2023-24 Performance Monitoring Report - SUMMARY

Acronyms Used in the Report

Federal Offender Population

• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24^{Footnote 1} :
  • the total number of federal offenders grew by 5.3% to 22,864;
  • the federal incarcerated population increased by 899 offenders (to 13,463);
  • the federal conditional release population increased by 250 (to 9,401).
• Over the last 10 fiscal years, the federal incarcerated population has decreased by 6.1% and the federal conditional release population has increased by 6.6%.
• At fiscal year-end 2023-24, of the federal incarcerated population:
  • 9,869 inmates were serving determinate sentences (73.3%);
  • 3,594 were serving indeterminate sentences (26.7%), including 618 inmates with a dangerous offender designation.
• At fiscal year-end 2023-24, of the federal conditional release population:
  • 6,837 offenders were serving determinate sentences (72.7%);
  • 2,564 were serving indeterminate sentences (27.3%), including 57 offenders with a dangerous offender designation.

Federal Men Offender Population by Race Group

Note: Changes in the data structure for Asian and ‘Other’ race group offenders in 2023-24 resulted in an increase in the number of offenders grouped as Asian and a decrease in the number of offenders under the ‘Other’ race group. As such, the changes in these two race groups over the last five fiscal years need to be interpreted with caution.

• Over the last five fiscal years, the federal men offender population has increased for Black (1.6%) and Indigenous (6.4%) race groups and decreased for the Caucasian (-8.6%) race group.
• In 2023-24, Caucasian men represented the greatest share (50.9%) of the men offender population followed by Indigenous men (27.3%).

Federal Women Offender Population by Race Group

Note: Changes in the data structure for Asian and ‘Other’ race group offenders in 2023-24 resulted in an increase in the number of offenders grouped as Asian and a decrease in the number of offenders under the ‘Other’ race group. As such, the changes in these two race groups over the last five fiscal years need to be interpreted with caution.

• Over the last five fiscal years, the federal Indigenous women offender population has grown by 27.3%. Over this same period, the federal Caucasian women offender population decreased by 5.7% and the Black women offender population has decreased by 21.8%.
• In 2023-24, Caucasian women accounted for 44.9% of the federal women offender population and Indigenous women accounted for 41.6%.

Long Term Supervision Population

• In 2023-24, the long-term supervision (LTS) population increased from 510 to 553.
• In keeping with the previous five fiscal years, in 2023-24, the Quebec region had the greatest proportion of the LTS population (35.4%).
• Over the last 10 fiscal years, the Quebec region has seen the greatest growth in its LTS population (+62.0%), with the Prairie (+ 51.7%) and Ontario (+44.2%) regions also experiencing notable increases.

Federal Admissions

*Includes transfers from foreign countries, exchanges of service, supervision terminated, etc.

• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24:
  • Federal admissions on initial warrants of committal (first-time federal offenders) increased by 10% (to 4,091), while federal admissions on repeat warrants of committal increased by 3% (to 1,139).
  • Federal admissions due to revocations remained stable (-0.4%; to 2,456).
• Over the last five fiscal years:
  • Federal admissions on revocations with offence have decreased by 20%.
  • Federal admissions on revocations for breach of conditions have increased by 3%.

Federal Admissions by Race Group (Between 2019-20 and 2023-24)

*Includes transfers from foreign countries, exchanges of service, supervision terminated, etc.

Over the last five fiscal years:

• In examining at all race groups, offenders in the category ‘Other’ race group were most likely (77%), and Indigenous offenders were the least likely (39%), to be admitted on an initial warrant of committal.
• Indigenous (16%) and Caucasian (16%) offenders were the most likely to be admitted on repeat warrants of committal, followed closely by Black offenders (14%).
• Indigenous offenders were the most likely to be admitted on all types of revocations (43%), followed by Caucasian offenders (33%).

Federal Admissions by Gender (Between 2019-20 and 2023-24)

*Includes transfers from foreign countries, exchanges of service, supervision terminated, etc.

Over the last five fiscal years:

• Both men (48%) and women (60%) were most likely to be admitted to federal custody on initial warrants of committal when being admitted.
• Men (15%) had a higher proportion of repeat warrant of committal admissions than women (8%).
• Men and women offenders had similar proportions of admissions for all types of revocations.

Federal Releases from Institutions and Transitions to Subsequent Supervision Periods

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

• Overall, in 2023-24, a total of 5,992 federal offenders were released from institutions and 2,506 federal offenders transitioned from one supervision period to another.
• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24, federal releases directly from institutions increased by 3% (from 6,500 to 6,664). Transitions to subsequent federal supervision periods increased by 10% (from 2,872 to 3,154).
• Over the last five fiscal years, both the number of federal releases from institutions on day parole, and the number of federal releases from institutions on SR, have decreased by nearly 8%.

