Operational and Program Delivery Context – Federal Releases

Official Title: Performance Monitoring Report 2018-2019, Operational and Program Delivery Context – Federal Releases
From: Parole Board of Canada

Federal Releases

Tables 33-41

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 decease, 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 15. Federal Releases from Institutions and Graduations to Subsequent Federal Supervision Periods

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.

Text equivalent of Figure 15. Federal Releases from Institutions and Graduations to Subsequent Federal Supervision Periods
  DP from institutions DP continued FP from institutions DP to FP SR from institutions DP to SR Other*
2018/19 2,707 1,395 206 1,436 4,133 592 294
2017/18 2,650 1,351 208 1,382 4,375 595 332
2016/17 2,556 1,210 168 1,273 4,864 623 330
2015/16 2,169 1,183 178 1,107 5,270 566 376
2014/15 2,018 1,222 185 951 5,368 494 369
  • In 2018-19, federal releases directly from institutions decreased 3.0% (from 7,539 to 7,314) compared to the previous year. Graduations to subsequent federal supervision periods increased 2.8% (from 3,354 to 3,449).
  • By region, federal releases directly from institutions decreased in the Atlantic (-3.2%), Quebec (-3.2%), Ontario (-7.4%) and Prairie (-1.4%) regions and increased in the Pacific (+1.9%) region in 2018-19. Graduations to subsequent federal supervision periods increased in the Atlantic (+3.7%), Ontario (+8.3%), Prairie (+13.0%) and Pacific (+8.5%) regions, while they decreased in the Quebec (-13.4%) region.
  • Following the significant increases seen in 2016-17 and in 2017-18, federal releases on discretionary release increased by 2.5% on day parole and 3.3% on full parole in 2018-19. Federal releases on statutory release decreased by 4.9%. 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 16. Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods (Violent Offenders)

Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods (Non-Violent Offenders)
Text equivalent of Figure 16. Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods (Violent Offenders)
  DP continued DP to FP DP to SR
2009/10  676 280 254
2010/11 708 265 254
2011/12 649 251 235
2012/13 729 285 241
2013/14 715 275 185
2014/15 744 293 204
2015/16 736 339 204
2016/17 767 403 232
2017/18 841 440 232
2018/19 888 506 231

Figure 17. Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods (Non-Violent Offenders)

Federal  Releases on Statutory Release in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole
Text equivalent of Figure 17. Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods (Non-Violent Offenders)
  DP continued DP to FP DP to SR
2009-2010 103 855 126
2010-2011 108 939 135
2011-2012
(C-59)
176 550 204
2012-2013 386 534 299
2013-2014 391 607 286
2014-2015 380 596 235
2015-2016 353 693 297
2016-2017 329 748 323
2017-2018 367 817 285
2018-2019 355 787 284

The abolition of the APR process resulted in a significant increase of day parole continued and to a lesser extent in a decrease of graduations from day parole to full parole for non-violent offenders in 2011-12 and in 2012-13. However, the gap between the day parole continued and the graduations from day parole to full parole for these types of offenders has been generally increasing in the following years.   

  • Overall, violent offenders were more likely to continue their day parole supervision while non-violent offenders were more likely to graduate from day parole to full parole.
  • In 2018-19, the number of day parole supervision periods that were continued increased 3.3%, graduations from day parole to full parole increased 3.9%, and there were no significant change to graduations from day parole to statutory release (-0.5%) when compared to the previous year.

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 been relatively stable in the last five years:
    1. The proportion of federal releases to statutory release where parole was previously granted/directed increased from 21% in 2014-15 to 28% in 2018-19.
    2. The proportion of federal releases to statutory release where parole was previously denied/not directed decreased from 25% in 2014-15 to 19% in 2018-19.
    3. The proportion of federal releases to statutory release with no prior parole decision decreased from 54% in 2014-15 to 53% in 2018-19.

