Conditional Release Decisions – Day Parole

Official Title: Performance Monitoring Report 2017-2018, Conditional Release Decisions – Day Parole
From: Parole Board of Canada

Day Parole

Tables 45-58

Day parole is a type of conditional release which allows offenders to participate in community‑based activities in preparation for full parole or statutory release. Offenders released on day parole  return to an institution or a community-based residential facility each night or at another specified interval authorized by the Board.

In this section, the number of day parole grants includes not only those for whom day parole has been directed or granted, but those for whom day parole has been continued. A day parole is continued to allow the offender additional time to further prepare for full parole. It should be noted that the Board must conduct an assessment of risk before each day parole grant/directed decision, as well as each day parole continued decision.

The day parole population changed significantly when Bill C-55, which came into force on July 3, 1997, reinstated automatic day parole review and day parole eligibility at one-sixth of the sentence for offenders who, according to the law, were entitled to be considered for accelerated parole review.

On March 28, 2011, Bill C-59 abolished the APR process, which resulted in fewer day and full parole reviews in 2011/12, for first-time federal non-violent offenders (those serving sentences for schedule II and non-scheduled offences), who in the previous years would have been eligible for an APR review. The number of reviews for these types of offenders rebounded in the following years.

Due to court challenges, the abolition of APR had a smaller effect in the Pacific and Quebec regions in 2012/13 and 2013/14. Since 2012, the Pacific region has been processing active APR cases for offenders sentenced or convicted prior to the abolition of APR. In 2013/14, the Quebec region started processing their active APR cases.

On March 20, 2014, following the Canada (Attorney General) v. Whaling decision, the accelerated parole review process was reinstated across all regions for offenders sentenced prior to the abolition of APR. In some provinces, however, due to court challenges in their respective jurisdictions, APR was also reinstated for offenders who committed at least one of their offences prior to the abolition of APR and were sentenced after the legislation came into force (Quebec in 2016, Ontario in 2015, Manitoba in 2015, Alberta in 2015, British Columbia in 2014). On  December 8, 2016, the Court of Appeal for Ontario held that APR would be reinstated for offenders who committed a continuous offence (an offence that started before the coming into force of Bill C-59 on March 28, 2011 but also continued after this date).

• In 2017/18, the Board rendered more federal day parole release decisions compared to the previous year (5,223; +4%). This included 106 day parole release decisions following an APR.
• The number of federal day parole release decisions rendered in 2017/18 increased in the Atlantic (+5%), Ontario (+14%), Prairie (+6%) and Pacific (+18%) regions and decreased in the Quebec region (-13%) when compared to the previous year. The decrease in the Quebec region followed a spike in day parole release decisions in 2016/17, which had been associated with the availability of new community programs in the region.
• The number of provincial day parole release decisions rendered by the Board in 2017/18 decreased (to 446; -8%) when compared to the previous year.
• In 2017/18, the number of federal and provincial day parole release decisions rendered following a hearing with an Indigenous Cultural Advisor increased 9% (to 434) compared to 2016/17.
• In 2017/18, the average proportion of sentence served before the first federal day parole release for offenders serving determinate sentences decreased negligibly 0.3 of a percentage point (to 37%) from the previous year. A 2.6% decrease in the Quebec region and a 1.3% increase in the Prairie region leveled the national average, with the remaining regions reporting smaller changes. The decrease in the Quebec region was driven primarily by offenders serving sentences for schedule I-non-sex offences and those serving sentences for non‑scheduled offences. The increase in the Prairie region was associated with Indigenous offenders serving sentences for schedule I-sex offences who waited slightly longer than other groups prior to being released on their first day paroles.
• Over the last five years, Indigenous offenders had the highest proportion of their sentence served before their first federal day parole release (at 42%), while Asian offenders reported the lowest proportion (at 34%).

