2019-2020 Departmental Results Report

About this publication

Publication author: Parole Board of Canada
ISSN: 2371-6436

Chairperson’s message

As Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), I am pleased to present the 2019-20 Departmental Results Report (DRR). This report provides parliamentarians and Canadians with an overview of the PBC’s performance in delivering on its established plans and priorities this past fiscal year, which also marked the PBC’s 60th anniversary.

As part of the criminal justice system, the PBC contributes to the Government of Canada’s outcome of a safe and secure Canada. It does this by making quality conditional release, record suspension/pardon, and expungement decisions and clemency recommendations, in an open and accountable manner, while respecting the rights and dignity of both offenders and victims, in accordance with its statutory responsibilities and authorities.

The 2019-20 DRR demonstrates the PBC’s continuing commitment to deliver on its established plans and priorities while responding and adapting to a dynamic operating environment. During the year, the PBC successfully delivered on its mandate and improved its contribution to public safety though the following notable accomplishments:

• Enhanced training methods and materials, policies, and technologies, with a focus on women and Indigenous offenders;
• Improved decision-making tools to better serve marginalized offender groups, including Indigenous peoples, women and offenders with mental health issues;
• Engaged partners, both nationally and internationally, to share research, ideas, and lessons learned; and
• Strengthened information technology capabilities and governance structure.

At the end of 2019-20, Canada’s federal public service, including the PBC, responded to the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic to ensure the delivery of critical programs and services to Canadians during this unprecedented period of uncertainty.

I am extremely proud of what the PBC has accomplished this past year. Board members and staff have shown outstanding resilience, courage, creativity and adaptability every day under very challenging circumstances to continue to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society.

I invite you to read about the PBC’s many accomplishments made throughout this year. 

 

______________________________
Jennifer Oades
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada

Results at a glance and operating context

Results for the PBC include:

Actual Spending 2019-20	Actual full-time equivalents (FTEs) 2019-20
51,488,791	499
Key Achievements of the PBC in 2019-20
In 2019-20, the PBC completed 15,174 conditional release reviews for federal and provincial/territorial offenders, and rendered 5,496 record suspension and 4,919 pardon decisions. As well, there were 238 cannabis record suspensions ordered. In 2019-20, the Working Group on Women Offenders submitted a report entitled “Gendered Parole: Responding to Women’s Needs” and is now developing implementation plans on the recommendations that were accepted by the PBC’s Executive Committee. In 2019-20, the PBC continued outreach activities to support the organization’s mandate, and to foster constructive engagement with stakeholders and the public. These outreach initiatives enhanced Canadians’ confidence in the PBC as a credible and integral component of the criminal justice system. More than 252 outreach activities have been conducted, an increase of 108% over the previous year.

The PBC works in a challenging environment that demands effective alignment to the Government of Canada’s outcome of a safe and secure Canada, and careful assessment of criminal justice issues and community concerns. Public safety remains the PBC’s primary consideration in all aspects of decision-making policy, training, and operations. The PBC exercises legislated responsibilities for sharing appropriate information with victims of crime, offenders, applicants, other criminal justice partners, and the public. In this environment, strategic information management is crucial, requiring the PBC to have the automated systems necessary to support effective collection, storage, and sharing of information, and gain efficiencies through the automation of work processes.

The PBC proactively works with its criminal justice partners to coordinate, oversee, and analyze legislative amendments and government initiatives, specifically in relation to our conditional release and record suspension programs. The pace and complexity of proposed legislative changes, and the impact of litigation have grown significantly over the last few years and have had continuous effects on the PBC’s operations.

For more information on the PBC plans, priorities, and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.

Results: what we achieved

Core Responsibilities

Conditional Release Decisions

Description

Conditional release is based on the principle that community safety is enhanced by the gradual, supervised release of offenders to the community. Quality conditional release decisions, based on the risk of re-offending in conjunction with effective programs and treatment, and effective community supervision all contribute to the process. Through this core responsibility, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) staff provides timely, accurate information for Board member decision-making, and develops training and policies that are essential tools for risk assessment and decision-making.