Federal and Provincial Reviews

• In 2023-24, the Board conducted 13,701 federal reviews and 270 provincial reviews.
• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24, the number of federal reviews increased by 2%, and the number of provincial reviews decreased by 6%.
• Over the last five fiscal years, the PBC’s Pacific region has seen the greatest decrease in the number of overall reviews (-19%), followed by the Atlantic region (-16%). The Ontario region is the only region that has seen an increase in reviews over the last five fiscal years (+5%).

PBC Authority Hearings (In-Person vs. Remote)

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote hearings increased significantly over the last five fiscal years; from 52% of all hearings held remotely in FY 2019-20 up to 96% in FY 2020-21 and FY 2021-22, and then dropping down to 91% in FY 2022-23, and finally settling to 78% in FY 2023-24.

Culturally Responsive Hearings

Federal Culturally Responsive Hearings (Community Assisted and Elder Assisted Hearings)

• While CRHs were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, by 2022-23, they made a strong return to near pre-pandemic levels.
• The total number of federal CRHs decreased by nearly 90% in 2020-21 compared to 2019-20 (going from 745 to 75). These hearings have grown year over year following the pandemic, up to 743 in 2023-24.

Expansion of Culturally Responsive Hearings for Black Individuals

• In June 2022, to address the over-representation of Black individuals in the criminal justice system, the PBC introduced a pilot project based out of the Atlantic region to offer CRHs for Black individuals.
• In January 2024, the PBC expanded CRHs for Black individuals nationally.
• In 2023-24, there were 23 CRHs for Black individuals, an increase from the 18 held in 2022-23 as part of the pilot project.

Day Parole Grant Rates

Note: Day parole grant rate includes both regular and Accelerated Parole Review decisions.

Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24:

• the Board rendered more federal day parole release decisions (5,104; +8%);
• the federal day parole grant rate remained stable in 2023-24 (77.2%; +0.3 of a percentage point);
• the provincial day parole grant rate decreased 16 percentage points to 46.6%.

Day Parole to an Other Location Approved in 2023-24

In 2023-24:

• there were 489 day parole decisions granted/directed/continued to another location, with the majority of these decisions occurring in the Prairie (45%) and Ontario (29%) regions;
• sixty-nine percent (69%) of the approved ‘other locations’ were the family home.

Federal Day Parole Grant Rates by Race Group

Note: Day parole grant rates include both regular and Accelerated Parole Review decisions.

• Over the last five fiscal years, 2019-20 to 2023-24, Black offenders reported the lowest federal day parole grant rate (72.3%), followed closely by Indigenous offenders (73.1%), and then Caucasian offenders (77.6%) and ‘Other’ race group offenders (79.1%). Asian offenders reported the highest federal day parole grant rate at 81.4%.
• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24, the federal day parole grant rate remained:
  • relatively stable for Indigenous, Caucasian, and ‘Other’ race group offenders;
  • decreased 2.7 percentage points for Asian offenders;
  • increased 2.6 percentage points for Black offenders.

Federal Day Parole Grant Rates by Gender

Note: Day parole grant rates include both regular and Accelerated Parole Review decisions.

• Over the last five fiscal years, the average federal day parole grant rate was 74.9% for men, and 90.5% for women.
• In 2023-24, for both men and women, the federal day parole grant rates aligned with the five fiscal year average.

Full Parole Grant Rates

Note: Full parole grant rates include both regular and Accelerated Parole Review decisions.

• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24:
  • the federal full parole grant rate increased 1.7 percentage points to 32.4%;
  • the provincial full parole grant rate increased 2.4 percentage points to 31.2%.
• Over the last five fiscal years, the full parole grant rate has seen a notable drop for both federal (-8.3 percentage points) and provincial (-8.1 percentage points) offenders.

Federal Full Parole Grant Rates by Race Group

Note: Full parole grant rates include both regular and Accelerated Parole Review decisions.

• Over the last five fiscal years, Indigenous offenders reported the lowest federal full parole grant rate (22.7%), followed by both Black (35.2%) and Caucasian (35.6%) offenders, while Asian offenders reported the highest rate (46.2%).

Federal Full Parole Grant Rates by Gender

Note: full parole grant rate includes both regular and Accelerated Parole Review decisions.

Over the last five fiscal years:

• the average federal full parole grant rate was 32.5% for men, and 47.4% for women;
• the federal full parole grant rates have decreased at a similar rate for both men and women.

Special Conditions Imposed

• Over the last five fiscal years, there were 297,138 special conditions imposed in total on offenders’ conditional releases.
• The total number of special conditions imposed on conditional release dropped slightly (3.9%) between 2019-20 and 2021-22 but in 2023-24 reached approximately pre-pandemic levels.

