC has emerged as a world leader in development, implementation, and delivery of evidence-based programs designed to make offenders accountable for their criminal behaviour, change criminal attitudes, and significantly reduce the risk they present to Canadians when they are released back into society. Many industrialised nations, such as Australia, the UK, and United States, import CSC Correctional Programs to rehabilitate their most serious offenders.

CSC measures the performance of Correctional Programs by comparing the reduction in crime by offenders who participated in programs compared to those who did not participate. As a result, CSC can directly measure significant contributions to public safety.

A recent evaluation has determined that CSC Correctional Programs significantly contribute to crime reduction. For example, offenders who participated in CSC’s National Substance Abuse Program were 45% less likely to return with a new offence and 63% less likely to return with a new violent offence.

The Independent Review Panel noted that the demand for programs created by the changing offender profile has an impact on CSC’s capacity to deliver those programs both in the institution and in the community. CSC’s challenge is to deliver the right programs at the right time in the Offender’s sentence to support the offender’s efforts to change their behaviour.

Program Activity Summary: The Correctional Interventions Program Activity, which occurs in both institutions and communities, is necessary to help bring positive changes in behaviour and to safely and successfully reintegrate offenders back into Canadian communities. This program activity aims to address problems that are directly related to offenders' criminal behaviour and that interfere with their ability to function as law-abiding members of society.

Planning highlights

In order to achieve the expected results, CSC has planned:

• new methodologies in correctional program delivery that will assist offenders earlier in their sentence, increase program availability, and eliminate redundant services;
• strategies to better structure the offenders’ day to make it more productive,
• programs to increase the job readiness or employability of offenders;
• streamlining the case management processes used to assess and report on offenders’ progress, and
• strategies to address the unique needs of groups within our population including women offenders, Aboriginal offenders, ethno-cultural offenders, and offenders with mental health problems.

Details of the activities that will produce these results can be found in Section 3.3

Benefits for Canadians

Modernizing our employment strategies to match current and emerging employment trends will give offenders skills at finding and keeping a job. This will support their safe transition back into society and reduce the burden they, and their families, might otherwise be on social services in the community.

Better integrating our programs will benefit Canadians by enabling CSC to get more offenders through the necessary program goals within the time and resources available. Ensuring program gains made in the institution can readily continue when the offender is in the community will encourage participation in programs and increase the number of offenders who complete their programs.

Improving our diagnosis, treatment, and management of offenders with mental health problems is essential to helping them safely and successfully reintegrate into the community.

CSC has contributed programming and intervention approaches throughout the world, increasing Canada’s reputation as a country of innovators and professionals. This has attracted global experts who contribute to our ongoing efforts at improvement.

2.3 Community Supervision

As mandated in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, CSC contributes to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by carrying out sentences imposed by courts through the safe and humane supervision of eligible offenders in the community. 

While many of the interventions used in the community are identified under the Program Activity of Correctional Interventions, CSC also uses other tools to manage offenders while in the community. For example, offenders released in the final third of their sentence on Statutory Release, and those who have been resistant to taking accountability for their behaviour, have had conditions added to their sentence requiring them to live in a community-based residential facility under supervision.

Community staff may work with offenders and their families while the offender is in the institution as well as while on community supervision. Unlike institutions that may have some services located within the facility, offenders on supervision often use local services in the community. They may also require assistance after the end of their sentence when CSC no longer has jurisdiction to provide that service. For all of these reasons, community supervision is heavily dependant on successful relationships and sharing resources with community partners and agencies.

In recent years, changes in the federal offender population have increased the need for additional training for staff to manage challenging situations and measures to ensure staff are safe and secure in their work place.

When all aspects of Community Supervision come together well, offenders complete their supervisi

on periods without interruption and without committing new offences.  However, similar to results in institutions, the complexity of all the variables that must interact to produce that result makes precise target setting difficult. CSC remains committed to significant progress in activities to better manage offenders while under supervision as evidenced by reductions in those who return to custody.

Program Activity Summary: The Community Supervision Program ensures eligible offenders are safely reintegrated into communities through the provision of housing and health services, where required, as well as staff supervision for the duration of the offenders’ sentence. The expected results for this program activity are offenders who are reintegrated into the community as law-abiding citizens while maintaining a level of supervision, which contributes to public safety.

