Pittsburgh Institution

Pittsburgh Institution is a minimum-security facility located in Joyceville on the same property as Joyceville Institution. Pittsburgh Institution officially opened in 1963 and incarcerates about 200 inmates.

Pittsburgh Institution's main entrance.

All visitors including victims must report to the security desk. Visitors are required to sign in a visitor's log. Photo identification is necessary. A visitor card will be given to you and must be worn and kept visible to institutional staff at all times during the visit. Parking is available for visitors.

Entrance to security check. Observers and victims will be greeted by a Parole Board of Canada (PBC) Regional Communication Officer, or a Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) Victim Liaison Co-ordinator, who will escort them to the waiting room and the hearing room.

This is the security check desk. Visitors will be wended and a search of person or personal belongings may occur at that time.

Institutional security staff may ask you to place your personal belongings in a locker. Please note that cameras and recording devices are not permitted in a parole hearing.

Building where parole hearings are held.

Lobby outside hearing room.

This is the waiting room area. A pre-hearing briefing is done by a PBC Regional Communication Officer or a CSC Victim Liaison Co-ordinator. The conditional release decision-making process will be explained to you and questions will be answered. Visitors are in the waiting room before the hearing, during the Board Members deliberation and after the hearing. Designated washrooms are available for visitors.

PBC parole hearing participants include: the Board Members, the CSC Parole Officer, the offender and the assistant. The assistant is someone of the offender's choosing, i.e. a family member or a lawyer. The entire proceedings are tape-recorded.

The PBC Hearing Officer introduces the participants and ensures that procedural safeguards are respected. Board Members then begin the parole hearing. Board Members start the hearing usually by asking the CSC Parole Officer to present the case and to make recommendations. Board Members then interview the offender regarding his criminal and social history, institutional behaviour and results of programming and release plans. The offender's assistant will speak after Board Members are finished with the offender's interview.

A victim may present a statement to the Board Members. A victim may choose to read it or present it on a videotape or an audiotape. Observers and victims are seated in the back of the room.

When Board Members have completed their interview with the offender, everyone must leave the room in order for Board Members to deliberate. Observers return to the waiting room where they can ask questions about what they have observed.

When Board Members have made their decision, everyone returns to the hearing room. The Board Members will announce their decision to the offender and will provide reasons for that decision. The hearing is now over. The observers may return to the waiting room where they may ask questions or clarifications regarding the decision.