Conditional Release and Performance  – Full Parole

Official Title: Performance Monitoring Report 2018-2019, Conditional Release and Performance – Full Parole
From: Parole Board of Canada

Full Parole

Tables 82-114

Full parole is a type of conditional release which allows the offender to serve the remainder of their sentence under supervision in the community.

On March 28, 2011, Bill C-59 eliminated the APR process, which resulted in fewer day and full parole decisions in 2011-12, for offenders serving sentences for schedule II and non-scheduled offences, who in previous years would have been eligible for an APR review. The number of reviews for these offenders rebounded in the following two years, resulting in an increase in the number of full parole release decisions rendered by the Board.

As noted in the previous section, as a result of court challenges, the Pacific and Quebec regions have been processing APR cases for offenders who met the APR eligibility criteria. The Pacific region has been processing these cases since 2012-13 and the Quebec region since 2013-14.

Following the Canada (Attorney General) v. Whaling decision on March 20, 2014, accelerated parole review was reinstated across the other regions for offenders who were sentenced prior to March 28, 2011. In 2015-16 and 2016-17, in some provinces, workload increased additionally due to cases of APR-eligible offenders who committed their offences prior to the abolition of the APR legislation and were sentenced after March 28, 2011, following provincial court challenges (Quebec in 2016, Ontario in 2015, Manitoba in 2015, Alberta in 2015, British Columbia in 2014).

• The number of federal full parole release decisions rendered in 2019-20 decreased to 3,994 (-6%) from the previous year. The total included 60 full parole release decisions following an APR and 5 full parole release decisions by exception.
• In 2019-20, the number of federal full parole release decisions rendered by the Board increased in the Atlantic (+7%) and Pacific (+11%) regions and decreased in the Quebec (-12%), Ontario (-2%), and Prairie regions (-14%).
• In 2019-20, the Board rendered less provincial full parole release decisions (260; -14%) compared to the previous year. The numbers increased in the Atlantic (+18%) and decreased in the Prairie (-14%) and Pacific (-25%) regions.
• The number of federal full parole release decisions following an Elder-Assisted Hearing decreased in 2019-20 to 352 (-5%).
• The proportion of sentence served prior to first federal full parole release for federal offenders serving determinate sentences increased (to 45%; +1%) in 2019-20 when compared to the previous year.
• In 2019-20, Indigenous offenders served a higher proportion of their sentences prior to their first federal full parole release (47%) compared to non-Indigenous offenders (44%).
• In 2019-20, men offenders served a higher proportion of their sentences before being released on their first federal full parole (45%) than woman offenders (41%).

Figure 27. Full Parole Grant Rates

• In 2019-20, the federal full parole grant rate (regular and APR) increased (40.7%; +1.5%) when compared to the previous year.
• The federal regular full parole grant rate (39.8%; +1.6%) and the federal APR grant rate (100%; +1.5%) increased in 2019-20.
• The provincial full parole grant rate increased to 39.2% in 2019-20 from 34.5% in 2018-19.
• The federal full parole grant rate increased in the Ontario (to 48%; +2%), Prairie (to 37%; +2%) and Pacific (to 32%; +1%) regions while it remained stable in the Atlantic (57%) and Quebec (34%) regions compared to 2018-19.
• The number of federal full parole release decisions following an Elder-Assisted Hearing decreased in 2019-20 (to 352; -5%). The higher proportion of such decisions was recorded in the Prairie region (62%). The federal full parole grant rate following an Elder-Assisted Hearing decreased one percentage point to 13% compared to the previous year. The grant rate increased in the Atlantic (+5%) and Prairie (+1%) regions and decreased in the Quebec (-2%), Ontario (-6%) and Pacific (-4%) regions.
• In 2019-20, the federal full parole grant rate increased for offenders serving sentences for sexual offences (to 31%; +4%) and for offenders serving sentences for violent offences (to 38%; +1%), while it remained the same for offenders serving sentences for non-violent offences (46%) compared to 2018-19.
• Averaged over the last five years, the provincial full parole grant rate was the highest for offenders serving sentences for sexual offences (48%), followed by offenders serving sentences for non-violent offences (39%) and those serving sentences for violent offences (30%).
• Over the last five years, Indigenous offenders reported a lower federal full parole grant rate (26%) compared to non-Indigenous offenders (41%).
• Over the last five years, Indigenous offenders reported a lower provincial full parole grant rate (24%) than non-Indigenous offenders (40%).
• Over the last five years, women offenders reported a higher federal full parole grant rate (51%) than men offenders (38%).
• Over the last five years, women offenders reported a higher provincial full parole grant rate than men offenders (42% vs 37%).
• In 2019-20, federal offenders with determinate sentences accounted for 91% of all full parole grants (with a grant rate of 42%). Lifers accounted for 9% of all full parole grants (with a grant rate of 63%). Six offenders serving other indeterminate sentences were granted federal full parole in 2019-20 (with a grant rate of 2%).
• In 2019-20, the number of residency conditions imposed on federal full parole increased by 6 (from 103 to 109) compared to the previous year. The Quebec region accounted for most (36%) of the decisions to impose a residency condition on full parole, while the Prairie region accounted for the least (9%).

Outcome of Full Parole Supervision Periods

Outcome of full parole is measured separately for offenders serving determinate sentences and for offenders serving indeterminate sentences. Indeterminate sentences are considered ‘successful completions’ for statistical purposes when the offender is deceased. For this reason, these cases are shown separately from those of offenders serving determinate sentences.

