2018-2019 Departmental Plan

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Minister's message

In 2018-19, we will also focus on innovation, including exploring technologies to prevent and detect drones trying to drop contraband and unauthorized items into CSC institutions, developing a life signs monitoring system to better intervene in and prevent inmate death, and launching a pilot project to provide a digital education environment for inmates to access online education courses content and integrate technology support in education programs. In addition, we will continue to advance our work to decrease reliance on administrative segregation and will begin to re-establish penitentiary farms.

I look forward to continuing the progress we have made so far and to delivering real change^{Endnote i} for Canadians.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Plans at a glance

During fiscal year 2018-19, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) will support the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness as he delivers on key components of his mandate. Aligned with its corporate priorities, CSC's plans focus on four areas: Indigenous offenders, mental health, safe transition, and safety and security.

CSC will work to further reduce waiting periods for culturally-appropriate programs in support of the Minister's mandate of addressing gaps in services, leading to better opportunities for Indigenous offenders to gain conditional release and permitting CSC to fulfill its own mandate in this important area.

CSC is implementing a National Indigenous Plan to respond to the needs of Indigenous offenders, which includes a collective renewal and integration of department-wide actions using an Indigenous lens.

One of the core elements of the National Indigenous Plan is to create Aboriginal Intervention Centres (AIC) in all regions. These centres operate as intake assessment units and offer Indigenous-specific correctional programs and interventions, including the Aboriginal Integrated Correctional Program Model and the Inuit Integrated Correctional Program, to support safe offender transition and reintegration. Indigenous communities play an important role in Indigenous offenders' correctional plans through the Corrections and Conditional Release Act Section 84 release process.

To enhance its cultural competency and better meet the needs of Indigenous offenders, CSC is working diligently to attract and retain Indigenous staff through succession planning and via career and leadership-development opportunities.

CSC's planned key result in this area is to improve the overall mental health of the offender population by expanding mental health services to offenders with this need. This initiative will support the Minister's mandate of addressing gaps in services to those with mental illness.

CSC implements and monitors its Refined Model of Mental Health Care. To maximize efficiency and effectiveness of mental health services, the level of offender need is matched with the required level of mental health intervention in this model. Financial resources were allocated in Budget 2017 to expand intermediate (i.e. enhanced) mental health care at eight sites for men (five medium security and three maximum security) as well as in all women's secure units (maximum security). These new resources will improve access to specialized mental health services for both men and women across the country.

CSC is developing a suicide prevention and intervention framework involving prevention, intervention, and postvention initiatives that are underpinned by policy, research, and staff training. The framework will support the application of research and literature to create a consistent conceptual model and approach that will include the development of suicide assessment training and resources for CSC health care professionals.

CSC works to achieve a higher percentage of offenders completing correctional programs and vocational training, and a lower percentage of offenders being readmitted to federal custody after release. These key results will demonstrate CSC's contribution to public safety and support the federal government's outcome area of ensuring a safe and secure Canada.

CSC encourages offenders to be accountable for their reintegration. An individualized correctional plan is developed for each offender based on their assessed risks and needs. These plans are monitored and updated regularly according to policy guidelines and offenders' performance. CSC advances the Structured Assessment and Intervention Framework (SAIF) initiative through piloting and implementing risk assessment and management tools and processes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the case management function.

CSC invests considerable time, energy and resources to plan, deliver, and monitor its correctional programs, including the Integrated Correctional Program Model, the Aboriginal Integrated Correctional Program Model, the Women Offender Correctional Programs, the Aboriginal Women Offender Correctional Programs and the Inuit Integrated Correctional Program. These programs address offenders' risk and needs in a holistic, effective and efficient manner while contributing to their safe and timely reintegration. CSC makes sustained efforts to provide correctional programming and related release planning at the most opportune time in an offender's sentence.

CSC provides education programs to offenders to help them develop literacy, academic, and personal development skills thereby improving their capacity to successfully reintegrate into the community. CSC also offers on-the-job training and vocational opportunities to enhance offenders' employment skills, thus increasing their reintegration potential. Social skills are also important for reintegration and CSC helps offenders develop these skills through the provision of structured and unstructured social programs and activities, such as integration programs, recreation, self-help, life-skills training, and social and cultural activities.