Results

In 2019-20, 21 Governor-in-Council appointments/reappointments were made to the PBC. In this reporting period, a total of 14 new Board members were required to complete Board Member Orientation Training. In the same reporting period, seven Board member were re-appointed to the PBC. This had a considerable impact on workloads, in terms of preparing incoming Board members for their new roles of making conditional release decisions using a structured approach that takes into consideration case specific and risk relevant factors. The PBC’s Board Member Training Section delivered three Board Member Orientation Training courses within a three-month period.

The quality of Board member training on balancing risk assessment and public safety has produced positive results. Over the last ten years, 99% of releases on parole have not resulted in a conviction for a new violent offence committed prior to the end of the supervision and 99% of offenders who completed their sentences on full parole five years ago have not re-offended and returned to a federal penitentiary because of a new violent offence.

In 2019-20, the PBC's Appeal Division affirmed 386 decisions out of 484 (79%). The current affirmation rate remains lower than the target of 95%. The most common reasons for the Appeal Division to intervene were the Gladue principles^{Footnote 1} and an inadequate risk assessment. In 2019-20, the Training Section delivered five training sessions related to appeal issues to Board members and visited the regions with the Legal Unit. The Training Section is working with the Legal & Appeal Divisions to design and deliver half-day sessions to all Board members and will be delivering a training session with a focus on Indigenous Peoples. The Indigenous issues training will focus on Board members developing a deeper understanding of Indigenous cultures and on creating meaningful connections between Gladue factors and how the factors brought the individual into the justice system.

In 2019-20, initial gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) of conditional release data indicates that there were no significant disparities between different groups in terms of actual results as outlined below, with the exception of the indicator for Appeals. Although the table below does not disaggregate data by gender, the initial analysis examined these results in more detail. While the overall affirmed decision rate for Appeals was 79%, it was only 69% for Indigenous offenders. Evidence also suggests that women and Indigenous offenders appeal PBC decisions less frequently than other offenders although the reasons for this are not clear and will be investigated further.

CONTINUING TO UPDATE TRAINING

In 2019-20, the PBC refined its cultural competency training approach and worked on implementing recommendations from the forthcoming Board Member Training Program review.

Results achieved

Departmental Results	Performance Indicators	Target	Date to achieve target	2017-18 Actual results	2018-19 Actual results	2019-20 Actual results
Conditional release decisions contribute to keeping communities safe.	The percentage of offenders on parole who are not convicted of an offence prior to the end of their supervision period.	≥96%	March 31, 2020	94%	94%	96%
	The percentage of offenders on parole who are not convicted of a violent offence during their supervision period.	≥98%	March 31, 2020	99%	99%	99%
	The percentage of offenders who completed their sentences on full parole and who are not re-admitted after release because of a violent conviction (five years post-warrant expiry).	≥98%	March 31, 2020	99%	99%	99%
Conditional release decisions adhere to the law, the PBC’s policies, and the principles of fundamental justice.	The percentage of decisions that are affirmed by the Appeal Division.	≥95%	March 31, 2020	76%	78%	79%

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

2019-20 Main Estimates	2019-20 Planned spending	2019-20 Total authorities available for use	2019-20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019-20 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending)
35,298,122	37,752,653	38,369,678	37,068,405	(684,248)

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

2019-20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019-20 Actual full-time equivalents	2019-20 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
320	320	-

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Conditional Release Openness and Accountability

Description

This core responsibility ensures that the PBC operates in an open and accountable manner, consistent with the provisions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. This core responsibility includes working with victims of crime, offenders, and the public by providing information about our policies and programs, including access to the PBC's Registry of Decisions, as well as providing assistance for observers at hearings. The core responsibility also includes working to encourage citizen engagement, enhancing public education and awareness, investigating major incidents in the community, monitoring the PBC's performance and reporting on conditional release results.

Results

The PBC continued to face workload increases in this area. In 2019-20, the PBC had more than 31,500 contacts with victims. This number has grown more than 6% over the last five years. In 2019-20, 43% of the contacts were made by letter, 29% by telephone, 20% by email, 2% in-person, and 5% were unsuccessful. The PBC received 16 victim complaints in 2019-20, 10 of which were admissible and 6 that were inadmissible. Of the 10 complaints that were assessed as admissible, nine were determined to be unfounded, and one was founded. As with conditional release decision-making, the need for quality program delivery is critical, given its implications for public confidence in corrections and conditional release, particularly due to intense public scrutiny and extensive media interest in the PBC’s conditional release decisions.

