2019-2020 Departmental Results Report

The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

In 2019–20, CSC also had the highest rate in five years of offenders who upgraded their education and successfully completed vocational training. I look forward to building on this success and working hard to ensure education in our correctional facilities continues to prepare offenders for successful reintegration.

CSC continues to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in Canada’s criminal justice system, which is an ongoing priority. This includes the continued implementation of Indigenous Intervention Centres to improve reintegration results.

Employee wellbeing remains an important focus area for CSC. In 2019–20, the Respectful Workplace Campaign completed its second year focused on building a healthy, respectful, and positive work environment for employees. In addition, a National Comprehensive Strategy on Workplace Wellness and Employee Wellbeing was developed.

At the close of the 2019–20 fiscal year, the effects of the COVID-19 global pandemic had a significant impact on CSC operations. CSC worked closely with federal and local public health authorities to take immediate action to protect the health and safety of staff and offenders. I am proud of our effective response to this unprecedented situation. The full impact of this, and other initiatives, will be reported in next fiscal year’s Departmental Results Report.

These are just a few of the accomplishments that have enabled CSC to continue modernizing the federal correctional system, aligning with the government's commitment to a strong focus on results.

I look forward to continuing work towards achieving effective and successful reintegration of federal offenders, supporting correctional employees, and keeping Canadians safe.

Sincerely,
The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M., M.P.
Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

CSC managed 23,309 offenders on a typical day in 2019–20. Among them, 13,932 offenders were incarcerated and 9,377 offenders were supervised in the community. Compared to the population in 2014–15^{Footnote 1}, the incarcerated population decreased by seven percent, while the population under community supervision increased by 19 percent. The decreasing population of incarcerated offenders and the increasing population of offenders under community supervision are overall trends that generally remained consistent in this time period. Managing the offender population is challenging, given that many of them have extensive histories of violence and violent crimes, mental health disorders, experiences of intergenerational trauma, and affiliations with security-threat groups.

To ensure all staff who work with offenders have the knowledge, training and skills to effectively manage a diverse offender population with multiple needs, CSC provides mandatory training (one time only and continuous development) that target vital areas such as mental health, suicide and self-injury intervention. Additionally, key front line staff receive extensive training (e.g. Correctional Officer Training Program, Parole Officer Induction Training) which is supported by ongoing annual or biennial continuous development to reinforce existing knowledge and address emerging trends.

In the reporting year, CSC eliminated the practice of administrative and disciplinary segregation in the federal corrections system and replaced it with structured intervention unit (or SIU), an alternative model for inmates who cannot be safely managed in the mainstream penitentiary population. The new SIU model is designed to deliver structured interventions, programming and health care to offenders in a safe and secure environment, thereby addressing their risks and needs while enhancing safety and security within institutions. This is a historic undertaking for the Service that demonstrates CSC’s commitment to improving correctional outcomes.

At the end of the reporting year, the COVID-19 pandemic impacted many countries, including Canada. CSC took the necessary measures to protect the health and safety of staff and offenders, and reduced the spread of COVID-19 within federal institutions. This was achieved by supplying personal protective equipment, health services, including for mental health, enhancing cleaning procedures, and temporarily suspending institutional visits, all temporary absences and work releases, correctional programs in group format, and all inter-regional and international transfers. The full impact of these and other initiatives as they relate to the progression of the pandemic will be reported in next fiscal year’s Departmental Results Report.

Recognizing the specific cultural and spiritual needs of Indigenous offenders, CSC formally adopted and continued implementation of the National Indigenous Plan to guide its programming and activities. CSC achieved positive results in multiple correctional outcomes for Indigenous offenders, including:

• Of the Indigenous offenders who transitioned to lower security, 95.2 percent were successful
• Of the Indigenous offenders who transferred to healing lodges, 96.3 percent were successful
• 91.2 percent of the Indigenous offenders who identified an interest in following a traditional healing path received an Elder Review

Guided by its comprehensive Mental Health Strategy, CSC provided mental health screening at intake, primary and intermediate mental health care, and psychiatric in-patient care, as well as release preparation and transitional care for offenders being released to the community.