Federal Full Parole: Determinate Sentences

Figure 28. Outcome Rates of Federal Full Parole Supervision Periods for Offenders with Determinate Sentences

• In 2019-20, the successful completion rate (without any breaches of special conditions or re-offending) of federal full parole for offenders serving determinate sentences remained stable (88.0%; +0.3%) compared to 2018-19.
• Over the last five years (between 2015-16 and 2019-20), the successful completion rate of federal full parole for non-violent offenders released on federal regular full parole was 89.9% and the rate for those non-violent offenders released on APR full parole was 90.7%.
• Over the last five years, offenders serving sentences for sexual offences reported the highest successful completion rate of federal full parole (95%), followed by offenders serving sentences for non‑violent offences (90%) and offenders serving sentences for violent offences (83%).
• Over the last five years, Indigenous offenders reported a lower successful completion rate of federal full parole (81%) than non-Indigenous offenders (89%).
• Over the last five years, women offenders reported a higher successful completion rate of federal full parole (90%) than men offenders (88%).
• In 2019-20, the successful completion rate of federal full parole increased in the Atlantic (to 84.2%; +4.7%), Ontario (to 90.1%; +1.2%) and Prairie (to 86.1%; +1.6%) regions and decreased in the Quebec (to 91.8%; -2.2%) and Pacific (to 81.3%; -9.2%) regions when compared to the previous year.
• In 2019-20, the revocation for breach of condition rate of federal full parole for offenders serving determinate sentences remained stable (9.8%; +0.3%) compared to the previous year. Over the last five years, the rate was on average 8.5%.
• Over the last five years, the total revocation with offence rate of federal full parole has been decreasing, averaging 2.9%.
• The rate of violent reoffending of federal full parole has been relatively low in the last five years, averaging 0.5%. Offenders serving sentences for violent offences accounted for 84% of all revocations with a violent offence of federal full parole in the last five years (27 out of 32).
• Over the last five years, Indigenous offenders reported a higher revocation with a violent offence rate of federal full parole than non-Indigenous offenders (1.7% vs 0.4%).
• One women offender serving a determinate sentence on federal full parole had her supervision period revoked because of a violent offence in the last five years.
• By region, the rate of violent reoffending has been fluctuating in the last five years. The five-year average rate has been the highest in the Pacific region (0.8%) and the lowest in the Ontario and Prairie regions (0.4%), the national average being 0.5%.

Federal Full Parole: Indeterminate Sentences

Reporting on outcomes of federal full parole supervision periods for offenders serving indeterminate sentences includes the tracking of supervision periods in the last 25 years based on the start date.

• Between 1995-96 and 2019-20, 2,052 offenders serving indeterminate sentences had been released on full parole, completing a total of 2,567 federal full parole supervision periods. As of April 12, 2020, 56% of the supervision periods were still active (supervised), 5% of the supervision periods that were active were for offenders who had been deported or extradited, 14% had ended because the offender deceased while on parole, 17% were revoked for a breach of condition, 5% were revoked as the result of a non‑violent offence, and 2% were revoked as the result of a violent offence.
• The average length of federal full parole supervision periods for offenders serving indeterminate sentences was eight years.

Figure 29. Revocation Rates of Federal Full Parole Supervision Periods for Offenders Serving Indeterminate Sentences (between 1995-96 and 2019-20)

Over the last 25 years, the majority of revocations for breach of condition and revocations with offence for offenders serving indeterminate sentences on full parole occurred within the first five years of the federal full parole supervision periods, and the number of revocations gradually decreases afterward. Thus, the likelihood of having a supervision period revoked drops significantly the longer the offender is on full parole.

• Over the last 25 years, offenders serving indeterminate sentences on full parole were 1.8 times more likely to have successfully completed their supervision periods than being revoked for having committed a new offence.
• Over the same time period, offenders serving indeterminate sentences on full parole were 6.0 times more likely to have successfully completed their supervision periods than being revoked for having committed a violent offence. The ratio increases for those offenders who were on full parole for over five years (8.1).

Figure 30. Comparison of Revocation Rates of Federal Full Parole Supervision Periods (between 1995-96 and 2019-20)

Note: Due to the nature of indeterminate sentences, outcomes of supervision periods for indeterminate offenders are based on start dates and outcomes for determinate offenders are based on end dates.

• Compared to offenders serving determinate sentences on full parole, offenders serving indeterminate sentences on full parole were more likely to have had their supervision periods revoked because of a breach of condition (17.3% and 15.1%), and were more likely to have had their supervision periods revoked for having committed a new violent offence (2.4% and 1.6%) for federal supervision periods completed between 1995-96 and 2019-20.
• However, offenders serving indeterminate sentences on full parole were less likely to have had their supervision periods revoked for having committed a new non-violent offence (5.4% and 8.0%) than offenders serving determinate sentences during the same time period.

Provincial Full Parole

• Over the last five years, the successful completion rate of provincial full parole averaged 91.8%. The rate was 92.5% in 2019-20.
• The successful completion rate of provincial full parole increased in the Atlantic (to 90.3%; +4.1%) and Prairie (to 95.7%; +5.7%) regions and decreased in the Pacific region (to 91.7%; -4.6%) in 2019-20 compared to the previous year.
• Over the last five years, offenders serving sentences for sexual offences reported the highest successful completion rate (98.5%), followed by offenders serving sentences for violent offences (92.7%) and offenders serving sentences for non‑violent offences (90.0%).
• Very few provincial offenders have had their full paroles revoked because of a violent offence. Over the last five years, one non-Indigenous offender serving a sentence for a non‑violent offence had his provincial full parole revoked with a violent offence.

Federal Full Parole: Indeterminate Sentences