2017 to 2018 Departmental Plan

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Minister's message

In 2017–18, we will also focus on strengthening innovation, including piloting newer, more advanced technology for electronic monitoring of offenders.

I look forward to continuing our work, and to fulfilling our mandateFootnote i for Canadians.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Plans at a glance

CSC manages its inmate and offender population in a dynamic manner to ensure effective placement within the correctional continuum. This approach integrates offender accommodation planning, interventions and resources with offender management strategies to enhance correctional results. Over the last four years, this integrated approach has helped CSC reduce its national double-bunking rate, the number of offenders in segregation, and the amount of time spent in segregation. CSC will implement, maintain and evaluate its segregation renewal strategy to further strengthen the oversight of administrative segregation.

CSC will continue to improve case management training, tools, skills, reporting and quality assurance practices. Within its Structured Assessment and Intervention Framework, CSC will maximize assessment and intervention activities for offenders and ensure the safety and security of the public, victims, staff and offenders in institutions and in the community. CSC continues to improve protocols and procedures to prevent the entry of drugs and other contraband in institutions. In particular, CSC will evaluate and adapt emerging security-related technologies, as appropriate, to the evolving correctional environment.

In line with the mandate of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to address gaps in services to Indigenous Peoples, CSC provides Indigenous offenders with opportunities to walk the traditional healing path and work with Elders in spiritual/cultural interventions, such as Pathways and culturally-specific escorted temporary absences. CSC delivers the Aboriginal Integrated Correctional Program Model, which helps Indigenous offenders build a positive personal and cultural identity, and encourages them to be involved in their rehabilitation process. CSC will continue to use Sections 81 and 84 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) to support the timely and appropriate release of Indigenous offenders.

In addition, CSC collaborates with Indigenous communities and other partners to address gaps in service to Indigenous offenders. It continues to implement the Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Corrections and the Anijaarniq Holistic Inuit Strategy to provide Indigenous offenders with the support and resources they need to return to and remain in their communities as law–abiding citizens.

To support ministerial commitments related to mental health care, CSC continually monitors the implementation of its refined model of mental health care in order to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of mental health services. The Service will continue to collaborate with other jurisdictions on mental health initiatives to provide continuity of mental health services to offenders in the community.

CSC promotes mental health awareness among staff and offenders. It will continue to strive to improve the results of offenders who have mental health needs in order to contribute to safer institutions and successful reintegration into the community.

For more information on CSC’s plans, priorities and planned results, see the "Planned results" section of this report.

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

Raison d'être

The purpose of the federal correctional system, as defined in law, is to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful and safe society by carrying out sentences imposed by courts through the safe and humane custody and supervision of offenders; and by assisting the rehabilitation of offenders and their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens through the provision of programs in penitentiaries and in the community (CCRA, s.3).

Mandate and role

CSC’s mandate is to contribute to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure, and humane control.

The Correctional Service of Canada, as part of the criminal justice system and respecting the rule of law, contributes to public safety by actively encouraging and assisting offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure and humane control.

For more general information about the department, see the "Supplementary information" section of this report. For more information on the department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter on the Prime Minister of Canada’s websiteFootnote ii .

Operating context: conditions affecting our work

Correctional Service of Canada's responsibilities are derived from the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA)Footnote iii  and the Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations (CCRR)Footnote iv . The CCRA and CCRR outline CSC's responsibilities as:

1. the care and custody of inmates;
2. the provision of programs that contribute to the rehabilitation of offenders and to their successful reintegration into the community;
3. the preparation of inmates for release;
4. parole, statutory release supervision and long-term supervision of offenders; and
5. maintaining a program of public education about the operations of the Service.

CSC develops, implements and monitors correctional policies, programs and practices that respect gender, ethnic, cultural and linguistic differences and are responsive to the needs of women, Indigenous peoples and other groups. CSC provides essential health care services and reasonable access to non-essential mental health care that contribute to offenders’ rehabilitation and successful reintegration into the community. CSC provides services to victims of crime, such as information sharing and awareness building to support victims.

The evolving environment within which CSC operates requires a high degree of adaptability, flexibility and rigour. CSC has custody of offenders with extensive histories of violence and violent crimes, previous youth and adult convictions, affiliations with gangs and organized crime. It manages an increasing number of women offenders as well as a disproportionate representation of Indigenous offenders as compared to the Canadian population. In addition, offenders may come into its jurisdiction with serious mental health disorders and other diseases and infections, such as Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). CSC develops, relies on and benefits from a professional workforce of some 18,000 employees engaged in the success of its operation and the fulfillment of its mandate. Finally, to ensure the safety and security of the public, victims, staff and offenders, CSC continually invests efforts to maintain its 43 institutions, 15 community correctional centres, and 91 parole and sub-parole offices.