Achievements for the reporting year included:

• 97.8 percent of targeted staff were trained in the Fundamentals of Mental Health
• 97.2 percent of newly admitted offenders received health assessments at intake
• 96.9 percent of the inmates identified by the mental health intake screening system as requiring follow-up mental health services, received a service

With the support of the Steering Committee for Workplace Mental Health Injuries, CSC developed a National Comprehensive Strategy on Workplace Wellness and Employee Well-being to address harassment, discrimination, and workplace violence, and to support staff mental health and well-being.

The Respectful Workplace Campaign that was launched in early 2018 was renewed in 2019−20, to reinforce and maintain a healthy workplace and a culture of respect at CSC.

For more information on the CSC’s plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report.

CSC provides for the safety, security and humane care of inmates, including day-to-day needs of inmates such as 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.

This fiscal year marked the beginning of a transformative era in Canadian federal corrections with the legislated implementation ^{Footnote 2} of structured intervention units (SIU). Administrative and disciplinary segregation were eliminated, and a new correctional model was introduced, one that makes use of SIUs for offenders who cannot be managed safely within the mainstream population. SIUs are designed to help address offenders’ risks and needs and reduce safety and security incidents within institutions. The SIU model provides offenders with access to structured interventions, programming, and health care in a safe and secure environment. The women’s model is comprised of an SIU within the Secure Unit and an Enhanced Support House (ESH) in the mainstream population, both of which focus on the provision of interventions to address individual risks and needs. SIUs were implemented at the end of November, 2019, so by the end of the reporting period they had been operating for just four months. During the beginning of the implementation period, we now know that there were challenges associated with data collection. Those data are needed to determine degrees of progress on a variety of performance measures. CSC is currently working on addressing the problem.

The legislation affirmed the importance of clinically independent, patient-centred health care. It enables CSC to designate institutions, or parts of institutions, as health care units with clinical admission and discharge criteria, to support patient advocacy, and to outline requirements for mental health assessments at intake, quality of care reviews, and health-related changes to the grievance process. The transition in health service delivery will take place over five years, and will be complete in 2024.

The positive results achieved in Indigenous corrections reflect CSC’s efforts in preparing Indigenous offenders for release through a targeted approach tailored to eligible offenders serving shorter sentences that start at intake and continue for the duration of their sentences. Following the 2017–18 implementation of the Indigenous Intervention Centres model ^{Footnote 3} and the formal adoption and continued implementation of the National Indigenous Plan this reporting year, CSC’s results continue to show improvement as 78.7 percent of Indigenous offenders were not re-admitted to federal custody on a new sentence within 5 years following their sentence expiry date. This result has generally improved over the last five years, up from 75.4 percent in 2014–15.

CSC’s coordinated approach to prevent drug use, treat substance use disorders, and reduce the introduction and distribution of illicit drugs has, nonetheless, seen some success. CSC increased the provision of Opioid Agonist Treatment (OAT) to offenders across the country to 2,155 patients, an increase of 48% over the 12 month period. Similar to other health care systems across Canada, CSC has waitlists for this treatment. To mitigate the risk of waiting for treatment, CSC prioritizes the provision of OAT service based on an assessment of need.

In June 2018, CSC began rolling out a Prison Needle Exchange Program (PNEP) at federal institutions across the country to help prevent the sharing of needles among offenders, thereby preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

During the reporting year, CSC maintained efforts to enhance and sustain information sharing and communication regarding the introduction of contraband and associated threats. Assessing and introducing technology to increase its capacity to identify new drugs will remain a part of CSC’s operations in the foreseeable future.

Positive results achieved in the reporting year include the rate of upheld inmate grievances per 1,000 offenders in federal custody and the low rate of escapes from federal custody (0.87 per 1,000 offenders). The result for transitions to higher security levels per 1,000 offenders in federal custody also met target.

Funding was implemented to address resource and service gaps to meet the mental health needs of offenders. As the funding is rolled out fully by 2023-24, CSC expects to meet the set targets with respect to health services, including health assessments at intake and the provision of these services in SIUs.

