Key Risks

From: Parole Board of Canada 

Official title: Parole Board of Canada 2018-19 Departmental Plan, Key Risks

This subsection describes the key risks the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) faces in implementing its core responsibilities, commitments in the minister’s mandate letter, and any government-wide or departmental priorities. The focus is on factors that are outside the control of the Board and that carry the highest risks both in terms of likelihood and impact. Risks related to the internal management of the PBC (for example, financial resources, human resources capacity and information management) are included only on an exceptional basis, where there are significant uncertainties that could directly affect the implementation of the Board’s core responsibilities.

Risk	Risk Response strategy	Link to the department’s Core responsibilities	Link to mandate letter commitments or to government‑wide and departmental priorities
Ensuring the Application of Fairness – there is a risk that the application of fairness for evidence-based decision-making could be affected if the following are not addressed: national consistency (i.e. process support, and evidence-based decisions); and Board member competencies, merit-based qualification, and professional standards.	Mitigate Respond to changes being considered as part of the Criminal Justice System and Sentencing Reforms. Coordinate and analyze proposed legislative amendments pertinent to the PBC (e.g. Corrections and Conditional Release Act and Criminal Records Act). Implement the necessary amendments to the PBC’s policies, training, and operations as a result of legislative change in a timely manner. Facilitate new Board member orientation sessions and conducting reviews on orientation material to ensure information is up to date (e.g. cultural awareness).	Conditional release decisions. Conditional release openness and accountability. Record suspension decisions/Clemency recommendations. Internal services.	To support the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness: Keeping Canadians safe.