CSC aligns its resources to support effective and efficient offender rehabilitation. CSC strives to achieve administrative efficiencies by streamlining its operations and program delivery. It optimizes available resources for its key priorities and core mandate, and ensures that the organization continues to deliver strong public safety results for Canadians.

Key risks: things that could affect our ability to achieve our plans and results

Managing potential impacts of risk occurrence is an integral part of CSC’s risk management process. It requires making sustained efforts to ensure that risks are maintained at manageable levels through controls and mitigation strategies.

As a high reliability organization^{Footnote 1}, CSC implements crisis management methods and processes that are current and sustainable 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The continuity of CSC operations largely depends on its ability to maintain control as it manages and anticipates risks. It does this by identifying, developing, implementing and assessing innovative ways to ensure the safety and security of the public, victims, staff and offenders. Doing so reduces or seeks to eliminate the occurrence of tragic incidents, such as safety, security and emergency incidents or non-natural deaths in custody or in the community.

Integrated risk management increases public confidence in CSC’s ability to fulfill its mission and contribute to public safety, with appropriate correctional plan development and placement decisions, rigorous analysis and documentation, and the availability of correctional programs aimed at increasing offenders’ education and literacy levels as well as their chance of successful reintegration within the community. It also contributes to CSC’s obligation to provide essential health care and reasonable access to non-essential mental health care, which directly impacts the health and safety of offenders.

CSC’s ability to support and provide resources for services and programs for offenders may also be impacted by difficulties experienced by CSC’s partners. CSC communicates regularly with other government departments and agencies to develop relationships and agreements that foster cooperative service delivery across the Government of Canada. In addition, CSC must depend upon the support and resources of many community-based organizations to assist in the delivery of some of the services for offenders both within their institutions and in the community. Funding pressures on these organizations can affect the relationship and support that CSC can attain from these community organizations.

Planned results: what we want to achieve this year and beyond

Innovation at CSC is central to the safety and security of the public, victims, staff and offenders at CSC. The organization's long history of innovation includes some signature pieces, such as CSC's Integrated Correctional Program Model that, after being piloted, evaluated and implemented in stages across the country, is now the standard for programming offered to federal male offenders. This program, combined with the Aboriginal Integrated Correctional Program Model (AICPM), the Women Offender Correctional Programs (WOCP) and Aboriginal Women Offender Correctional Programs (AWOCP) are designed to target offenders' criminogenic needs and risk levels. As well, CSC's Structured Assessment and Intervention Framework, an efficient and effective way to complete correctional planning, improves the way it assesses and provides interventions for offenders.

CSC is engaged and committed in an ongoing endeavour to improve staff safety in the community. Various approaches, including the introduction of adapted technology, are being tested, evaluated and implemented. Learning from past experience, CSC is piloting newer, more advanced technology in the use of electronic monitoring of offenders on conditional release. National implementation of innovative electronic monitoring solutions will be based on the results from the pilot.

CSC continually monitors the development and practicality of new management approaches that engage and commit staff to greater safety and security practices, and that explore new technologies to be adapted for use in corrections, particularly in the areas of security and drug interdiction. Implementation of new methods or new equipment is done after completion of testing, piloting and a complete assessment of affordability, practicality and usefulness in managing inherent risk. CSC’s new Contraband Control Strategy promotes new and practical methods (e.g., video, posters, stickers, FAQs, etc.) to increase staff awareness of the complexity and dynamics of contraband issues, enhancing policy compliance in relation to searches and seizures, and strengthening accountabilities for management and staff.

Unmanned Air Vehicles (drones) pose health, safety and security risks for correctional environments. In response to the fast development and the affordability of this technology for illegal uses, CSC is working in partnership with the National Research Council to investigate commercial technologies for the introduction of drones that can be adapted in correctional environments to detect, prevent and stop the entry of illegal material in its institutions.

CSC is transforming its Information Management Services, which requires the development of new functions, skills and knowledge to enable greater innovation and agility; the recent mental health hackathon via our newly created innovation hub, launchpad, demonstrates that innovation and agility provides enhanced service delivery and business value to CSC’s internal and external partners.

Programs

The Custody Program contributes to public safety by providing for the day-to-day needs of offenders, including health and safety, food, clothing, accommodation, mental health services, and physical health care. It also includes security measures within institutions such as drug interdiction, and appropriate control practices to prevent incidents.

