Fees Report 2020-2021

About this Publication

Publication author: Parole Board of Canada
ISSN 2562-119X

Chairperson’s Message

On behalf of Parole Board of Canada (PBC), I am pleased to present the PBC’s 2020-21 Fees Report.

The Service Fees Act provides a modern legislative framework that enables cost-effective delivery of services and through better reporting to Parliament, improves transparency and oversight.

Last year, a detailed listing of individual fees under the department’s authority, along with anticipated increases was added to the reporting requirements.

This year’s report provides more details on each fee, such as the type and rate of adjustment, the service standard and the performance result. This information provides additional context on each fee, in the spirit of open and transparent fee management.

I welcome the increased transparency and oversight that the Service Fees Act reporting regime embodies. The PBC is committed to following the framework that reflects these requirements.

______________________________
Jennifer Oades
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada

About this report

This report, which is tabled under section 20 of the Service Fees Act and section 4.2.8 of the Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities, contains information about the fees that the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) had the authority to set in 2020-21^Footnotes1 .

Government of Canada departments may set fees for services, licences, permits, products, the use of facilities; for other authorizations of rights or privileges; or to recover, in whole or in part, costs incurred in relation to a regulatory scheme.

For reporting purposes, fees must be categorized under the following three fee setting mechanisms:

1. Act, regulation or fees notice
   • An act of Parliament delegates the fee setting authority to a department, minister or Governor in Council.
2. Contract
   • Ministers have the authority to enter into contracts, which are usually negotiated between the minister and an individual or organization, and which cover fees and other terms and conditions. In some cases, that authority may also be provided by an act of Parliament.
3. Market-rate or auction
   • The authority to set these fees is pursuant to an act of Parliament or regulation, and the minister, department or Governor in Council has no control over the fee amount.

This report contains information about all fees that are under the PBC’s authority.

The information covers fees that are subject to the Service Fees Act.

For fees set by act, regulation or fees notice, the report provides totals for fee groupings, as well as detailed information for each fee.

Although the fees that the PBC charges under the Access to Information Act were subject to the Service Fees Act, they are not included in this report. Information on the PBC’s access to information fees for 2020-21 can be found in our access to information report, which is posted on our web page: Access to Information and Privacy.

Remissions

This report does not include remissions issued under the authority of the Service Fees Act, since this requirement took effect on April 1, 2021. Remissions issued under the Service Fees Act will be reported for the first time, as applicable, in the 2021–22 Fees Report, which will be published in 2022–23.

The Service Fees Act requires departments to remit a fee, in part or in full, to a fee payer when a service standard is deemed not met. Under the Service Fees Act and the Directive on Charging and Special Financial Authorities, departments were required to develop policies and procedures for determining:

• whether a service standard has been met
• how much of a fee will be remitted to a fee payer if a service standard is deemed not met

The PBC remission policy and procedures were made available to the public as of April 1, 2021, and can be found on the following web page: Record Suspension Application Processing Fee – Remission Policy.

Overall totals, by fee-setting mechanism

The following table presents the total revenue, cost and remissions for all fees that the PBC had the authority to set in 2020-21, by fee setting mechanism.

Totals, by fee grouping, for fees set by act, regulation or fees notice

The following table presents, for each fee grouping, the total revenue, cost and remissions for all fees that the PBC had the authority to set in 2020-21 that are set by any of the following:

• Act
• Regulation
• Fees notice

A fee grouping is a set of fees relating to a single business line, directorate or program that a department had the authority to set for those activities.

Fee grouping

Details on each fee set by act, regulation or fees notice

This section provides detailed information on each fee that the PBC had the authority to set in 2020-21 and that was set by any of the following:

• Act
• Regulation
• Fees notice

Fee grouping

Record Suspension Application Fee

Fee

Record Suspension Application Fee

Fee-setting authority

Minister’s authority, Order in Council 1995-698

Year fee-setting authority was introduced

1995

Last year fee‑setting authority was amended

2012

Service standard

Record suspension or pardon applications for summary convictions are processed within 6 months of application acceptance; record suspension or pardon applications for indictable offences are processed within 12 months of application acceptance; and record suspension or pardon applications that the PBC is proposing to refuse to order or proposing to deny are processed within 24 months of application acceptance.

Performance result

In 2020-21, the PBC received a total of 9,137 record suspension/pardon applications and accepted 7,443 for processing. The accepted applications were successfully processed within the established standards at 89.32%.

Average processing time for record suspension applications:^Footnotes2

• Containing offences tried summarily: 192 days;
• Containing offences tried by indictment: 437 days; and
• Where the PBC refused to order a record suspension: 514 days.

Average processing time for pardon applications:^Footnotes3

• For pardon issued: 63 days;
• For pardon granted: 304 days; and
• Where the PBC denied a pardon: 547 days.

The record suspension program was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and measures taken by governments, police services and courthouses to adhere to public health and safety guidelines. At the outset of the pandemic, in an effort to protect the health and safety of staff and Board members, staff were asked to work almost exclusively remotely. Existing systems and processes were initially not capable of effectively supporting remote work, which resulted in some applications not being processed in accordance with the above service standards.

Application of Low‑Materiality Fees Regulations

Material (>$151)

2020–21 fee amount ($)

657.77^Footnotes4

2020–21 total fee revenue ($)

3,682,771^Footnotes5

Fee adjustment date in 2022–23

March 31, 2022

2022–23 fee amount ($)

678.76^Footnotes6