Commissioner's directive 705-2: Information collection

Commissioner's Directive

1. The Regional Deputy Commissioner will ensure that effective information sharing and collection procedures are in place so that CSC is notified in a timely manner of new federal sentences and receives all relevant information from courts, jails, detention centres, Crown Attorney offices, etc.
2. The Institutional Head or District Director will ensure that:
   1. the information collection process about the offender is initiated by staff
   2. compliance with section 23 of the CCRA is monitored to ensure that all relevant information about the offender is collected.
3. The Assistant Warden, Interventions/Area Director and/or the coordinator of information collection will:
   1. liaise with police, courts, remand centres, provincial and territorial correctional centres, the office of the Crown Attorney, and other components of the criminal justice system to collect the relevant information
   2. ensure that Victim Impact Statements, if available, are collected
   3. ensure that court orders (e.g. restitution to victims or child support), if available, are obtained
   4. collect information regarding the criminal history, including previous dismissed, stayed, or withdrawn charges, and/or convictions for significant offences and all judicial processes, (i.e., first and second trials, appeals, etc.) where appropriate to assist CSC in the management of the offender's sentence
   5. request all police reports for both current and previous criminal activities involving violence which are recorded on the offender's Finger Print Section (FPS) sheet, including those which did not result in conviction
   6. retrieve all prior federal files from Archives
   7. ensure that the Parole Officer's requests for information and information received are documented
   8. ensure that, upon receiving notification about the imposition of a federal sentence, the Case Documentation Checklist is initiated within five days of the date of notification
   9. ensure that all information requests and receipts of information are recorded in the Case Documentation Checklist
   10. pursue missing information until it is either obtained or determined by written confirmation to be unavailable.
4. The Parole Officer Supervisor/Manager, Assessment and Interventions (MAI), is responsible for identifying the need for additional information and forwarding the request to staff responsible for information collection.

5. The minimum official information required for the completion of the intake assessment and initial Correctional Plan are:
   1. an official version of the offence (e.g. police report and/or judge's comments and/or Crown Attorney's comments)
   2. history of criminal activity (provincial and federal) – including Finger Print Section (FPS) sheet, if available
   3. Gladue report, if available
   4. young offender history, if available, and
   5. victim impact statement, if available.
6. Additional information to be collected includes:
   1. official documents (e.g., court documents, pre-sentence report, court orders, etc.)
   2. post-sentence community assessment
   3. all relevant information about the offender's personal history, including the offender's physical and mental health, if available
   4. all reasons and recommendations relating to the sentencing or committal that are given or made by:
      1. the court that convicts, sentences or commits the person
      2. any court that hears an appeal on the conviction, sentence or committal.
7. The Parole Officer will update intake assessment documents upon receipt of additional official documents, if required.

8. Strategic Policy Division
   National Headquarters
   Email: Gen-NHQPolicy-Politi@CSC-SCC.GC.CA

Commissioner,

Original Signed by:

Don Head

• CD 701 – Information Sharing
• CD 705 – Intake Assessment Process and Correctional Plan Framework
• CD 784 – Information Sharing Between Victims and the Correctional Service of Canada
• Parole Board of Canada Policy Manual
• Access to Information Act
• Privacy Act
• Youth Criminal Justice Act