More than 4,998 people observed a PBC hearing in 2019-20 (including victims and their supports, members of the public, students, the media, PBC and CSC staff, and other government officials), reflecting a 25% increase over the last five years. The CCRA permits access to specific decisions and to decisions for research purposes through the PBC’s Registry of Decisions. In 2019-20, the PBC released nearly 7,000 decisions from its Registry of Decisions. Victims were the most frequent requestors (approximately 52%), followed by the media (approximately 34%).

The PBC conducted 743 Elder Assisted Hearings in 2019-20, an increase of 83% over the past 5 years. In addition, the PBC conducted 8 Community Assisted Hearing in 2019-20, double the number from 2018-19. The COVID-19 pandemic had a limited impact on the 2019-20 results as the operational impacts did not materialize until the last month of the fiscal year.

ELDER ASSISTED HEARINGS

In 2019-20, the PBC reviewed and wrote a report on the Elder-Assisted Hearing Process. The recommendations stemming from this review are expected to build upon the significant work accomplished since 2010-11. A Management Action Plan has been developed further to the findings and recommendations of the review. Its implementation is ongoing and is expected to continue into 2020-21.

The PBC continued to build on last year’s outcomes for its outreach program. During 2019-20, the PBC participated in approximately 252 outreach activities across the country, reaching a total of 10,085 people. This represents a significant increase of 108% in outreach activities over last fiscal year. The PBC also launched its official Twitter channel in 2019-20 and continues to look to leverage social media to broaden its outreach with key target audiences and partners as part of its overarching communications efforts.

CONTINUOUS ENGAGEMENT

The PBC invested in the Parole Officer Continuous Development training in support of Correctional Service Canada work and offenders. This training aims to assist Parole Officers in understanding the mission and mandate of the PBC and to better understand the Board’s policy and legislation that guide Board members.

Results achieved

Departmental results		Performance indicators	Target	Date to achieve target	2017-18 Actual results	2018-19 Actual results	2019-20 Actual results
The timely exchange of relevant information with victims, offenders, observers, other components of the criminal justice system, and the general public.	The percentage of individuals (i.e., general public and victims) that are satisfied with the quality of the service and timeliness of the information provided.		≥80%	PBC questionnaire conducted in 2016-17. The next questionnaire is planned for 2022-23.	89%	89%	89%
	The percentage of requests for information through the Decision Registry that are responded to in a timely manner.		≥80%	March 31, 2020	96%	96%	99%

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

2019-20 Main Estimates	2019-20 Planned spending	2019-20 Total authorities available for use	2019-20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019-20 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending)
4,670,030	4,054,764	4,708,975	3,967,641	48,121

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

2019-20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019-20 Actual full-time equivalents	2019-20 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
44	45	1

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Record Suspension and Expungement Decisions/Clemency Recommendations

Description

A record suspension or pardon is designed to support the successful reintegration of an individual into society. It is a formal attempt to remove the stigma of a criminal record for people found guilty of an offence under an Act of Parliament, who have completed their sentence and demonstrated law-abiding behaviour for a prescribed number of years. Record suspensions or pardons can be revoked or cease to have effect for a number of reasons. Through this core responsibility, the PBC screens applications for completeness and eligibility, collects information for Board member decision-making and develops policy to guide decision processes. The PBC is also responsible for assessing requests and providing recommendations under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy (i.e., clemency) and providing advice to the Minister on the merits of each case. Additionally, the PBC is responsible for ordering or refusing to order expungements for historically unjust convictions that would be lawful today.

Results

In 2019-20, the PBC received 12,441 record suspension/pardon applications, which amounts to a 10% decrease from 13,827 applications received in 2018-19. The PBC accepted 9,587 applications (approximately 77%) for processing. The program rendered 5,496 record suspension and 4,919 pardon decisions.

