Day Parole Releases to ‘Other Locations’: Fiscal Years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024

Research Highlight: The success of residential Day Parole releases observed during the pandemic era continued into fiscal years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.

Number: RIB-25-17
Date: 2025

Alternative Format

Why we are doing this study

Day Parole (DP) releases among federal offenders typically involve residency at a Community Correctional Centre (CCC) or a Community-Based Residential Facility (CBRF). However, in certain situations, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) may grant DP release to an “other location,” such as a private residence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, private residence DP releases became more common in light of the health challenges associated with congregate living situations.

Prior analyses demonstrated a very high rate of success among pandemic era residential DP releases, with parole revocations noted in only 1.5% of cases (Motiuk & McKendy, 2022). Profile analyses further demonstrated that offenders released on DP to a private residence typically had indicators of lower risk and need relative to the larger DP release cohorts (Motiuk, McKendy & Farrell MacDonald, 2022). These findings suggest that DP residential releases were used effectively as a viable and safe option for certain lower risk offenders during the pandemic.

What we did

A follow-up analysis was undertaken to explore DP residential releases following shifts during the pandemic. A dataset of DP releases to “other” locations was extracted from CSC’s reporting system, Radar Prime, for fiscal years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024. Cases were manually reviewed to identify residential releases (such as, DP releases to a private home; cases involving releases to locations other than a private residence, such as a treatment facility or long-term care home, were excluded). Release outcomes were explored during both the initial DP period as well as full the duration of DP.

What we found

The number of DP residential releases declined following a peak during the pandemic (such as, 297 cases in fiscal year 2020 to 2021 and 221 cases in 2021 to 2022). Specifically, there were 162 DP residential releases in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, and 207 in 2023 to 2024. This represented 8% and 9% of all DP releases during the 2 fiscal years respectively. 

Consistent with prior analyses, residential locations most often included a parental home (44%), followed by the home of an intimate partner (34%). There was a relative increase in releases to the home of an intimate partner or the cohabitation with an intimate partner in the most recent fiscal year under analysis. The success rate of DP residential releases continued to be high. During the initial period of DP, revocations were noted in only 4 of 162 cases (such as, 2%) in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, and one of 207 cases (such as, less than 1%) in fiscal year 2023 to 2024. With respect to the entire period of DP, revocations were noted in 9 (6%) cases in fiscal year 2022 to 2023, and 3 (2%) cases in fiscal year 2023 to 2024.

What it means

Residential DP cases account for a relatively small percentage of all DP releases. The high success rate of such releases observed during the pandemic era continued into fiscal years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024. This suggests residential DP continues to be used in an effective manner to promote successful reintegration where safe and viable.

References

Motiuk, L. & McKendy, L. (2022). Pandemic Era Impacts on Day Parole Releases to Private Residences, RIB-22-18. Ottawa, ON: Correctional Service Canada.
Motiuk, L. McKendy, L. & Farrell MacDonald, S. (2022). Day Parole Home Placements During the Pandemic: Understanding Case Characteristics, RIB-22-24. Ottawa, ON: Correctional Service Canada.

For more information

Please e-mail the Research Branch at research@csc-scc.gc.ca. You can also visit the Research Publications section for a full list of reports and one-page summaries.

Prepared by: Dirk Boon