Figure 18. Federal Releases on Statutory Release in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole

Federal  Releases on Statutory Release in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole
Text equivalent of Figure 18. Federal Releases on Statutory Release in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole
  Parole granted Parole denied No parole decision
2018/19 1,333 906 2,486
2017/18 1,226 998 2,746
2016/17 1,291 1,109 3,087
2015/16 1,233 1,326 3,277
2014/15 1,256 1,457 3,149

Between 2014-15 and 2018-19, the substantial increase in the proportion of releases on statutory release where parole was previously granted/directed was driven by offenders serving sentences for non-violent offences (from 26% in 2014-15 to 37% in 2018-19). The substantial decrease in the proportion of releases on statutory release where parole was previously denied/not directed was also driven by offenders serving sentences for non-violent offences (from 27% in 2014-15 to 18% in 2018-19).

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 non-violent offences, the majority of whom prior to the abolition of the APR were automatically reviewed and usually directed to parole. The proportion decreased for offenders serving sentences for sexual offences (from 51% to 49%) and for offenders serving sentences for violent offences (from 63% to 59%).

When looking at the numbers by Indigenous and non-Indigenous, 3 out of 5 Indigenous offenders and 1 out of 2 non-Indigenous offenders released on statutory release were not seen by the Board for a parole review.

  • The proportion of federal releases at warrant expiry, as well as releases on long‑term supervision at warrant expiry without a prior parole decision has decreased in the last five years (from 87% in 2014-15 to 83% in 2018-19). In 2018-19, the proportion of releases at warrant expiry where there was no prior parole review compared to 2014-15 remain consistent, however the overall number decrease from 201 to 135.
  • Overall, in 2018-19, a total of 6,854 (-2.7%) federal offenders were released from institutions and 2,770 (+3.1%) federal offenders graduated from one federal supervision period to another compared to the previous year.
Table 33. Federal Releases and Graduations
Release/Graduation Type 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
# % # % # % # % # %
DP from institutions 2,018 19 2,169 20 2,556 23 2,650 24 2,707 25
DP continued 1,222 12 1,183 11 1,210 11 1,351 12 1,395 13
All day parole 3,240 31 3,352 31 3,766 34 4,001 37 4,102 38
FP from institutions 185 2 178 2 168 2 208 2 206 2
DP to FP 951 9 1,107 10 1,273 12 1,382 13 1,436 13
All full parole 1,136 11 1,285 12 1,441 13 1,590 15 1,642 15
SR from institutions 5,368 51 5,270 49 4,864 44 4,375 40 4,133 38
DP to SR 494 5 566 5 623 6 595 5 592 6
All statutory release 5,862 55 5,836 54 5,487 50 4,970 46 4,725 44
WED to LTSO 42 0 51 0 30 0 49 0 42 0
Graduations to LTSO 18 0 31 0 26 0 26 0 26 0
All LTSO 60 1 82 1 56 1 75 1 68 1
WED from institutions 190 2 176 2 155 1 149 1 121 1
Other* 119 1 118 1 119 1 108 1 105 1
Releases from institutions 7,922 75 7,962 73 7,892 72 7,539 69 7,314 68
Graduations 2,685 25 2,887 27 3,132 28 3,354 31 3,449 32
Offenders released from institutions 7,295   7,322   7,369   7,041   6,854  
Offenders who graduated from one supervision period to another or to LTSO 2,051   2,236   2,471   2,686   2,770  