Results pertaining to the rate of serious security incidents, and all levels of safety incidents, were also outside the established targets. There are multiple factors that contributed to these results, such as the changing complexity of the offender profile. More specifically, CSC has custody of offenders with extensive histories of violence and violent crimes, previous youth and adult convictions, and affiliations with gangs and organized crime. Specific to gangs and organized crime, violence perpetuated by these groups is increasing in the community and this has ripple effects into the institution. For instance, “while overall crime rates in Canada are much lower than decades ago, homicides, gun crime and gang activity have all been steadily increasing. Gun homicides have almost doubled over the past four years—and more than half are linked to gangs.” ^{Footnote 4}

In addition, some offenders come into CSC jurisdiction with serious mental health disorders. Approximately half of all assaultive/violent incidents involve offenders with an identified mental health need, with no discernible difference between their role as instigators or victims. Rates of Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which continue to be higher in federal institutions than in the Canadian population generally, are strongly correlated with both substance use disorders and mental health disorders.

The results for serious security and safety incidents can, therefore, be partly explained by the increased number of incompatible populations that affect the safety and security of institutions, complexities in the identification of security threat groups and associates, and the increased rate of drug-related incidents. CSC’s offender population is characterized by very high needs and risks. SIUs, with their emphasis on engaging inmates to participate in programs and interventions designed to reduce their risk, in part, address the challenges these offenders present. CSC will continue to provide a variety of interventions to effectively address offenders’ risks and needs in order to enhance the safety and security of institutions and support offenders’ successful reintegration into the community.

Working with the Health Standards Organization, which is affiliated with Accreditation Canada and is responsible for developing standards, CSC developed and implemented an accreditation activities action plan in preparation for the next Accreditation Qmentum cycle in 2023.

In accordance with the new Canada’s Food Guide, CSC implemented a revised national menu in July 2019 and ensured that all CSC menus, including diet menus, met its requirements. All sites had positive health inspections by external health inspectors.

The majority of deficiencies identified in the Investment Plan 2015−20 were addressed by the end of the reporting year. CSC also drafted a new 2020–25 Investment Plan, which focuses on the need for increased capital funding to enable it to meet its maintenance and re-capitalization targets. As well, CSC initiated a new series of building condition reports to identify existing deficiencies that is not yet complete.

The implementation of CSC’s Sustainable Development Strategy 2018–20 and other environmental initiatives were carried out, including the initiation of four Energy Performance Contracts to reduce CSC’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. In accordance with CSC’s plan for the environmental management of waste, efforts were made to improve source separation, re-use and recycle material, and ensure safe disposal practices at CSC operations.

CSC collects performance data which are disaggregated, where applicable, by sex, gender and other intersecting identity factors, thereby enabling identification of impacts of programs or initiatives on specific groups of men, women or offenders or staff of other genders. (Please refer to the GBA+ Supplementary Information Table for information on program impacts on gender and diversity).

The variance of $152.5 million between the total authorities available for use and the planned spending is mainly due to in-year increases in authorities and internal budget adjustments between programs:

• An increase in operating authority of $66.0 million for Budget 2019 – Support for the Correctional Service of Canada, to allow CSC to pursue its activities and fulfill its mandate;
• An increase in operating authority of $41.5 million carried forward from 2018–19;
• An increase in operating authority of $33.2 million in Supplementary Estimates A to assist in meeting operational requirements ($17.6M), for Transforming Federal Corrections as a part of Bill C-83 ($14.5M), and an authority transfer from capital to operating for IMS ($1.1M);
• An increase in operating authority of $10.6 million for employee compensation including retroactive payments due to the signing of collective agreements;
• An increase in operating authority of $9.9 million due to reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures;
• An increase in capital authority of $5.8 million carried forward from 2018–19 resulting from delays in the delivery of equipment, and delays in design and implementation of a number of projects;
• An increase in operating authority of $3.5 million due to reimbursement of expenditures related to Phoenix overpayments;
• An increase in operating authority of $3.3 million for additional funding to maintain ongoing operations while compensatory time has been granted to employees in compensation for Phoenix hardship;
• An increase in operating authority of $1.7 million for sale of surplus Crown assets;
• An increase in operating authority of $0.1 million for the reimbursement of expenditures related to Phoenix damages;
• A decrease in statutory authority of $14.4 million for the Contribution to employee benefits plans;
• A decrease in operating authority of $7.6 million for re-allocation of funding to Program 3: Community Supervision; and
• A decrease in capital authority of $1.1 million in Supplementary Estimates A for an authority transfer from capital to operating for IMS.

