Performance Delivery Context – Federal Releases

Official Title: Performance Monitoring Report 2017-2018, Program Delivery Context – Federal Releases
From: Parole Board of Canada

Federal Releases

Tables 24-32

This section discusses federal releases of offenders directly from institutions and graduations of offenders to subsequent federal supervision periods. Federal releases directly from institutions include releases on federal supervision periods, as well as releases upon completion of the offender’s sentence:

1. federal releases from institutions on day parole;
2. federal releases from institutions on full parole;
3. federal releases from institutions on statutory release;
4. federal releases at warrant expiry;
5. federal releases at warrant expiry with a long-term supervision order;
6. other types of federal releases such as transfers to foreign countries, releases when the offender died, etc.

Graduations to subsequent federal supervision periods include:

1. day parole continued;
2. graduations from day parole to full parole;
3. graduations from day parole to statutory release;
4. graduations from federal supervision periods to long-term supervision orders upon warrant expiry.

In this section, federal releases and graduations are discussed together to demonstrate how the Board uses discretionary release to facilitate the gradual reintegration of offenders into society.

Figure 10. Federal Releases from Institutions and Graduations to Subsequent Federal Supervision Periods

*Includes releases from institutions at warrant expiry, at warrant expiry with a long-term supervision order, graduations from federal supervision periods to a long-term supervision order upon warrant expiry, deaths, transfers to foreign countries, etc.

• In 2017/18, federal releases directly from institutions decreased 4.5% (from 7,889 to 7,533) compared to the previous year. Graduations to subsequent federal supervision periods increased 6.9% (from 3,132 to 3,347).
• By region, federal releases directly from institutions decreased in the Atlantic (-2.0%), Quebec (-17.1%) and Pacific (-5.9%) regions and increased in the Ontario (+2.0%) and Prairie (+0.4%) regions in 2017/18. Graduations to subsequent federal supervision periods increased in the Quebec (+11.0%), Ontario (+14.5%) and Pacific (+8.5%) regions, while they decreased in the Atlantic (-5.3%) and Prairie (-0.6%) regions. 
• Following the increases seen in 2016/17, federal releases on discretionary release increased significantly in 2017/18: by 6.1% on day parole and 10.3% on full parole. Federal releases on statutory release decreased by 9.4%. These changes point to a return to the pre-2011/12 patterns in releases, that is, prior to Bill C‑59 (Abolition of Early Parole). 

Figure 11. Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods (Non-Violent Offenders)

In 2017/18, the number of day parole supervision periods that were continued increased 11.3%, graduations from day parole to full parole increased 8.6%, and graduations from day parole to statutory release decreased 5.0% when compared to the previous year.

Some of the above changes were related to the APR affected offenders. However, in 2017/18, continuations of day paroles were primarily driven by offenders serving sentences for schedule I non-sex offences.

The following subsection discusses federal releases on statutory release in relation to prior consideration for discretionary release.

The five-year data indicate that the proportion of offenders who had no parole review prior to their release on statutory release has increased significantly in the last five years:

1. The proportion of federal releases to statutory release where parole was previously granted/directed increased from 23% in 2013/14 to 25% in 2017/18.
2. The proportion of federal releases to statutory release where parole was previously denied/not directed decreased from 27% in 2013/14 to 20% in 2017/18.
3. The proportion of federal releases to statutory release with no prior parole decision increased from 51% in 2013/14 to 55% in 2017/18.

Figure 12. Federal Releases on Statutory Release in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole

Between 2013/14 and 2017/18, the substantial increase in the proportion of releases on statutory release where there were no prior parole decisions was driven by offenders serving sentences for schedule I-non-sex offences (from 56% in 2013/14 to 63% in 2017/18).

Compared to the previous year, the proportion of releases on statutory release where there was no prior parole decision was stable for offenders serving sentences for schedule II offences, the majority of whom prior to the abolition of the APR were automatically reviewed and usually directed to parole. The proportion decreased for sex offenders (from 56% in 2016/17 to 51% in 2017/18), as more of these offenders were released on discretionary release.

When looking at the numbers by race, 2 out of 3 Indigenous offenders and 3 out of 5 Black offenders released on statutory release were not seen by the Board for a parole review. The ratios were 1:2 for White offenders and 1:3 for Asian offenders.

• Federal releases at warrant expiry without a prior parole decision fluctuated in the last five years (between 81 and 87 per year). In 2017/18, 87% of releases at warrant expiry, as well as releases on long‑term supervision at warrant expiry, were releases where there was no prior parole review.

Overall, in 2017/18, a total of 7,038 federal offenders were released from institutions and 2,684 federal offenders graduated from one federal supervision period to another.

Table 24. Federal Releases and Graduations

* ‘Other’ includes death, transfers to foreign countries, etc.
Note: The number of releases from institutions and graduations may be greater than the number of offenders released, as an offender could be released from the institution and graduate from one supervision period to another supervision period more than once during the same year.

Table 25. Federal Releases from Institution by Region

Note: The totals include other types of releases from institutions, such as transfers to foreign countries, death, etc.

Table 26. Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods by Region

Table 27. Federal Releases by Indigenous and Race (between 2013/14 and 2017/18)

Note: Excluded releases from 2013/14 to 2017/18 were 8 transfers to foreign countries, 270 deceased and 283 ‘other’ for a total of 561.

Table 28. Federal Releases by Gender (between 2013/14 and 2017/18)

Note: Excluded releases from 2013/14 to 2017/18 were 8 transfers to foreign countries, 270 deceased and 283 ‘other’ for a total of 561.

Table 29. Federal Releases and Graduations by Offence Type

Note 1: Offenders serving sentences for murder on statutory release and those released at WED include federal offenders serving determinate sentences for offences of first and second degree murder convicted under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as well as those serving determinate sentences for second degree murder that were transfers from the United States.
Note 2: Category ‘Other’ (transfers to foreign countries, deceased, etc.) was used in calculations but not shown in the table.

Table 30. Proportions of Federal Releases and Graduations by Offence Type (%)

Note 1: The proportion is calculated by offence type and applied to each type of release/graduation.
Note 2: Offenders serving sentences for murder on statutory release include federal offenders serving determinate sentences for offences of first and second degree murder convicted under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as well as those serving determinate sentences for second degree murder that were transfers from the United States.

Table 31. Federal Releases to Statutory Release in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole Release

Note: Includes releases on statutory release directly from institutions and graduations from day parole to statutory release.

Table 32. Federal Releases at Warrant Expiry in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole Release

Note: Includes releases directly from institutions at warrant expiry and releases at warrant expiry to long-term supervision orders.