While record suspension applications declined compared to the previous year, application volumes returned to normal after a brief surge during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 fiscal years. Factors behind the surge of new applications such as the wait period of 5 years being met after the 2012 changes to the Criminal Records Act (CRA) and the impacts of 2017 court decisions in British Columbia and Ontario appear to have stabilized. According to these judgements, many of these applicants have their requests processed as pardon applications under the applicable version of the CRA.

On March 19, 2020, the Federal Court declared the transitional provisions of amendments made in 2010 and 2012 to section 4 of the CRA, namely, section 10 of the Limiting Pardons of Serious Crimes Act and section 161 of the Safe Streets and Communities Act, unconstitutional. The Court concluded that these provisions infringed on subsections 11(h) and 11(i) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In light of this decision, the PBC no longer applies retrospectively legislative amendments made to the CRA in 2010 and 2012 (as it relates to eligibility periods and criteria) for all record suspension applicants who committed their most recent offence prior to the coming into force of these changes.

The PBC continued to process record suspension applications according to the following service standards:

• Applications seeking a record suspension for (an) offence(s) tried summarily will be processed within 6 months of application acceptance;
• Applications seeking a record suspension for (an) offence(s) tried by indictment will be processed within 12 months of application acceptance; and
• Applications in which the PBC is proposing to refuse to order a record suspension may require up to 24 months after application acceptance to complete.

In 2019-20, the Clemency Unit received 57 requests for the RPM, assessed 24 files, and had 150 active files at year-end.

The Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act (Expungement Act) came into force on June 21, 2018. Under the Expungement Act, the PBC will order the expungement of records of convictions for eligible offences. Persons convicted of an offence listed in the schedule to the Expungement Act may apply, as well as authorized representatives in cases where the person is deceased. Currently, this includes eligible offences involving consensual sexual activity between persons of the same-sex who were 16 years of age or older. In 2019-20, the PBC received 15 applications for expungement, returned 12, and ordered 2, while 1 application had not yet been processed. The determination of the potential number of applications and volume of work was difficult to predict due to the lack of specific available data, the age of potential applicants, and the historic nature of the convictions eligible for expungement.

The Government of Canada announced on August 1, 2019, the coming into force of Bill C-93, An Act to provide no-cost, expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis. Individuals previously convicted of only simple possession of cannabis who have satisfied their sentence can apply to the PBC for a record suspension with no application fee or wait period. In 2019-20, the PBC received 436 applications for simple possession of cannabis, returned 178 as ineligible or incomplete, discontinued 2 applications, and ordered 238, while 18 applications had not yet been processed. This is lower than the 10,000 applications that were anticipated. There are no definitive statistics available on the number of Canadians with only simple possession of cannabis convictions, and PBC is therefore unable to estimate the number of applications it may receive, or when these applications may be submitted. It is possible that some individuals with this type of conviction have already applied and received a pardon/record suspension, have passed away, or have no interest in applying as it has no impact on their situation. Individuals with simple possession of cannabis convictions may also have other convictions on their criminal record, such as trafficking, that prevent them from being eligible for this expedited, no-fee process for cannabis record suspensions. Additional funding and FTEs have been provided to meet the anticipated forecast of 10,000 applications, thus explaining the difference between the planned results and actual results.

BILL C-93

The PBC successfully implemented Bill C-93 (record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis) into its operations.

The PBC does not collect disaggregated data on race or gender for record suspension/clemency/expungement applicants as it is not part of the legislated framework for the program. As a result, it is not possible to perform a GBA+ analysis of results.

Results achieved

Departmental results	Performance indicators	Target	Date to achieve target	2018-19 Actual results	2017-18 Actual results	2016-17 Actual results
Record suspension  and pardon decisions contribute to keeping Canadians safe.	The percentage of record suspension or pardon decisions that are not revoked or cease to have effect.	≥95%	March 31, 2020	95%	95%	95%
Record suspension and pardon decisions adhere to the law, the PBC’s policies, and the principles of fundamental justice.	The percentage of cases that do not require a new review by a panel following a Federal Court orderFootnote 2.	≤5%	March 31, 2020	N/A	N/A	N/A
Record suspension and pardon applications are processed in a timely manner.	The percentage of record suspension or pardon applications that are processed within the established timeframesFootnote 3.	≥95%	March 31, 2020	100%	100%	100%
Clemency recommendations are made as part of a fair and equitable process.	The percentage of clemency files submitted for Minister’s office review that are considered complete.	≥95%	March 31, 2020	100%	100%	100%