The key results CSC aims to achieve in this area include elimination of the entry of illicit contraband and reduction of the number of safety and security incidents at all levels. These results will support CSC's corporate priorities and are in line with the federal government's outcome area of ensuring a safe and secure Canada. To achieve this result, on a ongoing basis, CSC reviews, updates and implements a population management approach that guides decisions around accommodation, interventions and resources. This includes regular review of relevant Commissioner's Directives and associated guidelines whose function includes strengthening security protocols.

CSC constantly evaluates and adapts emerging security-related technologies, as appropriate, to the evolving correctional environment. A concerted effort is made to eliminate drugs and other contraband from institutions through the implementation of preventive security and intelligence policies and practices. CSC reviews and regularly updates national policies and protocols governing its National Contraband Control Strategy, as well as the use of ion scanners and other technologies at institutional principal entrances.

CSC has a robust body of tools for training and awareness building to foster and protect a positive workplace culture. As well, to promote the safety and security of all staff working in institutions and in the community, CSC will conduct ethical risk assessments at every site over the course of three years to identify and evaluate potential ethical risks in order to take appropriate actions to mitigate them.

For more information on CSC's plans, priorities and planned results, see the "Planned Results" section of this report.

Planned results: what we want to achieve this year and beyond

Core Responsibilities 

Core Responsibility 1: Care and Custody

CSC provides for the safety, security and humane care of inmates, including day-to-day needs of inmates such as food, clothing, accommodation, mental health services, and physical health care. It also includes security measures within institutions such as drug interdiction, and appropriate control practices to prevent incidents.

In order to reduce drug-related incidents, CSC strengthens its operational policies and procedures to eliminate the entry of illicit materials and reduce the trafficking and supply of drugs in institutions.

It is particularly important to identify fentanyl and prevent its entering institutions. CSC uses additional protective equipment and is partnering with organizations that research better ways of finding and managing that particular threat. As well, CSC offers a life-saving program through which inmates who qualify receive a Naloxone kit on release to reduce their risk of overdose in the community.

CSC evaluates and adapts emerging security-related technologies to the evolving correctional environment. As well, it enhances the capacity of preventive security and intelligence to respond to and prevent threats and risks that exist in operational settings, thereby contributing to national security.

CSC implements and monitors the segregation renewal strategy to improve decision making and strengthen oversight for administrative segregation. Action plans are developed and implemented in response to findings from audits, boards of investigation, coroners' inquiries and evaluations related to safety and security incidents. In fact, the investigation of incidents, the identification of challenges and risks, and the development of recommendations and action plans for improvements are a part of CSC's ongoing operations. In 2018-19, CSC will commence development of an investigation case management solution to facilitate the analysis of all serious incidents.

CSC provides offenders with essential health care that conforms to professionally accepted standards by constantly monitoring the application of the essential services framework. Health Services develops and implements continuous quality improvement measures to ensure effective health services are delivered to offenders while maintaining patient safety.

An evaluation of CSC's health services^{Footnote 1Endnote ii} was conducted in 2017 that identified key areas for improvement including access to institutional health services, effectiveness and efficiency of the health services intake assessment process, missing or unreliable data in referrals to specialist services, clinical health services files and the mental health needs scale, as well as gaps in policy and procedures to support offenders in obtaining necessary ID required to transition to provincial and territorial health services upon release.

CSC has implemented a Chronic Diseases Strategy, based on the recent deployment of an electronic medical record (EMR) and a review of chronic disease prevalence among inmates. CSC is leveraging the EMR and input from NMAC to develop clinical guidance and establish follow up protocols for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. In addition, CSC is undertaking a project to map Indigenous healing practice to existing health service delivery in an effort to maximize culturally appropriate services for inmates.

CSC is developing a comprehensive review of the "pathways of care", evaluating the assessment and follow up protocols for mental and physical health. This approach allows a process in order to ensure efficient delivery of services and to identify areas amenable to continuous quality improvement processes.

In all its strategies, initiatives and interventions, CSC develops, implements and monitors correctional policies, programs and practices that respect gender, ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences and are responsive to the needs of women, Indigenous peoples, and other groups, thereby ensuring recognition of human dignity and respect for all.

CSC will publish and implement its 2018-2020 Sustainable Development Strategy, and carry out additional environmental initiatives in support of CSC's Environmental Protection Programs.

