Operational and Program Delivery Context - Offender Population

Official Title: Performance Monitoring Report 2020-2021, Operational and Program Delivery Context – Offender Population
From: Parole Board of Canada

Offender Population

Tables 1-24

The PBC and the CSC use the following definitions in reporting offender population information to ensure consistency:

• Incarcerated: includes offenders serving federal sentences in penitentiaries and in provincial facilities, those housed as inmates in Community Correctional Centres (as distinguished from conditionally released offenders), those temporarily absent from the institution on some form of temporary release (Temporary Absence or Work Release), and those remanded in federal custody^{Footnote 2} .
• Conditional Release: includes those federal offenders conditionally released on day parole, full parole and statutory release, including those deported, those on long‑term supervision orders and temporary detainees whether detained in a penitentiary or a provincial jail.

Figure 1. The Federal Offender Population

• On April 11, 2021, the total federal offender population decreased 5.8% compared to the previous year (snapshot of April 12, 2020). The federal incarcerated offender population decreased 8.2%, while the federal conditional release population decreased 2.7%.

Figure 2. Annual Changes in the Federal Offender Population

In 2011-12 and 2012-13, annual increases in the incarcerated offender population were larger than those in the conditional release offender population. This was in part related to the abolition of accelerated parole review (APR) in 2010-11. Higher proportions of non violent offenders were released later in their sentences in the following years. Additionally, in 2016-17 and 2017-18, larger proportions of offenders serving sentences for violent offences were released on day and full parole. Combined, the increases in releases of these two offender groups resulted in five consecutive increases in the federal conditional release population between 2014-15 and 2018-19. However, there was a decrease, particularly in the incarcerated offender population (-8.2%), between 2019-20 and 2020-21.

• When compared to 2019-20, the federal incarcerated offender population decreased in 2020-21 in all regions: Atlantic ( -11.9%), Quebec (-7.1%), Ontario (-8.3%), Prairie (-4.8%) and Pacific (-13.7%).
• In 2020-21, the federal conditional release offender population decreased in the Atlantic (-4.3%), Quebec (-8.9%), Prairies (-2.0%) and Pacific (-2.5%) regions and increased in the Ontario (+2.2%) region compared to 2019-20.

It is important to note that annual changes vary from region to region. This is in part attributed to the offence profile of the regional offender population. The Ontario and Prairie regions reported the lowest proportion of offenders serving sentences for violent offences (70%) and reported the highest proportions of federal offenders serving sentences for non violent offences (30%), followed by the Atlantic region (27%). The Pacific region reported the largest proportion of federal offenders serving sentences for violent offences (83%) while reporting the lowest proportion of federal offenders serving sentences for non violent offences (17%). The Quebec region reported the second highest proportion of federal offenders serving sentences for violent offences (77%).

• Across Canada, the federal conditional release population decreased (-2.7%) compared to 2019-20. The federal day parole (-8.5%) and statutory release (-3.5%) populations decreased while the full parole (-0.7%) and long-term supervision (+0.8%) populations remained relatively stable.
• Decreases in the federal day parole population were reported in every region, with the exception of Ontario (+2.4%) in 2020-21. The Quebec region reported the highest decrease in the federal day parole population (-25.5%). The federal full parole population decreased in the Atlantic and Quebec regions (-5.9%), as well as in the Prairie region (-1.5%). It increased in the Ontario region (+5.8%) and remained the same in the Pacific region. The Pacific (-8.5%) and Quebec (-7.8%) regions accounted for the majority of the decrease in the statutory release population. Smaller decreases were reported in the Ontario (-3.7%) and Atlantic (-1.3%) regions, while the statutory release population increased in the Prairie (+1.8%) region. Of note that the statutory release is the only instance where there was a reported decrease in the Ontario region.
• As for the provincial conditional release population in 2020-21, it generally decreased (-21.1%) compared to 2019-20. Full parole had a much higher decrease (-32.4%) than day parole (-3.9%). The Atlantic region was the only region that reported a general increase (+33.3%) compared to previous fiscal year, with the highest increase in day parole (+85.7%). The Prairie region reported the highest decrease in both day (-35.7%) and full (-71.4%) parole.

Figure 3. Federal Full Parole and Statutory Release Offender Populations

While traditionally the federal full parole population has been larger than the statutory release population, this trend was reversed in 2011-12 and the statutory release population remained larger than the full parole population for the following two years. However, in 2014-15, the federal full parole population surpassed the statutory release population once again.

In 2020-21, federal full parolees accounted for 48% of the federal conditional release population compared to 31% of offenders on statutory release.

