2023-24 Parole Board of Canada Departmental Plan

About this publication

Publication author: Parole Board of Canada
ISSN 2371-6436

From the Chairperson

As Chairperson of the Parole Board of Canada (PBC), I am pleased to present the 2023-24 Departmental Plan. This report highlights our main areas of focus and the results we aim to achieve over the coming year.

The PBC, as an independent administrative tribunal and integral part of the Canadian criminal justice system, makes quality conditional release, record suspension/pardons and expungement decisions, as well as clemency recommendations. The PBC contributes to the Government of Canada’s outcome of a safe and secure Canada by facilitating, as appropriate, the timely reintegration of offenders and the sustained rehabilitation of individuals into society as law-abiding citizens. The protection of society is the paramount consideration in all PBC decisions. The PBC operates in a transparent and accountable manner, while respecting diversity and the rights of offenders and victims, in accordance with its statutory responsibilities and authorities.

Over the course of the coming year, the PBC will continue to deliver on its core public safety mandate, as well as innovate and strengthen its responsiveness to the needs of specific groups, including women offenders, Indigenous Peoples, racialized and vulnerable groups. The PBC will continue to champion diversity and inclusivity and work with its criminal justice and community partners to eliminate systemic barriers within the criminal justice system.

The PBC is also committed to promoting a healthy, respectful, productive, and safe work environment for all of its Board members and staff. In addition, the PBC will maintain its focus on cultivating a people management approach that fosters diversity and inclusiveness, and promotes innovation and excellence.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadians have increasingly worked, learned, and engaged with government online, and their expectations for easy to use, accessible digital options continues to grow. The PBC will continue to update and enhance its Information Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) systems and processes to ensure it is positioned to meet these expectations. Likewise, the very nature of administrative tribunals is evolving in Canada, and the PBC finds itself operating in a much more complex policy, legal and public environment, requiring new methods and resources to effectively deliver its public safety mandate.

I am confident that, by carrying out the plans and priorities outlined in this report, the PBC has set a course to ensure it meets the highest standards of professionalism in its contribution to public safety.

______________________________

Jennifer Oades
Chairperson, Parole Board of Canada

Plans at a glance

The Parole Board of Canada (PBC) is an agency within the Public Safety Portfolio.

The PBC is an independent administrative tribunal that, as part of the Canadian criminal justice system, makes independent, quality conditional release, record suspension/pardons and expungement decisions, as well as clemency recommendations, in a transparent and accountable manner, while respecting diversity and the rights of offenders and victims.

For 2023-24, the PBC has identified five corporate priorities. These priorities and highlights of planned activities are outlined below.

1. The PBC will enhance Board member, staff, and organizational capacity in the application of legislative requirements and relevant jurisprudence
   • Modernize Board Member Training in an effort to offer timely, adapted, and relevant training to its decision-makers;
   • Continue to operationalize the Directive on Quality Assurance for Board members; and
   • Implement the recommendations of the Clemency Renewal Exercise.
2. The PBC will cultivate a people management approach that fosters diversity and inclusiveness, recognizes the benefits of flexible work arrangements, and promotes a healthy, respectful, productive and safe work environment
   • Continue the implementation of the PBC's Employment Equity Plan;
   • Continue the implementation of the PBC's Accessibility Plan;
   • Continue to implement the remaining regulatory requirements following the implementation of the Policy on Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention;
   • Continue to adapt to the new reality of work, which includes a hybrid model;
   • Support the PBC's Talent Management Framework and Decision-Making Tool for second language training at the PBC through its central training fund;
   • Support the organization in the completion of the Program Administration conversion;
   • Implement and participate in development programs to foster career development, knowledge transfer, stabilizing operational effectiveness/capacity, and strengthening the succession plan;
   • Develop a harmonized approach to operational staff training;
   • Support initiatives which promote a healthy, respectful, and productive workplace; and
   • Implement staffing processes that enhance recruitment.
3. The PBC will transition to a more digital approach that meets the PBC's evolving requirements and improves client services by enhancing IT services
   • Support to the PBC's core Information Technology (IT) key activities through the Master Service Agreement (MSA) with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC).
4. The PBC will strengthen responsiveness to the needs of specific populations such as Indigenous Peoples and other groups (e.g., women, Black, and other racialized people, etc.)
   • Implement recommendations of the Moving Towards Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan.
5. The PBC will ensure and optimize the effective delivery of outreach activities to inform community partners, victims, applicants, offenders, and Canadians on the scope of the work of the PBC as an independent administrative tribunal
   • Continue to deliver in-person/virtual outreach to Canadians and continue to build on more traditional face-to-face outreach and broaden potential reach with both established and new audiences;
   • Continue to increase outreach and in-reach to diverse and disproportionately represented groups within the prison population; and
   • Increase and improve engagement with communities and criminal justice partners.