When dealing with non-natural deaths in custody or escapes, CSC's objective is zero. It is necessary, however, to put that objective in the context of reality; therefore, CSC's results are compared with those from previous years and in relation to its current operational context.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the CSC's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Endnote iii}

Core Responsibility 2: Correctional Interventions

CSC conducts assessment activities and program interventions to support federal offenders' rehabilitation and facilitate their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens. CSC also engages Canadian citizens as partners in its correctional mandate, and provides outreach to victims of crime.

During 2018-19, CSC plans to maintain successful offender transitions to lower security levels and an even better completion rate of all nationally recognized correctional programs.

CSC develops and implements initiatives that will enhance the delivery of reintegration programs and target the criminogenic needs of offenders at intensity levels commensurate with their risk levels to reduce recidivism.

To that end, CSC delivers programs for men offenders (e.g. the Integrated Correctional Program Model). CSC also delivers correctional programs that address the specific criminogenic risks of women offenders in a gender-responsive manner (e.g. the Women Offender Correctional Programs and the Aboriginal Women Offender Correctional Programs). Finally, CSC delivers correctional programs that address the unique needs of Indigenous offenders in a culturally relevant manner (e.g. the Aboriginal ICPM, the Inuit Integrated Correctional Program).

All of the above include readiness, main and maintenance correctional programs to address offenders' risk factors in a holistic and efficient manner which contribute to their safe and timely reintegration. Readiness programs prepare and motivate offenders to address risk factors related to offending. Main programs specifically address risk factors related to offending at intensity levels commensurate to offenders' risk and needs; maintenance programs support offenders to continue to make changes and maintain skills learned through their participation in correctional programming. These programs are delivered to offenders in the institution and in the community.

CSC monitors the implementation of the Peer Mentorship Program in women offender institutions. Under this program, trained inmates provide peer support to other inmates, in an attempt to help them rehabilitate and cope with personal issues.

CSC develops and monitors the plans and results of education programs in order to provide offenders with the basic literacy, academic, and personal development skills that are needed for safe reintegration into the community. It will implement a process for formal learning-disability assessments in all regions, as recommended by the 2015 Evaluation Report: Offender Education Programs and Services.

CSC provides social programs and activities that encourage offenders to adopt pro-social lifestyles, use their time meaningfully, and prepare for reintegration into the community. In addition, CSC provides offenders with marketable employment skills through initiatives like employment soft skills and on-the-job skills development along with apprenticeship hours and certified vocational training to help offenders be employment-ready upon release. CSC will work to strengthen CORCAN's sales, marketing, and order-management processes through technological solutions including the introduction of a Customer Relationship Management solution to ensure the sustainability of CORCAN operations and future training and employment opportunities for offenders.

CSC improves procedures to provide offenders with opportunities to complete Correctional Programs prior to conditional release eligibility dates. As part of this effort, CSC advances the Structured Assessment and Intervention Framework initiative through the piloting and implementing risk assessment and management tools and processes to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the case management function. More specifically, this year CSC will utilize the Criminal Risk Index tool to assign inmates to correctional programs.

CSC optimizes the roles of Elders and Spiritual Advisors, and the use of Pathways Initiatives and Healing Lodges to provide strong, structured and culturally supportive environments for Indigenous offenders on the path to rehabilitation and reintegration.

CSC collaborates with Indigenous communities and partners to help increase their engagement in the management of Indigenous offenders' sentences and successful reintegration, as part of the CCRA Section 84 release planning process. CSC will make enhancements and raise awareness within communities and organizations regarding the Section 84 process and will respond to feedback received from the National Elders Working Group.

CSC provides offenders access to spiritual services through engagement with contractors, faith communities, volunteers and other community partners in support of successful offender reintegration.

CSC ensures that offenders have access to religious and spiritual services throughout the sentence and supervision continuum, through ongoing dialogue with the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy regarding best practices for institutional services, and through evaluative processes that inform policy and practice.

CSC engages victims of crime within the correctional process and includes their concerns in its decision-making processes. It also provides victims with information as per the law. In addition, CSC raises awareness and share information about restorative justice and its victim-offender mediation services, which provide client-centred mediation services through its Restorative Opportunities program.