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

2019-20 Main Estimates	2019-20 Planned spending	2019-20 Total authorities available for use	2019-20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019-20 Difference (actual minus planned)
6,135,746	4,455,986	7,545,223	6,824,105	2,368,119
5,644,800	4,230,000	5,644,800	4,474,870	244,870
490,946	225,986	1,900,423	2,349,235	2,123,249

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

2019-20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019-20 Actual full-time equivalents	2019-20 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
60	72	12

Financial, human resources, and performance information for the PBC’s Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

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 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

• Acquisition Management Services;
• Communications Services;
• Financial Management Services;
• Human Resources Management Services;
• Information Management Services;
• Information Technology Services;
• Legal Services;
• Materiel Management Services;
• Management and Oversight Services; and
• Real Property Management Services.

Results

In 2019-20, Internal Services continued to deliver services efficiently in support of PBC’s core responsibilities. Priority activities included: the launch of a new Manager Leadership Training, building a sustainable IM/IT system and personnel dedicated to leading the PBC’s strategy, increasing Board member and staff tools such as carrying out MyGCpay and implementation its information management system (GCdocs), and creating a generic Trusted Source email address when sending documentations to the Pay Centre.

PHASED APPROACH OF GCDOCS

The PBC launched its new information management system and facilitates information sharing techniques.

The PBC conducted an accessibility study across five regional offices and the national office and made improvements to three PBC offices which included the installation of automatic door openers and reconfiguration of office furniture in common-areas to improve wheelchair and visual impairment accessibility.

Actual spending by Internal Services was higher than planned due to the payment of retroactive personnel expenditures and reallocations of available funding to address corporate priorities in the year. The PBC’s Finance and Planning Division dedicated resources to the transition to a new financial system in April 2018. Efforts were also dedicated to address compensation issues. The PBC also invested in its IT infrastructure to support a more mobile workforce.

The PBC continued to work towards meeting the Treasury Board Secretariat’s (TBS) Directive on Open Government by implementing its five-year Open Government Implementation Plan (OGIP). In 2019-20, the PBC did not release any data resources due to conflicting priorities. However, 68 new information resources are under development and will soon be published as part of PBC’s commitment to sharing information and data in an open and transparent manner.

In July 2019, the PBC launched new learning and development roadmaps for PBC supervisors, managers, and executives. During the fiscal year, the PBC continued to make a concerted effort to promote a healthy and respectful workplace through various initiatives. The PBC continues to deliver and implement an evidence-based, comprehensive set of resources designed to effectively assess psychological health and safety in the workplace. As outlined in the Management Accountability Framework results, discussions are currently underway at national office and in the regions to develop appropriate action plans. Furthermore, action plans are being created following the results of the Public Service Employee Survey.

Budgetary financial resources (dollars)

2019-20 Main Estimates	2019-20 Planned spending	2019-20 Total authorities available for use	2019-20 Actual spending (authorities used)	2019-20 Difference (Actual spending minus Planned spending)
6,930,995	7,600,573	7,152,538	8,103,510	502,937

Human resources (full-time equivalents)

2019-20 Planned full-time equivalents	2019-20 Actual full-time equivalents	2019-20 Difference (Actual full-time equivalents minus Planned full-time equivalents)
61	62	1

Analysis of trends in spending and human resources

Actual expenditures

PBC’s expenditures in 2019-20 increased by $1,734,521 or 3.4%. This increase is due to increased expenditures under signed collective agreements and funding received for expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis.

In 2019-20, planned spending of $49.5 million was based on funding through Main Estimates, additional funding of unused spending authorities carried forward from the previous year and an estimate for refundable salary-related expenditures (e.g., severance and parental benefits). The amount of total authorities available for use in 2019-20 ($52.1 million) was higher than planned. This is because the PBC received additional funding to cover the impact of salary increases negotiated in signed collective agreements higher than planned carry-forward funding, as well as funding received for expedited record suspensions for simple possession of cannabis.