* ‘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 34. Federal Releases from Institution by Region
Release Type Region 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Day parole Atlantic 323 382 382 401 399
Quebec 486 512 733 624 634
Ontario 384 483 534 679 640
Prairies 556 548 613 653 707
Pacific 269 244 294 293 327
Canada 2,018 2,169 2,556 2,650 2,707
Full parole Atlantic 7 8 5 9 12
Quebec 21 32 21 25 22
Ontario 107 91 83 79 55
Prairies 31 32 40 77 99
Pacific 19 15 19 18 18
Canada 185 178 168 208 206
Statutory release Atlantic 514 528 505 458 433
Quebec 1,176 1,215 1,092 892 844
Ontario 1,191 1,104 979 862 821
Prairies 1,848 1,762 1,773 1,708 1,588
Pacific 639 661 515 455 447
Canada 5,368 5,270 4,864 4,375 4,133
Warrant expiry date Atlantic 18 8 9 12 12
Quebec 39 36 43 37 23
Ontario 53 42 34 28 18
Prairies 53 63 45 41 40
Pacific 27 27 24 31 28
Canada 190 176 155 149 121
Warrant expiry date to long-term supervision Atlantic 1 - 2 2 1
Quebec 14 16 14 12 16
Ontario 15 17 7 21 11
Prairies 5 7 3 7 12
Pacific 7 11 4 7 2
Canada 42 51 30 49 42
All releases from institutions Atlantic 875 936 912 894 865
Quebec 1,776 1,833 1,943 1,611 1,560
Ontario 1,778 1,784 1,665 1,703 1,577
Prairies 2,516 2,432 2,502 2,510 2,475
Pacific 977 977 870 821 837
Canada 7,922 7,962 7,892 7,539 7,314

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

Table 35. Graduations from Federal Supervision Periods by Region
Graduation Type Region 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Day parole continued Atlantic 60 85 75 72 92
Quebec 390 292 317 368 297
Ontario 251 253 273 318 367
Prairies 257 290 279 281 295
Pacific 264 293 266 312 344
Canada 1,222 1,183 1,210 1,351 1,395
Day parole to full parole Atlantic 151 200 238 238 230
Quebec 261 285 365 430 390
Ontario 188 243 285 346 365
Prairies 241 276 283 272 332
Pacific 110 103 102 96 119
Canada 951 1,107 1,273 1,382 1,436
Day parole to statutory release Atlantic 54 80 60 44 44
Quebec 127 126 188 166 147
Ontario 139 135 147 150 145
Prairies 113 161 141 149 168
Pacific 61 64 87 86 88
Canada 494 566 623 595 592
Graduations to long-term supervision Atlantic - 3 1 - 1
Quebec 6 12 10 14 13
Ontario 4 5 6 2 7
Prairies 6 5 7 5 4
Pacific 2 6 2 5 1
Canada 18 31 26 26 26
All graduations Atlantic 265 368 374 354 367
Quebec 784 715 880 978 847
Ontario 582 636 711 816 884
Prairies 617 732 710 707 799
Pacific 437 436 457 499 552
Canada 2,685 2,887 3,132 3,354 3,449
Table 36. Federal Releases by Indigenous and Non-Indigenous (between 2014-15 and 2018-19)
Release/Graduation Type Indigenous Non-Indigenous
# % # %
Day parole from institutions 2,156 16 9,944 25
Day parole continued 1,362 10 4,999 12
All day parole 3,518 26 14,943 37
Full parole from institutions 101 1 844 2
Day parole to full parole 696 5 5,453 14
All full parole 797 6 6,297 16
SR from institutions 7,925 59 16,085 40
Day parole to statutory release 648 5 2,222 6
All statutory release 8,573 64 18,307 45
Warrant expiry date 329 2 462 1
Warrant expiry date to LTSO 74 1 140 0
Graduation to LTSO 38 0 89 0
All long-term supervision 112 1 229 1
Total 13,329   40,238  

Note: Excluded releases from 2014-15 to 2018-19 were 8 transfers to foreign countries, 278 deceased and 283 'other' for a total of 569.