As a priority, CSC invests efforts, time and resources to maintain the safety and security of the public, victims, staff and offenders in institutions and the community. It does so by implementing management action plans derived from findings and recommendations included in internal reviews, evaluations, audits, investigations, and coroners’ inquests reports and analysis. For example, contraband types, introduction techniques, and the expansive nature of the people involved, have become more organized, dynamic, complex, and sophisticated. CSC is strengthening its ability to stop contraband and unauthorized items from entering institutions by formalizing and reinforcing partnerships at the national, regional and local levels, and by sharing information between criminal justice and law enforcement partners. In addition to these efforts, CSC is exploring and adopting emerging security-related technologies and strengthening its operational policies and procedures in order to reduce drug-related incidents.

CSC continues to develop and implement its population management approach to address individual and group offender needs, manage risk and provide effective and timely interventions (e.g., rehabilitation programs) for offenders. It implements, maintains and evaluates its segregation renewal strategy in order to improve decision making and strengthen oversight for administrative segregation.

CSC provides essential health care and reasonable access to non-essential mental health care that contributes to inmates’ rehabilitation and successful reintegration into the community. During this period, the Health Services Sector will work to maintain its accreditation status, which is given to health care facilities by an external third-party after rigorous evaluation, and which facilitates a sustained organizational focus on patient safety and a continuous quality improvement approach to health services delivery.

Consistent with CSC’s corporate priority to provide effective and timely interventions in addressing mental health needs of offenders, and with the ministerial mandate to address gaps in services to those with mental illness, CSC will continue to implement and monitor its refined model of mental health care. This model maximizes the efficiency and effectiveness of mental health services and contributes to mental health, safe institutions and successful offender reintegration to the community.

As part of its Accommodation Plan 2015–2020, CSC developed an overarching approach for the ongoing maintenance, recapitalisation and construction of physical infrastructure. This plan is on track to meet current and forecasted accommodation requirements, which will support correctional operations. These requirements include providing safe and clean living/working conditions for staff and inmates.

CSC contributes to public safety through the delivery of nutritionally-balanced meals to offenders in institutions, in accordance with Canada’s Food Guide. CSC also provides efficient institutional support in areas such as laundry services, clothing and vehicle management. In addition, CSC follows federal environmental standards and regulations, and supports the Government of Canada’s initiatives to reduce the footprint of government operations.

When dealing with non-natural deaths in custody, escapes, or drugs in institutions, CSC’s objective is zero. It is necessary, however, to put that objective in the context of reality; therefore, CSC’s results are compared with those from previous years and in relation to its current operational context.

CSC must pursue it efforts to ensure the safe and secure custody of offenders. In spite of the increase in the rate of escapes during the last three years, the results are still meeting CSC’s target. When this trend is analyzed over a longer period of time, CSC’s mid-year results for 2016–17 confirm that this rate is declining.

Information on CSC’s lower-level programs is available on CSC’s website^{Footnote v} and in the TBS InfoBase.^{Footnote vi} 

The Correctional Interventions Program contributes to public safety through assessment activities and program interventions for federal offenders that are designed to assist in their rehabilitation and facilitate their successful reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens. The program engages Canadian citizens as partners in CSC's correctional mandate, and provides outreach to victims of crime.

CSC delivers a range of correctional interventions (e.g., rehabilitation programs) that encourage offenders to be accountable for their behaviour and rehabilitation, and support their successful reintegration into the community. CSC ensures that all correctional programs, policies, and guidelines are up to date and reflective of effective evidence-based practices. In addition to providing training and support to staff who deliver correctional interventions to offenders, CSC will continue to make advancements in case management to augment assessment and intervention activities.

CSC continues to improve the correctional reintegration programs that target offenders’ criminogenic needs and risk levels. These enhancements include creating more opportunities for offenders to complete programs before they reach their conditional release (e.g., parole) eligibility dates.

CSC will finalize the national implementation of the Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM) for male offenders, which includes the Aboriginal Integrated Correctional Program Model (AICPM). It will plan, deliver, and monitor ICPM/AICPM, as well as the Women Offender Correctional Programs (WOCP) and Aboriginal Women Offender Correctional Programs (AWOCP). It will also begin national implementation of the new Inuit-specific integrated correctional programming for male offenders to ensure that Inuit offenders’ unique risks and needs are also addressed in a timely, holistic and culturally appropriate way.