CSC is using its Integrated Engagement Strategy to promote, develop, and strengthen diverse partnerships and stakeholder relationships at local, regional, and national levels. These relationships allow it to share information and support offenders, which contributes to their safe reintegration into Canadian communities and positive public safety results. CSC is also increasing the use of communication technologies to enhance partner/stakeholder engagement, including with volunteers, advisory groups, victims, and faith and non-faith community organizations.

Financial, human resources and performance information for CSC's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Endnote iv}

Core Responsibility 3: Community Supervision

CSC supervises offenders in the community and provides structure and services to support their safe and successful reintegration into the community. Services include accommodation options, community health services, and the establishment of community partnerships. CSC manages offenders on parole, statutory release, and long-term supervision orders.

During 2018-19, CSC will aim to improve results in the areas of offenders remaining crime-free during conditional release, completing supervision period and obtaining employment in the community. To achieve these results, CSC uses effective management and supervision of offenders in the community to reduce offenders' recidivism and increase their reintegration potential. CSC strengthens management and community capacity by identifying and addressing community-capacity challenges. CSC also assesses regional plans for expansion of community capacity to support increased demand and offender population needs.

The number of offenders under supervision in the community has grown in recent years, in terms of both the proportion of offenders and the actual number. In 2016-17, the last full year for which results are available, day and full parole grants were 39 per cent higher than 2011-12 (51 per cent higher for Indigenous offenders) and over the same time frame CSC recorded the lowest overall rate of convictions for offenders in the community.

The bar graph shows detail of offenders under community supervision for 5 fiscal years, from 2012-13 to 2016-17. It shows a trend of increasing numbers of offenders being supervised in the community over those years. Specific numbers are as follows: in 2012-13 there were 7,706 offenders were being supervised in the community; in 2013-14 there were 7,754; in 2014-15 there were 7,915; in 2015-16 there were 8,233; and in 2016-17 there were 8,572 offenders under supervision in the community.

CSC collaborates with other jurisdictions and with partners on mental health initiatives in order to provide continuity of mental health services to offenders in the community.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the CSC's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.^{Endnote v}

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the ten distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The ten service categories are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resource Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.

Planning highlights

CSC is determined to create and maintain a respectful workplace. In order to achieve this goal, CSC promotes the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector and the CSC Values Statement by integrating values and ethics training components in several CSC learning programs, as well as maintaining specialized training in Values and Ethics. Focussing management and staff attention on this area through assessment of ethical risk in all CSC sites over three years will promote the safety of all staff. The assessment includes the identification and evaluation of potential ethical risks and taking appropriate actions to mitigate these risks.

CSC implements strategies that improve the wellbeing of all staff. For example, CSC collaborates with key stakeholders to increase awareness among staff and managers of Internal Disclosure and services of the Office of Conflict Management to promote respectful workplaces and engage staff in working together toward this achievement. CSC also has a Steering Committee for Workplace Mental Health Injuries, led by the Commissioner, which is committed to strengthening and sustaining the mental readiness of all correctional employees. Through this committee, resources are being developed to increase employees' resiliency, and to improve access to immediate support for anyone in a distress/crisis situation.

CSC's extended Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management 2015-2016 to 2018-2019 identifies human-resources gaps, people-management priorities, and strategies developed to address each priority for the organization. This includes a National Recruitment and Retention Action Plan for health professionals, and a formal mentoring program for wardens and deputy wardens of women offender institutions, and for parole officer supervisors in women's supervision units.

To provide interim enterprise resource planning that improves the organization's ability to manage scheduling for its shift workers, CSC will include other Shift Worker Groups in the Integrated Scheduling and Deployment/Human Resource Management System Solution.

CSC maximizes learning and innovation opportunities through optimal collaboration with internal and external partners. Regular and open consultations are held with federal / provincial / territorial and international partners to share information and best practices among the various jurisdictions, thus contributing to effective communications within the Canadian criminal justice system and amongst inter-jurisdictional corrections partners.

CSC advances its multi-year action plan to implement the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management. It implements its 2015-2020 Investment Plan and financial strategies in response to budgetary constraints and refines the resource allocation model where required. As well, CSC enhances its Financial Management platforms and leverages the GC cloud offering.

CSC is implementing the CSC/Parole Board Canada IM/IT 2017 to 2020 Business Plan and advances information management through a robust CSC IM Program. CSC advances its information management capabilities through the full implementation of GCDOCS, the Electronic Document Management System, and by advancing the initial phases of the modernization of the Offender Management System.