Figure 17. Day Parole Grant Rates

• In 2017/18, the federal day parole grant rate (regular and APR) increased 1.2 percentage points to 79.4% compared to the previous year.
• The federal regular day parole grant rate increased from 77.9% in 2016/17 to 79.1% in 2017/18. The federal APR day parole grant rate decreased to 94.3% (from 96.4% in 2016/17).
• The provincial day parole grant rate increased 8.6 percentage points to 68.6% in 2017/18.
• By region, the federal day parole grant rate increased in the Atlantic (to 89%; +3%), Quebec (to 78%; +2%), Ontario (to 83%; +1%) and Prairie (to 78%; +3%) regions and  decreased in the Pacific region (to 72%; -5%) regions.
• In 2017/18, offenders serving sentences for murder reported the highest federal day parole grant rate (87%) and offenders serving sentences for schedule I-sex offences, the lowest (63%).
• Offenders serving sentences for schedule II offences reported the highest provincial day parole grant rate (82%), and offenders serving sentences for schedule I‑sex offences reported the lowest rate (60%).
• In 2017/18, Black offenders reported the lowest federal day parole grant rate (72%), while Asian offenders reported the highest (84%).
• The provincial day parole grant rate was the lowest for Indigenous offenders (59%) and the highest for Asian offenders (84%).
• Female offenders had a much higher grant rate for federal day parole in 2017/18 than male offenders (94% and 78%).
• Female offenders had also a much higher provincial day parole grant rate than male offenders (90% and 66%) in 2017/18.
• In 2017/18, federal offenders serving determinate sentences accounted for 84% of all day parole grants (with a grant rate of 82%), while lifers accounted for 15% of day parole grants (with a grant rate of 88%), and offenders with other indeterminate sentences accounted for one percent of grants (with a grant rate of 13%).
• While the federal day parole grant rate for lifers was 88% in 2017/18, it should be noted that 73% of those decisions were decisions to continue day parole. The day parole grant rate for lifers who were granted day parole releases directly from institutions was 66%.
• In 2017/18, the federal day parole grant rate following hearings with an Indigenous Cultural Advisor decreased 0.8 of a percentage point to 71% compared to the previous year.

Table 45. Day Parole Release Decisions

* The provincial case in the Ontario region in 2015/16 was a federal sentence which was completed in less than two years after the sentence was reduced by court order.
** This is a federal case recorded in error as a provincial case.

Table 46. Day Parole Release Decisions by Regular and APR Review

Note: Includes only pre-release decisions to grant/direct/continue or deny/not direct day parole, except APRI not-directed.

Note: Includes only pre-release decisions to grant/direct/continue or deny/not direct day parole, except APRI not-directed.

Table 48. Average Proportion of Sentence Served at First Federal Day Parole Release by Region (%)

Note: Excludes those serving indeterminate sentences.

Table 49. Average Proportion of Sentence Served at First Federal Day Parole Release by Offence Type (%)

Note: Excludes those serving indeterminate sentences.

Table 50. Average Proportion of Sentence Served at First Federal Day Parole Release by Indigenous and Race (%)

Note: Excludes those serving indeterminate sentences.

Table 51. Average Proportion of Sentence Served at First Federal Day Parole Release by Gender (%)

Note: Excludes those serving indeterminate sentences.

Table 52. Grant Rates for Federal Day Parole

Note: Includes only pre-release decisions to grant/direct/continue or deny/not direct day parole, except APRI not-directed.

Note: Includes only pre-release decisions to grant/direct/continue or deny/not direct day parole, except APRI not-directed.

Table 54. Grant Rates for Provincial Day Parole

* The provincial case in the Ontario region was a federal sentence which was completed in less than two years after the sentence was reduced by a court order.
** This is a federal case recorded in error as a provincial case.

Table 55. Grant Rates for Federal and Provincial Day Parole by Offence Type (%)

Table 56. Grant Rates for Federal and Provincial Day Parole by Indigenous and Race (%)

Table 57. Grant Rates for Federal and Provincial Day Parole by Gender

Table 58. Grant Rates for Federal Day Parole by Sentence Type

Note: Includes only pre-release decisions to grant/direct/continue or deny/not direct day parole.
Definition: Lifers include those offenders sentenced to life as a minimum sentence or life as a maximum sentence. Other indeterminate includes dangerous offenders, dangerous sexual offenders, habitual criminals, and those offenders who are on Lieutenant Governor Warrants.