• The number of federal Indigenous inmates decreased in 2020-21 (-5.5%), while their proportion increased slightly (+0.9%), compared to 2019-20.
• Conversely, the number of federal Indigenous offenders on conditional release increased slightly (+1.0%) and their proportion also slightly increased (+0.8%), compared to 2019-20.
• In 2020-21, the highest proportion of Indigenous offenders was in the Prairie region; 53% of federal men inmates and 63% of federal women inmates in the Prairie region were Indigenous. By comparison, 41% of federal men offenders on conditional release and 58% of federal women offenders on conditional release in the Prairie region were Indigenous.
• Overall, federal men offenders represented 95% of the federal incarcerated population and 92% of the federal conditional release offender population in 2020-21.
• On April 11, 2021, 9,868 federal offenders on conditional release were serving their sentences in Canada, six (6) had been deported and one (1) had been extradited. Offenders who have been deported or extradited are listed as active offenders by CSC until sentence completion³.

Federal Offender Profile

Figure 4. Offence Profile of the Total Federal Offender Population

• On April 11, 2021, 74% of federal offenders were serving a sentence for a violent offence and 26% were serving a sentence for a non-violent offence.
• Compared to 2019-20, the proportion of federal offenders serving a sentence for a violent offence increased by 2 percentage points and decreased by 2 percentage points for offenders serving a sentence for a non-violent offence. Furthermore, the general trend since 2016-17 is that the percentage of offenders serving a federal sentence for a non-violent offence is decreasing, whereas the percentage of offenders serving a sentence for a violent offence is increasing.

Figure 5. Offence Profile of the Federal Incarcerated Offender Population

• On April 11, 2021, 78% of federal incarcerated offenders were serving a sentence for a violent offence and 22% were serving a sentence for a non-violent offence.
• Compared to 2019-20, the proportion of federal incarcerated offenders serving a sentence for a violent offence increased by 2 percentage points while it decreased by 2 percentage points for offenders serving a sentence for a non-violent offence. Since 2016-17, the proportion of federal incarcerated offenders serving a sentence for a non-violent offence has decreased, while the proportion of offenders serving a sentence for a violent offence has increased.

Figure 6. Offence Profile of the Federal Day Parole Population

• On April 11, 2021, 69% of federal offenders on day parole were serving a sentence for a violent offence and 31% were serving a sentence for a non-violent offence.
• Compared to 2019-20, the proportion of federal offenders serving a sentence for a violent offence on day parole increased by 7 percentage points whereas the proportion of offenders serving a sentence for a non-violent offence decreased by 7 percentage points. As a general trend since 2016-17, the proportion of federal offenders on day parole serving a sentence for a non-violent offence has been decreasing, whereas the proportion of those serving a sentence for a violent offence has been increasing.

Figure 7. Offence Profile of the Federal Full Parole Population

• On April 11, 2021, 67% of federal offenders on full parole were serving a sentence for a violent offence and 33% were serving a sentence for a non-violent offence.
• Compared to 2019-20, the proportion of federal offenders serving a sentence for a violent offence on full parole increased by 2 percentage points whereas the proportion of offenders serving a sentence for a non-violent offence decreased by a corresponding 2 percentage points.

Figure 8. Offence Profile of the Federal Statutory Release Population

• On April 11, 2021, 66% of federal offenders on statutory release were serving a sentence for a violent offence and 34% were serving a sentence for a non-violent offence.
• Compared to 2019-20, the proportion of federal offenders serving a sentence for a violent and a non-violent offence on statutory release remained the same.