In addition, CSC is implementing its 2015-2020 Accommodation Plan and strengthens contracting and materiel management across the organization.

Spending and human resources 

Planned spending

The graph illustrates the department's spending trend over a six-year period starting in 2015-16 and ending in 2020-21. In fiscal year 2015-16, the total spending was 2,358,000,000 dollars; in 2016-17, 2,363,000,000 dollars; and in 2017-18, 2,654,000,000 dollars. In 2018-19, the total planned spending is 2,444,000,000 dollars; in 2019-20, 2,441,000,000 dollars; and in 2020-21, 2,440,000,000 dollars.

The variance between 2016-17 actuals and 2017-18 forecasted spending is $291 million (increase). This variance is mainly due to increased funding to maintain operations, funding received for collective agreements, the 2016-17 year-end adjustment to contributions to employee benefit plans, CSC's operating carry-forward, Budget 2017 'Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable Offenders' and increases in funding for pay-list requirements. The 2017-18 forecast is higher than future years due to requirements for retroactive salary payments for collective agreements.

Planned human resources

The variance between 2016-17 and 2015-16 of 246 (decrease) is mostly due to the implementation of internal cost saving measures to achieve administrative efficiencies, including, as an example, the internal review of National Headquarters and Regional Headquarters organizational structures. Within the Custody Core Responsibility, delays in staffing and unforeseen departures also contributed to this variance. The variance between 2017-18 and 2016-17 is mostly due to Budget 2017 'Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable Offenders'. No significant variances are anticipated in future years.

Estimates by vote

For information on CSC's organizational appropriations, consult the 2018-19 Main Estimates.^{Endnote vi}

Consolidated Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations

The Consolidated Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations provides a general overview of CSC's operations. The forecast of financial information on expenses and revenues is prepared on an accrual accounting basis to strengthen accountability and to improve transparency and financial management.

Because the Consolidated Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations is prepared on an accrual accounting basis, and the forecast and planned spending amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan are prepared on an expenditure basis, amounts may differ.

A more detailed Consolidated Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on the CSC's website.^{Endnote vii}

CSC's 2018-19 planned expenses are projected to be $2,573,825,133. These expenses include planned spending presented in this Departmental Plan and also include expenses such as amortization and services provided without charge. CSC's planned revenues are projected to be $61,898,754 in 2018-19. Revenues are primarily generated by the CORCAN revolving fund.

Variances between the planned results for 2018-19 and the 2017-18 forecast results are largely attributable to the timing of key elements in the government expenditure cycle. For instance, funding and initiatives that were not approved in time to be included in the Main Estimates have not been included in the 2018-19 planned results. Additionally, 2017-18 forecast results include funding for retroactive payments following the signing of various collective agreements.

Supplementary information

Corporate information 

Organizational profile

Minister: The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.

Institutional Head: Anne Kelly, Interim Commissioner

Ministerial Portfolio: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Enabling Instrument(s): Corrections and Conditional Release Act, S.C. 1992, c. 20

Year of Incorporation / Commencement: 1979 (March 31)

Raison d'être, mandate and role

"Raison d'être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do" is available on CSC's website.^{Endnote viii}

Operating context and key risks

Information on operating context and key risks is available on CSC's website.^{Endnote ix}

Reporting framework

Correctional Service of Canada's Strategic Outcomes, Core Responsibilities and Program Inventory of record for 2018-19 are shown below:

Strategic Outcome: The custody, correctional interventions, and supervision of offenders in communities and in institutions, contribute to public safety

Supporting information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to CSC is available on CSC's website^{Endnote x} and in the GC InfoBase.^{Endnote xi}

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on CSC's website^{Endnote xii}:

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy^{Endnote xiii}
• Disclosure of transfer payment programs under $5 million^{Endnote xiv}
• Gender-Based Analysis^{Endnote xv}
• Planned evaluation coverage over the next five fiscal years^{Endnote xvi}
• Upcoming internal audits for the coming fiscal year^{Endnote xvii}

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.^{Endnote xviii} This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Correctional Service of Canada website^{Endnote xix}

340 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P9

Feedback Form^{Endnote xx}

Appendix A: definitions