Through the effective delivery of education programs, CSC provides offenders with the basic literacy, academic, and personal development skills needed for safe reintegration into the community. For example, in response to the evaluation on Offender Education Programs and Services, CSC is exploring software to supplement educational programs for teachers and offenders in order to provide opportunities for offenders to gain the computer skills needed for increasing literacy levels. Support to offenders will be maintained to develop marketable job skills that will help them to secure meaningful employment after release.

CSC assists offenders in developing their social skills through structured and unstructured programs and activities such as integration programs, recreation, self-help, life skills training, and social and cultural activities. CSC encourages offenders to adopt pro-social lifestyles, use their time meaningfully, and prepare for reintegration into the community. In addition, opportunities to increase offenders’ contact with family and support networks will be sought. This includes the use of technology, such as video communication, where appropriate.

CSC is implementing its Strategic Plan for Chaplaincy by working with the Interfaith Committee on Chaplaincy’s (IFC) standard for providing institutional services, and by strengthening faith-based community reintegration projects. This is done to ensure that offenders have access to religious and spiritual services throughout their sentence.

CSC ensures that its work is aligned with its corporate priority to provide effective and culturally appropriate interventions and reintegration support for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit offenders. This also responds to the mandate letter of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness that calls for a renewed nation-to-nation relationship with Indigenous Peoples, based on recognition of rights, respect, co-operation and partnership. For Indigenous offenders, CSC continues to revitalize the use of Pathways Initiatives, renew collective focus on the Strategic Plan for Aboriginal Corrections (SPAC), implement and monitor the Anijaarniq Holistic Inuit Strategy, collaborate with partners in the Indigenous community, and strengthen Elder participation in providing correctional interventions to Indigenous offenders. These initiatives are the key culturally-based interventions for Indigenous offenders, which prepare them for successful release into the community.

CSC monitors the implementation of the Peer Mentorship Program in women offender institutions, and is exploring the possibility of expanding the program to women offenders under community supervision. In addition, it continues to develop training with a focus on women offenders, including Indigenous women offenders.

In keeping with CSC’s corporate priority of establishing and maintaining productive relationships with diverse partners, stakeholders, and victims’ groups, CSC is moving forward with an Integrated Engagement Strategy. This strategy will support the promotion, development and strengthening of diverse partnerships and stakeholder relationships at local, regional and national levels. CSC supports the sharing of information and provides support to advance positive public safety results. Engagement with partners and stakeholders, including volunteers, advisory groups, victims, and faith-based and secular community-reintegration organizations will be maintained.

In keeping with CSC’s commitment to the Official Languages Act, support will continue for the development of English and French linguistic minority communities, and the recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society.

CSC engages victims of crime by providing notifications, raising awareness, receiving information from victims, and including their concerns in decision making. Following the implementation of the Canadian Victims Bill of Rights, CSC continues to respond to official complaints and shares information with registered victims about restorative justice and CSC’s victim-offender mediation (VOM) services at the time of their registration and throughout the offender’s sentence. CSC also provides voluntary client-centered VOM services through CSC’s Restorative Opportunities program.

CSC will sustain its efforts to prepare offenders for release with the full implementation of its Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM). This Model provides flexibility and earlier access to programs, which may impact positively the median percentage of sentence served prior to first release.

Information on CSC’s lower-level programs is available on CSC's website and in the TBS InfoBase.

The Community Supervision Program contributes to public safety through the administration of community operations, including the provision of accommodation options, establishment of community partnerships and provision of community health services as necessary. Community supervision provides the structure needed to assist offenders to safely and successfully reintegrate into society.

CSC supervises offenders on conditional release and delivers on its priority to safely manage offenders during their transition to the community, consistent with the vision set forth in CSC’s Federal Community Corrections Strategy and in response to findings from the evaluation of Community Correctional Operations (2011–2013). CSC will focus on providing structured living environments, as well as appropriate supervision and support for special-needs and higher-risk offenders.

CSC continues to implement, as available and appropriate, technology that helps improve the safety of community staff and the general public. This includes electronic monitoring devices, which improve its ability to supervise offenders.

CSC collaborates with other jurisdictions on mental health initiatives, and provides continuity of mental health services to offenders in the community. This supports the mandate letter of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to address service gaps for those with mental illness, as well as CSC’s priority to address mental health needs of offenders.

Results in this area are positive and have been steadily improving over the past five years, reflecting CSC’s efforts for successful reintegration of offenders as law-abiding citizens which contributes to the public safety of Canadian society.

Information on CSC’s lower-level programs is available on CSC's website and in the TBS InfoBase.