Ethno-Cultural Groups Profile

• In 2020-21, the majority of the incarcerated offender population consists of Caucasian (47.5%) and Indigenous (30.4%) offenders. This demographic distribution can be observed over the last five (5) fiscal years and is also present within the federal conditional release offender population. 
• In 2020-21, 80% of Indigenous federal offenders were serving sentences for a violent offence and 20% for a non-violent offence. Indigenous offenders were more likely to be serving sentences for a violent offence while on day or full parole, than on statutory release. Indigenous offenders whether incarcerated or on any form of conditional release were the most likely to be serving sentences for a violent offence compared to other ethno-cultural groups. The proportion of Indigenous offenders serving sentences for a violent offence is higher than the previous fiscal year by 1 percentage point but comparable in the last five (5) fiscal years for all forms of conditional release.   
• In 2020-21, 57% of Asian federal offenders were serving sentences for a violent offence, and 43% for a non-violent offence. Asian offenders were more likely to be serving sentences for a non-violent offence while on day or full parole, than on statutory release. Asian offenders whether incarcerated or on any form of conditional release were the most likely to be serving sentences for a non-violent offence compared to other ethno-cultural groups. There was, however, an increase in the proportion of Asian federal offenders on full parole serving sentences for a violent offence and a decrease of those on full parole serving sentences for a non-violent offence, in the last five fiscal years. 
• In 2020-21, 71% of Black federal offenders were serving sentences for a violent offence, and 29% for a non-violent offence. The proportion of Black federal offenders serving sentences for a violent (52%) or a non-violent (48%) offence on full parole was similar, whereas the proportion of Black federal offenders on day parole and on statutory release who were serving sentences for a violent offence (61%; 67%) was significantly higher than the proportion of Black federal offenders who were serving sentences for a non-violent offence (39%; 33%). The proportion of Black offenders serving sentences for a violent offence is at its highest in the last five (5) years for day and full parole and for incarcerated Black offenders. 
• In 2020-21, 74% of Caucasian federal offenders were serving sentences for a violent offence, and 26% for a non-violent offence. Compared to 2019-20, the proportion of Caucasian federal offenders on day parole serving sentences for a violent offence has increased by 7 percentage points. The proportion of Caucasian offenders serving sentences for a violent offence is at its highest in the last five (5) years for all forms of conditional release and also within the incarcerated Caucasian offender population. 
• In 2020-21, 65% of federal offenders in the category Other ethno-cultural group were serving sentences for a violent offence, and 35% for a non-violent offence. Since 2016-17, the proportion of “Other” federal offenders serving sentences for  non-violent offences has decreased, whereas the proportion serving sentences for a violent offence has increased.

Gender Profile

• In 2020-21, men sentenced for non-violent offences were more likely to be serving their sentence on statutory release, whereas those sentenced for a violent offence were more likely to be incarcerated.
• In 2020-21, women sentenced for  violent offences were more likely to be incarcerated, and those sentenced for a non-violent offence were more likely to be serving their sentence on full parole.      
• Overall in 2020-21, men were more likely to be sentenced for violent offences compared to women. 
• In 2020-21, women sentenced for a non violent offence were more likely to be incarcerated or on any type of conditional release compared to men.

Dangerous Offender Designation

The Dangerous Offender provisions of the Criminal Code are intended to protect all Canadians from the most dangerous offenders serving sentences for violent, including sexual, offences. The court shall find an offender to be a dangerous offender if it is satisfied that the offence for which the offender is convicted is a primary designated offence for which it would be appropriate to impose a sentence of imprisonment of two years or more; that the offender was convicted previously at least twice of a primary designated offence and was sentenced to at least two years of imprisonment for each of those convictions. Therefore the conditions in section 753 (1)(a) or (b) of the Criminal Code, as the case may be, are presumed to have been met^{Footnote 4}  .

If the court finds an offender to be a dangerous offender, it shall impose a sentence of detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period, impose a sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted — which must be a minimum punishment of imprisonment for a term of two years — and order that the offender be subject to long-term supervision for a period that does not exceed 10 years or impose a sentence for the offence for which the offender has been convicted^{Footnote 5} .

Figure 11. The Federal Offender Population with a Dangerous Offender Designation

• The federal offender population with a dangerous offender (DO) designation has been constantly increasing in the last five years reaching 897 in 2020-2021, which amounts to 3.8% of the total offender population. 
• On April 11, 2021, of those offenders that had a DO designation, 731 were still incarcerated; 27 were on day parole, 36 were on full parole, 13 were on statutory release and 90 were on long-term supervision for a total of 166 offenders with a DO designation in the community.
• The federal offender population with a DO designation increased in 2020-21 in the Ontario (+18), Prairie (+9), and Pacific (+2) regions, and decreased in the Atlantic (-4) and Quebec (-4) regions.
• On April 11, 2021, 90% of federal offenders with a DO designation were those sentenced for violent offences and 10% were those sentenced for non violent offences.
• With regard to ethnicity, 52.2% of federal offenders with a DO designation were Caucasian, followed by Indigenous (35.5%), Black (8.7%), Other (2.5%), and Asian (1.2%). 
• Men offenders represented 99.2% of the federal offender population with a DO designation in 2020-21. Furthermore, both men and women offenders with a DO designation are more likely to be serving sentences for violent offences than non-violent offences.
• The Board rendered 876 decisions for offenders that had a DO designation in 2020-21, a 15.1% increase compared to the previous fiscal year.

Note: Excluded as of April 11, 2021, were: escapees (118), those on bail (282), and UAL (456).

Definition: Incarcerated population includes: offenders serving federal sentences in penitentiaries and in provincial facilities, those housed as inmates in Community Correctional Centres (as distinguished from conditionally released offenders), those temporarily absent from the institution on some form of temporary release (Temporary Absence or Work Release), and those remanded in federal custody.

Conditional Release population includes: those federal offenders conditionally released on day parole, full parole and statutory release including those paroled for deportation and those on long-term supervision orders and temporary detainees whether detained in a penitentiary or a provincial jail.