Proportion of Special Conditions Imposed

• In each of the last five fiscal years, ‘No Contact with Certain Person’ was the most frequently imposed special condition, followed by ‘Not to Consume Drugs’ and ‘Not to Consume Alcohol’.

Note: Other special condition categories includes: Not in presence of sex worker, No contact with children, Not to be near children areas, Do not enter drinking establishments, Do not enter cannabis establishments, Do not enter gambling establishments, Not to gamble, Motor vehicle restriction, Follow psychological counsel, Follow psychiatric treatment, Take medication as prescribed, Participate in psych assessment, Pornography restriction, Internet restriction, Telecommunication restriction, Respect curfew, Provide urinalysis (provincial cases only), and Other special condition (to be specified). Not to consume alcohol includes Abstain from alcohol; No contact with certain persons includes Avoid certain persons; and No contact with victim(s) includes Avoid victim(s).

Successful Completion Rates on Federal Conditional Release

*Includes determinate sentences.

• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24, the successful completion rates:
  • remained stable on federal day parole (+0.9 percentage point, to 91.6%);
  • increased on federal full parole (+1.0 percentage point, to 88.5%);
  • remained stable on federal statutory release (-0.6 percentage point, to 59.8%).
• Over the last five fiscal years, the successful completion rates:
  • increased by 1.4 percentage points for federal offenders supervised on day parole;
  • remained stable for federal offenders serving a determinate sentence being supervised on full parole (-0.6 percentage point);
  • decreased for federal offenders on federal statutory release by 5.2 percentage points.

Revocation for Breach of Condition Rates on Federal Conditional Release

*Includes determinate sentences only.

Over the last five fiscal years:

• the revocation for breach of condition rates on federal day and full parole has remained stable;
• the revocation for breach of condition on federal statutory release has significantly increased (+8 percentage points).

Total Revocation with Offence Rates on Federal Conditional Release

Note: offence rates include both non-violent and violent reoffending.

*Includes determinate sentences only.

Over the last five fiscal years:

• the total revocation with offence rate on federal day parole was on average 1.3%;
• the total revocation with offence rate of federal full parole (determinate sentences) was on average 3.2%;
• the total revocation with offence rate on federal statutory release has dropped by 3.1 percentage points (to 6.9% in 2023-24).

Revocation with Violent Offence Rates on Federal Conditional Release

*Includes determinate sentences only.

Over the last five fiscal years:

• the rate of violent reoffending of federal day parole has been very low, averaging 0.2%;
• the rate of violent reoffending of federal full parole has been very low, averaging 0.8%;
• the rate of violent reoffending on federal statutory release was at its lowest in 2023-24 at 0.7%.

Appeal Decisions

Note: The decision varied category includes all decisions to reverse, cancel, and vary a decision.

• In 2023-24, the Appeal Division:
  • affirmed 79% of the initial decisions;
  • ordered a new review/hearing in 18% of cases;
  • varied 3% of cases.
• Over the last five fiscal years, the total number of decisions rendered by the Appeal Division decreased from 599 in 2019-20 to 500 in 2023-24 (-16.5%).

PBC Contacts with Victims

Note: Contacts with victims were made by PBC National Office in 2021-22 (two contacts), 2022-23 (one contact) and 2023-24 (four contacts).

*Data for 2020-21 on PBC contacts with victims are not available. The PBC transitioned from manual data collection to using an automated system. Data based on the automated system are being reported as of 2021-2022.

• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24, the PBC reported 20,674 contacts with victims, an increase of 6.9%.

Observers at PBC Hearings

• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24, the number of observers at PBC hearings increased 15.8%, to 4,206.
• The significant decrease in 2020-21 is a direct result of health and safety measures put in place to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Victim Presentations at PBC Hearings

• In 2023-24, victims made 317 presentations at 189 hearings. The number of hearings with presentations decreased by 4.5%, and the number of victim presentations decreased 6.2%, in comparison to the previous fiscal year.
• Over the past 5 fiscal years:
  • victims made 1,516 presentations at 889 PBC hearings;
  • hearings with presentations have increased by 16% and victim presentations have increased by 18%.

Decisions Sent from the Decision Registry

• In 2023-24, the PBC’s Quebec Region continues to have the greatest share of decisions sent from the decision registry (36.2%) of all regions.
• Compared to the previous fiscal year, in 2023-24, the number of decisions sent from the decision registry increased to 7,775 (+9.8%).
• Over the last five fiscal years:
  • 33,780 decisions have been sent from the decision registry;
  • there has been a notable increase in decisions sent from the decision registry in all PBC regions, apart from the Atlantic and Ontario regions.