For more information on the PBC's plans, priorities and planned results, see the “Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks” section of this plan.

Core responsibilities: planned results and resources, and key risks

This section contains detailed information on the department’s planned results and resources for each of its core responsibilities. It also contains information on key risks related to achieving those results.

Conditional Release Decisions

Description

Conditional release is based on the principle and supported by research that community safety is enhanced by the timely and gradual release of offenders to the community under supervision. Quality conditional release decisions, based on the risk of re-offending in conjunction with effective programs and treatment, and effective community supervision all contribute to the release process. Through this core responsibility, the Parole Board of Canada provides timely, accurate information for Board member decision-making, and develops training and policies that are essential tools for risk assessment and decision-making that are in accordance with the law.

Planning highlights

The PBC's Conditional Release core responsibility is grounded in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. For the coming year, the PBC will continue to work closely with its criminal justice partners (i.e., Public Safety Canada, Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Department of Justice, and other community partners) to support quality conditional release decisions. In 2023-24, the PBC will hold approximately 15,000 reviews and expects to render approximately 22,000 decisions for federal and provincial/territorial offenders.

The PBC will continue to support Board member capacity and training over the next year to ensure that quality conditional release decisions continue to be rendered. The PBC supports the government’s approach to openness, accountability and transparency, and will continue to work with the Privy Council Office (PCO) to complete Board member qualification processes. To optimise high-quality decision-making, Board members must have access to relevant and timely training. The PBC continues to employ in-person meetings and training complemented by virtual options for attendance. For example, in 2023-24 the Annual Training on Risk Assessment (ATRA), which focuses specifically on risk assessment skills, decision writing, hearing management, and research is scheduled to take place in-person.

In 2021-22, the PBC established a Working Group on Systemic Racism and Diversity tasked with considering issues of diversity in general, with attention to anti-Black racism and Indigenous concerns in particular. This included considerations for the experience of persons sentenced to imprisonment, employee experience, and the larger criminal justice system. The PBC subsequently published a report entitled Moving Towards Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and developed an Action Plan in response to the report’s recommendations. In 2023-24, the PBC will focus on implementing the Action Plan recommendations from this report.

The PBC will continue to strive to further improve initiatives that aim to make the parole process more responsive and adaptive to the needs of women offenders, Indigenous offenders, and other racialized groups. It will also continue to promote the implementation of Canada’s First 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan (advanced rights and equality for Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and additional sexually and gender diverse people in Canada). Additionally, the PBC will organize a National Elder Gathering to identify best practices and opportunities to strengthen conditional release outcomes for Indigenous Peoples.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the PBC has ensured that reviews continue to be completed, and that the PBC's public safety mandate is fulfilled. In 2023-24, PBC hearings will continue to be held through a combination of in-person and remote participation, taking into account regional circumstances and public health restrictions. It is anticipated that the number of reviews will be consistent with the previous fiscal year. In-person hearings will be prioritized based on case-specific factors, such as cultural and responsivity reasons, as well as when considered necessary for hearing management purposes. In these cases, an in-person hearing will be conducted unless public health restrictions or institutional closures prevent in-person hearings. In 2023-24, the PBC expects that the number of Elder-Assisted Hearings (EAH) and Community-Assisted Hearings (CAH) will increase relative to the previous fiscal year.

Key risks

While the PBC has significant mitigation strategies in place, quality decision-making remains one of the PBC's key risks. Sub-risks include:

• Maintaining national consistency in the implementation of procedures and policies across the PBC;
• Enhancing Board member qualification, competencies, and consistent training; and
• Responding to the complex and diverse profiles of the offender population (recognizing that PBC does not influence the rates of incarceration of offender groups).

Consistent with the provisions of the Acts that govern the PBC, the uniform application of decision-making across such a large geographical area is paramount. Comprehensive training is the foundation for quality decision-making. Therefore the PBC will ensure core training and tools are up-to-date and made available in a timely manner for Board members and staff.

In addition, standardized support and processes are equally important, especially with the implementation and use of electronic files, as Board members can now complete reviews more efficiently.

Planned results for Conditional Release Decisions

The following table shows, for Conditional Release Decisions, the planned results, the result indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2023-24, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the PBC's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Planned budgetary spending for Conditional Release Decisions

The following table shows the Conditional Release Decisions budgetary spending for 2023-24, as well as planned spending for that year and for each of the next two fiscal years.

Planned spending and human resources

This section provides an overview of the department’s planned spending and human resources for the next three fiscal years and compares planned spending for 2023-24 with actual spending for the current year and the previous year.

Planned spending

Departmental spending 2020-21 to 2025-26.

The following graph presents planned spending (voted and statutory expenditures) over time.