As noted earlier, correctional interventions which occur in the community are reported in the previous Program Activity area: Correctional Interventions.

Planning highlights

In order to achieve the expected results, CSC has planned:

• strategies to maximize the effectiveness of community residential facilities;
• initiatives to more effectively manage offenders with a residency condition as part of their release;
• ways of strengthening community partnerships and collaborative undertakings
• enhancements to our consultations with citizens;
• improvements in the security of staff working in the community;
• strategies to intervene more effectively with offenders in the community including Electronic Monitoring; strategies specific to short-term offenders, and strategies for offenders on Long-Term Supervision Orders;
• refinements to the skills training and management support of staff working in the community; and
• collaborations with other jurisdictions to identify and share best practices and engage community partners to support mental health services and community reintegration.

Details of the activities that will produce these results can be found in Section 3.3

Benefits for Canadians

The vast majority of offenders will eventually return to the community through some form of conditional release or because their sentence has expired. Ensuring those offenders are effectively and efficiently supervised is essential to public safety.

As stated earlier, the offenders who are now passing through the federal correctional system present more challenges. Many offenders face significant difficulties re-establishing themselves upon return to the community, especially in times of economic downturn. Working closely with partners encourages the most effective use of community resources so that more may be available to other citizens that need them.

Reviewing and improving its use of community-based residential facilities, whether operated by CSC or contracted from community agencies, will result in the security of having the right offenders under the right levels of control and supervision while they are in the community.

Improvements to the structure, management, and staff training in our community operations results in more effective use of limited resources and brings more expertise to bear on preventing re-offending and protecting the public.

Enhancing the consultation process with communities will benefit Canadians by assuring them of meaningful opportunities to influence policy and management decisions.

Employing alternate methods of intervening with offenders in the community, such as using Electronic Monitoring, will allow CSC to use less expensive, but equally effective, controls. In this way, existing resources can be concentrated on those offenders who represent the most challenge.

2.4 CORCAN¹³

Program Activity Summary: CORCAN is a Special Operating Agency of CSC that employs federal offenders for its workforce and, in doing so, provides them with working skills necessary to compete in the workforce once released from federal custody.

Employment and employability are recognized as major factors in an offender’s ability to pursue a crime-free life. Up to 20% of the offender population is active in some form of CORCAN training. Over two million hours of employment and training are provided each year in addition to other interventions. However, more than 70% of offenders at admission have unstable work histories; more than 70% have not completed high school and more than 60% have no trade or skill knowledge.¹⁴ Without the means to earn a living upon release, an offender’s rehabilitation is jeopardized.

A major challenge this coming year will be the economic situation within the country. The economic downturn increases pressure to place offenders in meaningful jobs in the community at a time when fewer jobs may be available.  In addition, the economic downturn will lower CORCAN revenues from the sale of products. This may translate into fewer institutional jobs and reduced funds for vocational training.

These challenges can be addressed in part by the correctional interventions CSC is undertaking to encourage offenders to complete their education and in improvements to the employment and job readiness skills CSC will offer to better prepare offenders for the labour market. While the specific plans arising from the Panel Report appear in the Correctional Interventions sections of this document, some of the planning highlights for Transforming offender employment and employability are repeated here for the reader's convenience:

• strategies to extend the time available to offenders to participate in productive activities such as work
• implementation of employment strategies specifically designed for Women Offenders and for Aboriginal Offenders
• implementation of an Employment Skill Assessment tool for all offenders
• exploration of employment related opportunities through private and public sector engagement
• strategies to assist offenders to become better educated and / or skilled for work

Further information about CORCAN, including its annual reports, can be found on CSC’s website.¹⁵

2.5 Internal Services

As are all government departments, CSC is accountable to exercise its mandate in the most cost-effective and efficient way possible. The Report A Roadmap to Strengthening Public Safety, provided guidance to CSC on the future management of its physical infrastructure, improving information services to victims, the way CSC gets its public education message out, and the way CSC measures and reports on its performance. Further, CSC is engaged in all major government-wide initiatives such as Public Service Renewal and is an effective partner in horizontal initiatives such as Canada’s contribution in Afghanistan or efforts to improve conditions for Aboriginal persons.

