Policy bulletin 481

Policy Bulletin

These policies were modified as a result of the passing of Private Member’s Bill C-479 – Fairness for Victims Act. This Act makes several changes to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, including changing certain parole and detention review dates, enshrining in law victims’ rights regarding parole hearings, and expanding victims’ access to information about an offender.

The Act creates a number of changes for offenders convicted of violent offences; specifically, offenders who have been convicted of an “offence involving violence” for which the offender is serving a sentence of at least two years – or a sentence that includes a sentence of at least two years -- for an “offence involving violence”. The Act defines an “offence involving violence” as murder or any offence set out in Schedule 1 of the CCRA.

The parts of Bill C-479 that have come into force and that impact CSC’s policies are outlined below:

• Increases the legislated parole review period for an offender convicted of an “offence involving violence” from within two years to within five years, following a denial of parole;
• Increases the legislated parole review period for an offender convicted of an “offence involving violence” if parole is cancelled or terminated, from within two years to within four years (after that, any additional reviews will occur every five years);
• Gives the Parole Board of Canada the authority to cancel the next review hearing for an offender who has refused to attend or has waived a parole hearing less than 15 days before the scheduled date without a reasonable explanation more than once in the past; and,
• Increases the legislated review period of detention orders for offenders convicted of a Schedule 1 offence that caused death or serious harm from within one year to within two years.

Also, pursuant to the Commissioner’s Directives Standardization Project, technical and stylistic adjustments were applied to CD 712-3, consistent with other CDs, including separating the bilingual CD into stand-alone English and French versions. As well, several modifications were made to the text to enhance clarity and accuracy.

These policies were updated by the Institutional Reintegration Operations Division in collaboration with the Strategic Policy Division.

Roles and responsibilities are detailed in the policy document. They have not changed since the previous version of the CD.

• Director
• Institutional Reintegration Operations
• 613-995-7954