Internal Services

Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resource Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; and Acquisition Services.

CSC will update its current values and ethics training in various learning programs and will review the requirement to increase its in-house values and ethics training. Combined, these plans will address the corporate priority of efficient and effective management practices that reflect values-based leadership in a changing environment.

In line with the mandate letter of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to ensure that workplaces are free from harassment and sexual violence, CSC will continue to prevent incidents of harassment and discrimination through mandatory training, increased awareness, and early problem resolution. In addition, CSC will increase awareness of its Internal Disclosure and Office of Conflict Management in an effort to promote workplace wellness and a respectful work environment.

The Incident Investigations Branch regularly distributes "lessons learned" stemming from investigations in an effort to share information across CSC regarding key themes, areas of risk and best practices.

CSC will hold regular and open consultations with federal/provincial/territorial partners to ensure that information and best practices are shared among the various jurisdictions. This will contribute to effective communications within the Canadian criminal justice system. We will also hold open dialogues with international corrections partners to learn from them and/or help them as needed.

CSC continues to support the formal mentoring program for wardens and deputy wardens of women offender institutions and parole officer supervisors in women’s supervision units.

During the reporting year, CSC will continue to implement the Treasury Board Policy on Internal Control and strengthen contracting and materiel management across the organization. Financial strategies will be put in place to address budget constraints, including analysis, monitoring and reporting of CSC’s financial situation, and improve its resource allocation model where required.

CSC is implementing its 2015–2020 Accommodation Plan, the 2015–2020 Investment Plan, the 2016–2019 Departmental Security Plan, the three year IM/IT business plan and the National Recruitment & Retention Action Plan for health professionals. CSC also continues to implement the Human Resource Management Strategic Plan (2015−2018) which ensures that the right people are in the right place, and includes implementing strategies to improve staff well-being and foster excellence and leadership through good governance.

In alignment with the GoC IT Strategic Plan and influencing IM/IT industry trends, CSC will transform its Information Management Services (IMS) to create new enterprise value, achieve operational excellence, and develop a talent management strategy to guide a multi-year transformation.

IMS’ continued support of day-to-day run activities includes the effective management of all critical applications and their system availability. IMS will effectively manage all of CSC’s applications to reduce unnecessary applications, freeing up money for CSC to invest in more flexible applications that better serve its mandate and operational needs. IMS will grow its capabilities, such as strengthening the project management discipline to ensure delivery of critical in-flight projects (e.g., GCDocs).

Spending and human resources

Planned spending

The table shows details of CSC's planned spending in $ millions for fiscal years 2014 to 2015, 2015 to 2016, 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, 2018 to 2019 and 2019 to 2020.

Planned human resources

Estimates by vote

For information on CSC’s organizational appropriations, consult the 2017–18 Main Estimates.^{Footnote vii} 

Consolidated Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations

The Consolidated Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations provides a general overview of CSC’s operations. The forecast of financial information on expenses and revenues is prepared on an accrual accounting basis to strengthen accountability and to improve transparency and financial management.

Because the Consolidated Future-Oriented Condensed Statement of Operations is prepared on an accrual accounting basis, and the forecast and planned spending amounts presented in other sections of the Departmental Plan are prepared on an expenditure basis, amounts differ.

A more detailed Consolidated Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and associated notes, including a reconciliation of the net cost of operations to the requested authorities, are available on CSC's website.

CSC’s 2017–18 planned expenses are projected to be $2,572,515,691. These expenses include planned spending presented in this Departmental Plan and also include expenses such as amortization and services provided without charge. CSC’s planned revenues are projected to be $72,150,102 in 2017–18. Revenues are primarily generated by the CORCAN revolving fund.

Supplementary information

Corporate information

Minister: The Honourable Ralph Goodale, P.C., M.P.

Institutional Head: Don Head, Commissioner

Ministerial Portfolio: Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Enabling Instrument(s): Corrections and Conditional Release Act, S.C. 1992, c. 20

Year of Incorporation / Commencement: 1979 (March 31)

Supporting information on lower-level programs

Supporting information on lower-level programs is available on CSC’s website and in the TBS InfoBase.

Supplementary information tables

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

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Disclosure of transfer payment programs under $5 million
• Upcoming evaluations over the next five fiscal years
• Upcoming internal audits for the coming fiscal year
• User fees and regulatory charges

Federal tax expenditures

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures.^{Footnote viii}  This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance.

Organizational contact information

Correctional Service of Canada website

340 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0P9

Feedback Form^{Footnote ix} 

Appendix A: Definitions