Table 37. Federal Releases by Gender (between 2014-15 and 2018-19)
Release/Graduation Type Male Female
# % # %
Day parole from institutions 10,790 22 1,310 31
Day parole continued 5,770 12 591 14
All day parole 16,560 34 1,901 46
Full parole from institutions 845 2 100 2
Day parole to full parole 5,524 11 625 15
All full parole 6,369 13 725 17
SR from institutions 22,788 46 1,222 29
Day parole to statutory release 2,578 5 292 7
All statutory release 25,366 51 1,514 36
Warrant expiry date 772 2 19 0
Warrant expiry date to LTSO 209 0 5 0
Graduation to LTSO 123 0 4 0
All long-term supervision 332 1 9 0
Total 49,399   4,168  

Note: Excluded releases from 2014-15 to 2018-19 were 8 transfers to foreign countries, 278 deceased and 283 'other' for a total of 569.

Table 38. Federal Releases and Graduations by Offence Type
Release/Graduation Type Year Sexual Violent Non-Violent
# % # % # %
Releases from institutions on day parole 2014-15 141 14 738 15 1,139 24
2015-16 193 18 784 15 1,192 25
2016-17 233 20 945 18 1,378 29
2017-18 278 24 986 19 1,386 30
2018-19 280 24 1,063 21 1,364 31
Day parole continued 2014-15 98 10 744 15 380 8
2015-16 94 9 736 15 353 7
2016-17 114 10 767 15 329 7
2017-18 143 12 841 16 367 8
2018-19 152 13 888 17 355 8
Releases from institutions on full parole 2014-15 15 1 41 1 129 3
2015-16 23 2 34 1 121 3
2016-17 21 2 47 1 100 2
2017-18 23 2 61 1 124 3
2018-19 35 3 69 1 102 2
Graduations from day parole to full parole 2014-15 62 6 293 6 596 13
2015-16 75 7 339 7 693 15
2016-17 122 11 403 8 748 16
2017-18 125 11 440 9 817 18
2018-19 143 12 506 10 787 18
Releases from institutions on statutory release 2014-15 540 53 2,728 55 2,100 45
2015-16 496 47 2,779 55 1,995 42
2016-17 483 42 2,584 50 1,797 38
2017-18 426 36 2,411 47 1,538 34
2018-19 386 34 2,265 44 1,482 33
Graduations from day parole to statutory release 2014-15 55 5 204 4 235 5
2015-16 65 6 204 4 297 6
2016-17 68 6 232 4 323 7
2017-18 78 7 232 5 285 6
2018-19 77 7 231 4 284 6
Releases from institutions at warrant expiry date 2014-15 74 7 100 2 16 0
2015-16 58 5 102 2 16 0
2016-17 58 5 92 2 5 0
2017-18 52 4 88 2 9 0
2018-19 25 2 81 2 15 0
Releases from institutions to long-term supervision 2014-15 20 2 21 0 1 0
2015-16 28 3 23 0 - -
2016-17 17 1 12 0 1 0
2017-18 17 1 31 1 1 0
2018-19 22 2 20 0 - -
Graduations to long-term supervision 2014-15 10 1 5 0 3 0
2015-16 18 2 12 0 1 0
2016-17 12 1 14 0 - -
2017-18 18 2 7 0 1 0
2018-19 14 1 11 0 1 0

Note: Category ‘Other’ (transfers to foreign countries, deceased, etc.) was used in calculations but not shown in the table.

