Conditional Release Decisions – Statutory Release

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

Statutory Release

Tables 77-85

All federal offenders serving determinate sentences are entitled to statutory release after serving two-thirds of their sentences, unless it is determined that they are likely to commit an offence causing death or serious harm to another person, a sexual offence involving a child or a serious drug offence before the expiration of their sentence. Offenders with indeterminate or life sentences are not entitled to statutory release. If an offender is not ordered detained by the PBC, the PBC has no authority to make a decision to not allow an offender to be released on statutory release. In these cases, the PBC’s authority is limited to imposing special conditions as well as making post-release decisions.

Figure 19. Proportion of Federal Releases on Statutory Release Compared to the Incarcerated Population Entitled to Statutory Release

• The proportion of releases of offenders on statutory release compared to the number of incarcerated offenders entitled to statutory release decreased to 44% in 2017/18 compared to the previous year. This reflects a general pattern in the last five years where increasingly more offenders were released on discretionary release, while fewer offenders were released on statutory release in each of the last five years. 
• The Prairie region reported the highest proportion (54%) of federal releases on statutory release compared to the number of incarcerated offenders entitled to statutory release in 2017/18, while the Ontario region reported the lowest proportion (35%).
• Decreases in the proportions of releases on statutory release compared to the number of incarcerated offenders entitled to statutory release were reported for all offender groups. The proportion decreased significantly for offenders serving sentences for schedule II offences (from 40% in 2016/17 to 35% in 2017/18) and to a smaller degree for offenders serving sentences for non-scheduled offences (from 58% in 2016/17 to 57% in 2017/18). The proportion also decreased for offenders serving sentences for schedule I-sex offences (from 32% in 2016/17 to 31% in 2017/18), as did the proportion for offenders serving sentences for schedule I-non-sex offences (from 49% to 47%).
• By race, the proportion was the highest for Indigenous offenders (56%) and the lowest for offenders in the Other category (24%) in 2017/18.
• Female offenders reported a smaller proportion of federal releases on statutory release compared to their incarcerated population entitled to statutory release in 2017/18 (43%) compared to male offenders (44%). 
• The number of residency conditions imposed on statutory release decreased 10% (from 2,047 in 2016/17 to 1,835 in 2017/18), reflecting an overall decrease in the statutory release population. The numbers decreased 11% in the pre-release category (from 2,009 to 1,798) and negligibly in the post-release category (from 38 to 37).

Figure 20. Pre-Release Residency Conditions for Federal Non-Violent Offenders

Increases in the number of residency conditions imposed on statutory release between 2011/12 and 2015/16 could be attributed to the abolition of APR in 2010/11. The decreases in the number of residency conditions imposed on federal full parole APR for offenders serving sentences for schedule II and non-scheduled offences mirrored increases in the number of residency conditions imposed on statutory release for these offenders during the same period. Since 2016/17, the number of residency conditions imposed began regressing to the average.

Table 77. Proportion of the Incarcerated Population Released on Statutory Release

Table 78. Proportion of the Incarcerated Population Released on Statutory Release by Region (%)

Table 79. Proportion of the Incarcerated Population Released on Statutory Release by Offence Type (%)

Note: Due to recent updates to offence definitions as part of the C-10 legislation, the proportions calculated for offence types may differ from previous reports.

Table 80. Proportion of the Incarcerated Population Released on Statutory Release by Indigenous and Race (%)

Table 81. Proportion of the Incarcerated Population Released on Statutory Release by Gender (%)

Table 82. Residency Conditions on Statutory Release

Note: Total = (pre-release imposed + detention to SR residency - cancelled) + (post-release imposed + prolonged).

Table 83. Residency Conditions on Statutory Release by Region

Table 84. Residency Conditions on Statutory Release Recommended by CSC (%)

Note: This percentage is calculated by dividing the number of residency conditions recommended by CSC which were imposed by the Board by the total number of residency conditions imposed by the Board.

Table 85. Residency Conditions on Statutory Release Concordance with CSC (%)

Note: The concordance rate is calculated by dividing the number of residency conditions imposed by the Board which were recommended by CSC by the number of residency conditions recommended by CSC.