In 2023-24, the PBC plans to spend $73.6 million in parliamentary authorities to meet the expected results of its core responsibilities. This includes:

• $70.6 million in funding to be received through the Main Estimates; and
• $3.0 million in anticipated operating budget carry-forward of lapsed funds from 2022-23.

Budgetary planning summary for Core Responsibilities and Internal Services (dollars)

The following table shows actual, forecast and planned spending for each of the PBC's core responsibilities and for its Internal Services for 2023-24 and other relevant fiscal years.

Planned results for the 2023-24 fiscal year are expected to be slightly higher than the 2022-23 forecast. The majority of the increase is the result of $3.0 million related to the planned operating budget carry forward from 2022-23 to 2023-24 and offset by a reduction of $0.6 million in revenues.

Corporate information

Organizational Profile

Appropriate minister: The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, P.C., M.P.

Institutional head: Jennifer Oades, Chairperson.

Ministerial portfolio: Minister of Public Safety.

Enabling instrument: The legal authorities under which the PBC operates includes the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and its Regulations, the Criminal Records Act and its Regulations, the Letters Patent, the Criminal Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and other legislation.

Year of incorporation commencement: 1959.

Other: The PBC contributes to the Government of Canada’s outcome of a safe and secure Canada. The PBC contributes to this outcome by making timely conditional release, record suspension, and expungement decisions and clemency recommendations.

The PBC is headed by a Chairperson who reports to Parliament through the Minister of Public Safety. The Minister, however, does not have statutory authority to give direction to the Chairperson or other Board members of the PBC in the exercise of their decision-making powers. This structure helps to ensure the impartiality and integrity of the PBC's decision-making process.

In making conditional release, record suspension/pardon decisions, as well as clemency recommendations, the PBC's primary objective is the protection of society. In rendering its decisions, the PBC is autonomous and independent. However, its decisions are open and transparent to the public, consistent with its legislation and policies.

Public safety is the paramount consideration in all PBC decisions. The PBC contributes to public safety by facilitating, as appropriate, the timely reintegration of offenders into society as law-abiding citizens. In addition, a record suspension or pardon allows people who were convicted of a criminal offence, but who have completed their sentence and demonstrated they are law-abiding citizens for a prescribed number of years, to have their criminal record kept separate and apart from other criminal records.

The PBC also has legislative responsibility to order or refuse to order the expungement of records of convictions for eligible offences that would be lawful today under the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act.

Outcomes of the PBC's work can be found in its annual Performance Monitoring Report (PMR). The PMR provides performance and statistical information for the past five years for the PBC's two legislative based core responsibilities: conditional release, and record suspension and clemency.

The PBC carries out its responsibilities through a national office in Ottawa, as well as six offices in five regions across the country (Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario, Prairie, and Pacific).

PBC Locations

The PBC's regional offices deliver the conditional release program. Conditional release decisions are made by Board members, who are supported in their decision-making by Public Service staff. Staff schedule hearings, review file information for decision-making, ensure that information for decision-making is shared with offenders, and communicate conditional release decisions to CSC representatives and others as required. Regional staff also provide information to victims, makes arrangements for observers at hearings, manages requests for access to the PBC's Decision Registry, and deliver program outreach and engagement activities.

While Board members from all five regions and the national office make decisions related to record suspensions, the data collection, investigation and assessment work for record suspensions and clemency are conducted by Public Service staff at the national office. In addition, Board members in the Appeal Division at the national office review conditional release decisions upon receipt of an application for appeal to determine if the law and processes were respected.

Public Service employees at the national office develop national policies and procedures related to all core responsibilities, coordinate Board member qualification and appointment processes, as well as Board member training, deliver a program of public information education, and respond to Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests. Other work performed at the national office includes strategic and operational planning, policy development, resource management, program monitoring, professional standards, quality assurance (e.g. case reviews and investigations), and an array of internal services.

Consistent with the provisions of the Acts that govern the PBC, Board members are independent in their decision-making responsibilities, and free from outside interference of any kind. As independent decision-makers, Board members are bound by legislation, guided by policy, and are responsible for:

• Reviewing all information available to them for consideration in conditional release, record suspension/pardons, and clemency cases;
• Conducting an in-depth analysis of each case, and requesting additional information, as necessary, to support quality decision-making;
• Assessing the risk and other factors related to cases, voting independently on the disposition of each case, and providing sound, well-documented, written reasons for decisions; and
• Ensuring that reviews are conducted in accordance with the duty to act fairly, and with respect for all procedural safeguards.