Table 39. Proportions of Federal Releases and Graduations by Offence Type (%)
Release/Graduation Type Offence Type 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19
Releases from institutions on day parole Sexual 7 9 9 10 10
Violent 37 36 37 37 39
Non-Violent 56 55 54 52 50
Day parole continued Sexual 8 8 9 11 11
Violent 61 62 63 62 64
Non-Violent 31 30 27 27 25
Releases from institutions on full parole Sexual 8 13 13 11 17
Violent 22 19 28 29 33
Non-Violent 70 68 60 60 50
Graduations from day parole to full parole Sexual 7 7 10 9 10
Violent 31 31 32 32 35
Non-Violent 63 63 59 59 55
Releases from institutions on statutory release Sexual 10 9 10 10 9
Violent 51 53 53 55 55
Non-Violent 39 38 37 35 36
Graduations from day parole to statutory release Sexual 11 11 11 13 13
Violent 41 36 37 39 39
Non-Violent 48 52 52 48 48
Releases from institutions at warrant expiry date Sexual 39 33 37 35 21
Violent 53 58 59 59 67
Non-Violent 8 9 3 6 12
Releases from institutions to long-term supervision Sexual 48 55 57 35 52
Violent 50 45 40 63 48
Non-Violent 2 0 3 2 0
Graduations to long-term supervision Sexual 56 58 46 69 54
Violent 28 39 54 27 42
Non-Violent 17 3 0 4 4

Note: The proportion is calculated by offence type and applied to each type of release/graduation.

Table 40. Federal Releases to Statutory Release in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole Release
Year Type Atlantic Quebec Ontario Prairies Pacific Canada
# % # % # % # % # % # %
2014-15 Parole granted/directed 132 23 286 22 270 20 418 21 150 21 1,256 21
Parole denied/not directed 130 23 415 32 245 18 514 26 153 22 1,457 25
No prior parole decision 306 54 602 46 815 61 1,029 52 397 57 3,149 54
2015-16 Parole granted/directed 177 29 232 17 240 19 417 22 167 23 1,233 21
Parole denied/not directed 93 15 456 34 187 15 454 24 136 19 1,326 23
No prior parole decision 338 56 653 49 812 66 1,052 55 422 58 3,277 56
2016-17 Parole granted/directed 197 35 277 22 250 22 402 21 165 27 1,291 24
Parole denied/not directed 70 12 349 27 181 16 404 21 105 17 1,109 20
No prior parole decision 298 53 654 51 695 62 1,108 58 332 55 3,087 56
2017-18 Parole granted/directed 177 35 266 25 239 24 393 21 151 28 1,266 25
Parole denied/not directed 88 18 306 29 139 14 363 20 102 19 998 20
No prior parole decision 237 47 486 46 634 63 1,101 59 288 53 2,746 55
2018-19 Parole granted/directed 180 38 278 28 277 29 437 25 161 30 1,333 28
Parole denied/not directed 74 16 261 26 157 16 330 19 84 16 906 19
No prior parole decision 223 47 452 46 532 55 989 56 290 54 2,486 53

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

Table 41. Federal Releases at Warrant Expiry in Relation to Prior Consideration for Parole Release
Year Type Atlantic Quebec Ontario Prairies Pacific Canada
# % # % # % # % # % # %
2014-15 Parole granted/directed - - 3 6 - 0 2 3 - - 5 2
Parole denied/not directed 2 11 6 11 8 12 2 3 8 24 26 11
No prior parole decision 17 89 44 83 60 88 54 93 26 76 101 87
2015-16 Parole granted/directed 1 13 2 4 - - 2 3 1 3 6 3
Parole denied/not directed - - 6 12 7 12 5 7 7 18 25 11
No prior parole decision 7 88 44 85 52 88 63 90 30 79 196 86
2016-17 Parole granted/directed 1 9 - - 1 2 1 2 1 4 4 2
Parole denied/not directed - - 7 12 6 15 4 8 5 18 22 12
No prior parole decision 10 91 50 88 34 83 43 90 22 79 159 86
2017-18 Parole granted/directed - - 2 4 1 2 1 2 - - 4 2
Parole denied/not directed - - 5 10 6 12 5 10 6 16 22 11
No prior parole decision 14 100 42 86 42 86 42 88 32 84 172 87
2018-19 Parole granted/directed 1 8 - - 1 3 2 4 3 10 7 4
Parole denied/not directed 3 23 7 18 2 7 3 6 6 20 21 13
No prior parole decision 9 69 32 82 26 90 47 90 21 70 135 83

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

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