Actual spending in 2019-20 of $51.5 million is lower than authorities available and resulted in a lapse of $0.6 million as reported in the Public Accounts of Canada.

As presented in the following chart, spending by each core responsibility as a percentage of total spending has remained generally consistent over the last three years.

Expenditures by vote

For information on the PBC organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2019-20.

Government of Canada spending and activities

Information on the alignment of the PBC spending with the Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in the GC InfoBase.

Financial statements and financial statements highlights

Financial statements

The PBC financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020, are available on the PBC website.

Financial statements highlights

Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020 (thousands)

The differences between 2019-20 Planned Results and 2019-20 Actual Results are due to unforeseen events during the Departmental Plan planning phase.

Expenses were as planned, however, revenues were slightly lower than anticipated. The PBC accepted 9,587 record suspension applications in 2019-20 compared to 10,668 accepted applications in 2018-19.

The PBC’s liabilities are composed of accounts payable and accrued liabilities (65%), employee future benefits (16%), and employee vacation pay and compensatory leave (19%). The increase in liabilities between years is primarily attributed to an increase in accounts payable, and is attributed to higher spending in the last quarter of the year. The liability for employee future benefits has been steadily decreasing in recent years since the accumulation of severance benefits for voluntary departures has ceased.

Total net financial assets consist of accounts receivable, advances, and amounts due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Government of Canada. The amount due from the CRF represents 100% of the year-end balance. This represents the amount of net cash that the PBC is entitled to draw from the CRF in the future to discharge its current liabilities, without further appropriations. The amount and composition of PBC’s net financial assets have remained consistent over the years. On a gross basis, the amount of accounts receivable and advances outstanding at year-end has decreased by 14% between years, and is attributed to a decrease in receivables with other government departments and harmonized sales tax refundable to the PBC.

Total non-financial assets consist primarily of tangible capital assets, which makes up 99% of the balance in 2019-20, with prepaid expense accounting for the remainder. The amount and composition of the PBC’s non-financial assets have decreased in 2019-20.

Additional information

Corporate information

Organizational Profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M., M.P.

Institutional head: Jennifer Oades, Chairperson.

Ministerial portfolio: Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.

Enabling instrument: The legal authority under which the PBC operates includes the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and its Regulations, the Criminal Records Act and its Regulations, the Letters Patent, the Criminal Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and other legislation.

Year of incorporation commencement: 1959.

Other: The PBC constantly strives to contribute to the Government of Canada’s outcome of a safe and secure Canada. The PBC contributes to this outcome by making timely conditional release, record suspension, and expungement decisions and clemency recommendations.

The PBC is headed by a Chairperson who reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. The Minister, however, does not have statutory authority to give direction to the Chairperson or other members of the PBC in the exercise of their decision-making powers. This structure helps to ensure the impartiality and integrity of the PBC’s decision-making process.

In making conditional release, record suspension or pardon decisions, and expungement decisions, as well as clemency recommendations, the PBC’s primary objective is the long-term protection of society. In rendering its decisions, the PBC is autonomous and independent. However, its decisions are open and transparent to the public consistent with its legislation and policies.

The protection of society is the paramount consideration for all decisions taken by the PBC. The PBC contributes to the protection of society by facilitating, as appropriate the timely reintegration of offenders into society as law-abiding citizens. In addition, a record suspension or pardon allows people who were convicted of a criminal offence, but have completed their sentence and demonstrated they are law-abiding citizens for a prescribed number of years, to have their criminal record kept separate and apart from other criminal records.

The PBC also has legislative responsibility to order or refuse to order the expungement of records of convictions for eligible offences under the Expungement Act.

Outcomes of the PBC’s work can be found in its annual Performance Monitoring Report (PMR). The PMR provides performance and statistical information for the past five years for the PBC’s two legislative based core responsibilities: conditional release, and record suspension and clemency.

The PBC carries out its responsibilities through a National office in Ottawa, as well as six offices in five regions across the country (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie, and Pacific).