The Chairperson of the PBC is a full-time Board member of the PBC and its Chief Executive Officer. The Chairperson directs the PBC's delivery of core responsibilities in keeping with the Government of Canada’s overall plans and priorities. The Chairperson is accountable for the effectiveness and efficiency of the PBC's policies and operations and is assisted in these responsibilities by the Executive Vice-Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson of the Appeal Division, the five regional Vice-Chairpersons, and senior managers.

The Executive Vice-Chairperson exercises all powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Chairperson, in the event of the absence of the Chairperson or vacancy in the office of the Chairperson. The Executive Vice-Chairperson is responsible for overseeing the Board member qualification and appointment processes, training, professional conduct, conflicts of interest, Board member complaints and annual evaluations as well as quality assurance for all Board members and Vice-Chairpersons at the PBC. The Executive Vice-Chairperson is also responsible for the Appeal Division operations.

The Deputy Chairperson of the PBC is its senior staff member and Chief Operating Officer. The Deputy Chairperson, in support of the Chairperson, provides leadership for strategic and operational planning, policy development, resource management, program monitoring and administration, as well as the operation of the national and regional offices.

The following organizational chart provides additional details.

Note: Within the chart below the blue background denotes Governor-in-Council term appointees and the grey background signifies public service employees.

Raison d’être, mandate, and role: who we are and what we do

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on the PBC's website.

For more information on the department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the mandate letter.

Operating Context

Information on the operating context is available on the PBC's website.

Reporting Framework

The PBC's approved Departmental Results Framework (DRF) and Program Inventory for 2023-24 are as follows:

Note: Within the chart below the blue background denotes core responsibilities and program inventory; the white background signifies departmental results, and the beige background reflects result indicators.

Changes to the approved reporting framework since 2022-23:

• No changes have been made to the PBC's DRF in 2023-24.

Supporting Information on the Program Inventory

Supporting information on planned expenditures, human resources, and results related to the PBC's Program Inventory is available in the GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

The following supplementary information tables are available on the PBC's website:

• Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+).

Federal Tax Expenditures

The PBC's Departmental Plan does not include information on tax expenditures.

Tax expenditures are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for government‑wide tax expenditures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures. This report provides detailed information on tax expenditures, including objectives, historical background and references to related federal spending programs, as well as evaluations, research papers and gender-based analysis plus.

Organizational Contact Information

Mailing Address:  Public Affairs and Partnerships Division
                                410 Laurier Avenue West
                                Ottawa, Ontario
                                K1A 0R1

Telephone:            (613) 954-7474

E-mail:                    info@PBC-CLCC.gc.ca

Website(s):            Canada.ca/Parole-Board-of-Canada

Appendix: definitions

Appropriation (crédit)
Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)
Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

Core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)
An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)
A document that sets out a department’s priorities, programs, expected results and associated resource requirements, covering a three‑year period beginning with the year indicated in the title of the report. Departmental Plans are tabled in Parliament each spring.

Departmental result (résultat ministériel)
A change that a department seeks to influence. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

Departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)
A factor or variable that provides a valid and reliable means to measure or describe progress on a departmental result.

Departmental Results Framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)
A framework that consists of the department’s core responsibilities, departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)
A report on a department’s actual performance in a fiscal year against its plans, priorities and expected results set out in its Departmental Plan for that year. Departmental Results Reports are usually tabled in Parliament each fall.

Full‑time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person‑year charge against a departmental budget. Full‑time equivalents are calculated as a ratio of assigned hours of work to scheduled hours of work. Scheduled hours of work are set out in collective agreements.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])
An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives. GBA Plus is a process for understanding who is impacted by the issue or opportunity being addressed by the initiative; identifying how the initiative could be tailored to meet diverse needs of the people most impacted; and anticipating and mitigating any barriers to accessing or benefitting from the initiative. GBA Plus is an intersectional analysis that goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences to consider other factors, such as age, disability, education, ethnicity, economic status, geography, language, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

Government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)
For the purpose of the 2023-24 Departmental Plan, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the Government’s agenda in the 2021 Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighter harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation and fighting for a secure, just, and equitable world. 

High impact innovation (innovation à impact élevé)
High impact innovation varies per organizational context. In some cases, it could mean trying something significantly new or different from the status quo. In other cases, it might mean making incremental improvements that relate to a high-spending area or addressing problems faced by a significant number of Canadians or public servants.

Horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)
An initiative in which two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

Non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)
Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

Performance (rendement)
What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

Plan (plan)
The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead up to the expected result.

Planned spending (dépenses prévues)
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in the Main Estimates.

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

Program (programme)
Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within a department and that focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels

Program inventory (répertoire des programmes)
An inventory of a department’s programs that describes how resources are organized to carry out the department’s core responsibilities and achieve its planned results.

Result (résultat)
An external consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead, they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

Statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

Target (cible)
A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

Voted expenditures (dépenses votées)
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an Appropriation Act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.