As mentioned earlier, previous Program Activity Architectures allocated some common services type costs and results across all of CSC’s previous business lines. The current model groups more of those under Internal Services.

Identifying specific targets for Internal Services is a challenge in that their success is often borne out in the contribution they make to results other Activities. For example, the ultimate success of our communications efforts may be found in the results of a program because volunteers understood CSC’s vision and were drawn to contribute to it. By focusing overall on sound management practices, CSC will create a focused and sustainable environment for its staff and their endeavours.

Program Activity Summary: Corporate and administrative services that support the effective and efficient delivery of operational programs and activities across the organization and which contribute meaningfully to horizontal and / or government-wide initiatives.

Planning highlights

Delivery of much of our Transformational Agenda is done in the other Program Activities areas where direct services occur. However, strong performance on our Internal Services and overall management functions are critical to achieving and sustaining the gains made in individual Program Activities.

CSC will ensure a workplace that fully respects and demonstrates Public Service ethics and values. This will be evident in our human resources strategies to get the right people in the right jobs. It will be visible in the relationships we build internally with partners and with victims of crime. It will be present in our efforts to manage overtime and seek economies and efficiencies in the use of all our resources and the controls we employ to manage those efforts.

In order to achieve the expected results, CSC has planned:

• strategies to improve recruitment and development of employment equity groups;
• actions to improve workplace health and nurture effective labour-management relationships;
• individual learning and development initiatives to ensure that we have the right people at the right place at the right time;
• recruitment and retention strategies for health care professionals, trades and other challenging occupational groups to staff;
• respectful of public service value;
• improvements to our ability and tools for sharing and communicating information;
• enhanced services to victims of crime including collaboration with partners;
• working with community partners to enhance success of releasing offenders to an Aboriginal community as per section 84 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act;
• the development and expansion of horizontal partnerships with Non-Governmental Organizations, other Departments and jurisdictions including both voluntary and private sector organizations;
• robust control systems for financial transactions;
• development and implementation of strategies to initiate further economies and increase the level of efficiency of CSC’s operations; and
• strategies to ensure the most efficient and effective use of overtime in our operations.

Details of the activities that will produce these results can be found in Section 3.3

Benefits for Canadians

CSC will, over the next three years, transform the efficiency and effectiveness of how we manage and perform our duties. Rigorously ensuring CSC’s financial transactions and controls are working will maximize the benefits Canadians get from their investment in their Correctional Service.

Canadians who have been victims of crime will benefit from CSC’s improvements to Victim Services by providing them with better support and information to understand and contribute to the correctional decisions around the person who victimized them.

CSC’s Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management will benefit Canadians working in CSC or seeking employment, especially those from groups under represented in the public sector. By contributing to a highly skilled professional Correctional Service, Canadians will have a workplace of choice to consider where they can expect to grow personally while making an important contribution to Canada. 

CSC’s internal communications action plans will ensure that Canadians have an informed, responsive Correctional Service, consistently focused on what is important to citizens. Enhanced public consultations and education will help citizens interact and influence CSC’s management decisions. Improvements to our measurement and reporting of results will make it easier for citizens to understand how their Correctional Service is performing.

SECTION 3: Supplementary Information

3.1 List of Supplementary Information Tables

The following tables can be accessed via the Treasury Board Website.

• Table 3 - Green Procurement
• Table 4 - Sustainable Development
• Table 6 - Internal Audits
• Table 7 - Evaluations
• Table 9 - Sources of Respendable and Non-Respendable Revenue
• Table 11 - Summary of Capital Spending by Program Activity
• Table 12 - User Fees
• Table 13 - Revolving Funds

3.2 Performance Indicators against Corporate Priorities

• Indicators by Priorities

3.3 Detailed Plans by Program Activity

• Plans by Activity

3.4 Contact Information

Correctional Service of Canada Internet site: www.csc-scc.gc.ca

CSC Contacts:

Bill Staubi
Director General
Performance Management
340 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A, 0P9
Telephone: (613) 992-8723
Facsimile: (613) 995-5064
Email:  StaubiBH@csc-scc.gc.ca

Lynn Garrow
Assistant Commissioner
Policy, Research and Performance Assurance
340 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P9
Telephone: (613) 996-1710
Facsimile: (613) 943-9292
Email: GarrowLY@csc-scc.gc.ca