PBC Locations

The PBC’s regional offices deliver the conditional release program. Conditional release decisions are made by Board members, who are supported in their decision-making by Public Service staff. Staff schedule hearings, review file information for decision-making, ensure that information for decision-making is shared with offenders, and communicate conditional release decisions to offenders, CSC representatives, and others as required. Regional staff also provide information to victims, make arrangements for observers at hearings, and manage requests for access to the PBC’s Decision Registry.

While Board members from all five regions and the national office make decisions related to record suspensions, the data collection, investigation and assessment work for record suspensions and clemency are conducted by Public Service staff at the national office. In addition, Board members in the Appeal Division at the national office review conditional release decisions upon receipt of an application for appeal to determine if the law and processes were respected.

Public Service employees at the national office develop national policies and procedures related to all core responsibilities, help coordinate Board member selection and training, deliver a program of public information, and respond to Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests. Other work performed at the national office includes strategic and operational planning, policy development, resource management, program monitoring, case reviews and investigations, and an array of internal services.

Consistent with the provisions of the Acts that govern the PBC, Board members are independent in their decision-making responsibilities, and free from outside interference of any kind. As independent decision-makers, Board members are bound by legislation, guided by policy, and are responsible for:

• Reviewing all information available to them for consideration in conditional release, record suspension/pardons, and clemency cases;
• Conducting an in-depth analysis of each case, and requesting additional information, as necessary, to support quality decision-making;
• Assessing the risk and other factors related to cases, voting independently on the disposition of each case, and providing sound, well-documented, written reasons for decisions; and
• Ensuring that reviews are conducted in accordance with the duty to act fairly, and with respect for all procedural safeguards.

The Chairperson of the PBC is a full-time Board member of the PBC and its Chief Executive Officer. The Chairperson directs the PBC’s delivery of core responsibilities in keeping with the Government of Canada’s overall plans and priorities. The Chairperson is accountable for the effectiveness and efficiency of the PBC’s policies and operations and is assisted in these responsibilities by the Executive Vice-Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson of the Appeal Division, the five regional Vice-Chairpersons, and senior managers.

The Executive Vice-Chairperson exercises all powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Chairperson, in the event of the absence of the Chairperson or vacancy in the office of the Chairperson. The Executive Vice-Chairperson is responsible for overseeing the qualification process, training, professional conduct, performance evaluations and appointment processes for all Board members and Vice-Chairpersons at the PBC. The Executive Vice-Chairperson is also responsible for the Appeal Division operations.

The Executive Director General of the PBC is its senior staff member and Chief Operating Officer. The Executive Director General, in support of the Chairperson, provides leadership for strategic and operational planning, policy development, resource management, program monitoring and administration, as well as the operation of the national office and the regions.

The following organizational chart provides additional details.

Note: Within the chart below the blue background denotes Governor-in-Council term appointees and the grey background signifies public service employees.

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on the PBC website.

For more information on the department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter.

Reporting Framework

The PBC Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019-20 are shown below.

Note: Within the chart below the blue background denotes core responsibilities; the white background signifies departmental results, and the beige background reflects result indicators.

Supporting information on the program inventory

Financial, human resources and performance information for PBC's Program Inventory is available in GCInfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the PBC website:

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy; and
• Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+).

Appendix: definitions

appropriation (crédit)
Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3‑year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

departmental priority (priorité)
A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that connects the department’s core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

experimentation (expérimentation)
The conducting of activities that seek to first explore, then test and compare the effects and impacts of policies and interventions in order to inform evidence-based decision-making, and improve outcomes for Canadians, by learning what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Experimentation is related to, but distinct from innovation (the trying of new things), because it involves a rigorous comparison of results. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation.

full-time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person-year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full‑time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.

gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS+])
An analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and gender-diverse people experience policies, programs and services based on multiple factors including race ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2019–20 Departmental Results Report, those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2019 Speech from the Throne, namely: Fighting climate change; Strengthening the Middle Class; Walking the road of reconciliation; Keeping Canadians safe and healthy; and Positioning Canada for success in an uncertain world.

horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
An initiative where two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

performance (rendement)
What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)
A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)
The process of communicating evidence‑based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.

plan (plan)
The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.

planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

program (programme)
Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

result (résultat)
A consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

target (cible)
A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.