Record Suspension and Pardon Decisions Rendered and Cannabis Record Suspension Ordered

• In 2023-24, the PBC rendered 2,312 record suspension decisions (97% ordered and 3% refused) and 10,882 pardon decisions (98% granted/issued and 2% of denied).
• In 2023-24, the PBC also ordered 123 Cannabis Record Suspensions (119 Cannabis Record Suspensions from applications received in 2023-24^{Footnote 2}  and 4 received in 2022-23).
• Over the last five fiscal years, the total number of Pardons and Record Suspensions (excluding Cannabis) decisions rendered annually has grown by 26.7% (10,412 in 2019-20 to 13,194 in 2023-24).
• In 2023-24, the PBC also assessed 25 requests for clemency (Royal Prerogative of Mercy).
• As of March 31, 2024, the PBC has received a total of 82 expungement applications, 71 of which have been returned as ineligible (i.e., did not meet the legislated criteria), one expungement was refused, nine expungements were ordered, and one expungement application had been received but not yet processed.

2023-24 Board Member Complement

• In 2023-24^{Footnote 3} , PBC had a total of 70 Board members:
  • 43 full-time and 27 part-time.
  • 11% of all Board members were Indigenous.
  • 14% of all Board members were visible minorities (3 percentage points more than the previous fiscal year).
• In 2023-24, the Board member language profile was the following:
  • 64% of Board members were English-speaking.
  • 10% were French-speaking.
  • 26% of Board members were bilingual (English and French).
• In comparison to five fiscal years prior, in 2023-24:
  • there were nine fewer Board members;
  • the ration of women (56%) to men (44%) Board members remains similar (57% to 43% in 2019-20).

In-Reach and Outreach (between 2019-20 and 2023-24)

• Over the last five fiscal years, the number of in-reach and outreach activities conducted by the PBC has increased by 87% (from 252 in 2019-20 to 470 in 2023-24).
• Further, there was an 80% increase of PBC in-reach and outreach activities in 2023-24, in comparison to the previous fiscal year.

Definitions

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.

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.

Outcome Results:

Revocation for breach of conditions – a positive intervention, which reduces the risk of reoffending. It includes revocation with outstanding charges.

Revocation with offence – a negative end to the supervision period, which results in a new conviction. A supervision period can also end by becoming inoperative. Parole can become inoperative if an offender who is on conditional release (day parole or full parole) receives an additional sentence for an offence under a federal act, and the day on which the offender is eligible for parole is later than the day they received the additional sentence. These release periods are excluded from the outcome rates because they are not a reflection of behaviour on conditional release.

Successful completion – supervision periods that are completed without any breach of conditions or a new offence. Among other end results, successful completion occurs upon the death of an offender serving an indeterminate sentence.

Race Group:

Voluntary self-reported offender race information is grouped into categories to facilitate reporting. “Indigenous” corresponds to offenders who self-identify as “First Nations”, “Métis”, “Innu” or “Inuit”. “Asian” refers to offenders who self-identify as Arab, Arab/West Asian, Asian-south, Asians-west, Asiatic, Asian-east/southeast, Chinese, East Indian, Filipino, Japanese, and Korean. “Black” refers to offenders who self-identify as Black, Caribbean or Sub-Saharan Africa. “Caucasian” refers to offenders who self-identify as White, British Isles, Euro-eastern, Euro-western, Euro-northern or Euro-southern. The “Other” category includes offenders who do not self-identify, as well as those who self-identify as Latin American, Multiracial/Ethnic, Oceania, Hispanic, Other and Unable to Specify.

Day Parole:

A form of conditional release, day parole allows an offender to participate in daytime community-based activities in preparation for full parole or statutory release. The individual must generally return to a community-based residential facility, halfway house or other location^{Footnote 4}  each night, or at another specified interval. In addition to the standard conditions of day parole, other special conditions may also be imposed by the Parole Board of Canada.

Generally, an individual is eligible for day parole 6 months before the full parole eligibility date (PED) or 6 months into their sentence – whichever is later. Eligibility for offenders serving life sentences is 3 years before their PED.

Full Parole:

A form of conditional release, full parole allows an offender to serve a portion of their sentence under community supervision, generally staying at a private residence, with certain conditions imposed. Full parole typically follows the successful completion of day parole and facilitates the process of community reintegration.

Generally, an individual is eligible for full parole after completing one-third of their sentence or after serving 7 years (whichever comes first). In life sentences, the court sets a parole eligibility date at the time of sentencing. Parole eligibility for first-degree murder is automatically 25 years and may range between 10-25 years for second-degree murder.

Statutory Release:

The law requires that federal offenders who have served two-thirds of a fixed-length sentence be released from prison under supervision at that point. This is called "statutory release".

The PBC’s role in statutory release is limited to: imposing conditions on release; cancelling a suspension of statutory release ordered by CSC; revoking the statutory release; and, in certain circumstances, ordering that the offender be detained in CSC custody until the end of their sentence.