Taking into consideration the above requirements, Care and Custody's authorities available for use were $1,724.2 million and the variance with the actual spending was $54.8 million, which was made available in the calculation of the carry forward to 2020–21.

The above variance analysis also explains the major variances at the sub-program level under Program Area 1.0 Care and Custody.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the CSC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase^{Endnote i}.

CSC conducts assessment activities and program interventions to support federal offenders’ rehabilitation and facilitate their reintegration into the community as law-abiding citizens. CSC also engages Canadian citizens as partners in its correctional mandate, and provides outreach to victims of crime.

Correctional program results for 2019–20 remained outside of target ranges for indicators related to offenders with an identified need for a nationally recognized program, as well as the percentage of offenders who complete the program prior to first release and prior to sentence expiry date. Over the past decade, CSC phased in an integrated model of correctional programming, and final implementation of the Integrated Correctional Program Model (ICPM) for men offenders was completed in the last fiscal year. During the phase-in period, it became clear that certain offender needs could not be fully addressed through the integrated program. Therefore, while implementation of the principal program was being completed in tandem with the Indigenous program, separate program streams were developed and implemented to respond to unique needs of Inuit offenders and sex offenders. These distinct program streams do answer specific needs, but there are sometimes delays in offering them when there are not sufficient number of appropriate offenders in a particular institution to form a program group.

CSC completed an evaluation of its Correctional Reintegration Programs in 2019–20 and developed a number of initiatives to address recommendations that will be carried out over the next fiscal years. CSC increased internal collaboration through multiple avenues to identify issues, develop solutions, and determine best practices. It is believed that these efforts will improve correctional program results.

In relation to the delivery of Maintenance Programs, CSC continued the alternative program delivery model pilot, which provided increased access to Maintenance Programs via technology for offenders residing in remote areas of the community. During the fiscal year, CSC developed a manual that outlines the procedures for the alternative program delivery model and commenced a formal research project on the pilot that will continue into fiscal year 2020–21.

In 2019–20, of the offenders with an identified need for educational upgrading, 68.3 percent of them upgraded prior to first release, an increase from 65.5 percent in 2014–15. During the reporting timeframe, CSC secured contracts in all regions that better enable sites to identify and accommodate the needs of offenders with learning disabilities. Formal assessments are completed, as required, on an ongoing basis.

CSC fostered and maintained positive partnerships with community stakeholders. Specifically, CSC has several partnerships with organizations that provide opportunities for offenders to access post-secondary studies. For example, the Walls to Bridges program brings together offenders and university students to study post-secondary courses in the correctional setting. The program, which operates at no additional cost to CSC, has been very positively received. Walls to Bridges has continued to expand across the country and operated in five federal institutions during 2019–20. A similar program, Inside Out, continues to conduct university courses at the Kwìkwèxwelhp Healing Village. There are other local initiatives of note, where volunteers provide post-secondary courses within federal institutions. Through these partnerships, offenders successfully participate in post-secondary courses through their respective community educational institutions, and in some cases, offenders are earning course credits.

CSC reviewed a range of opportunities to work with Indigenous communities and partners at the national, regional and local levels to respond to the needs of Indigenous offenders. Implementation of the Indigenous Offender Employment Initiative continued in the Prairie, Ontario, and Pacific Regions, building on successes since its commencement in 2017. Through this initiative, women offenders at Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge constructed and donated a playhouse to the local community, and Bath Institution implemented a new vocational training and learning centre that incorporates training and certifications in various design programs.

To respond to the needs of Indigenous offenders, CSC reviewed its capacity requirements as well as opportunities to work with Indigenous communities and partners. The percentage of Indigenous offenders with an established Section 84 release plan prior to first release was 37.1 percent in 2019–20, which was slightly lower than the target range (39.9% to 45.1%). To support enhanced Section 84 planning, CSC changed its guidelines, including the provision to commence Section 84 planning up to two years prior to the offender’s first eligible release date. When first launched, the more robust process impacted operational efficiencies, given a longer planning time; however, it is anticipated that, as staff acquire greater exposure and familiarity with the release planning process, results will improve.

Recognizing the importance of Inuit communities when providing continuum of services for Inuit offenders, CSC continued its outreach to Inuit organizations in order to enhance support for these offenders upon release.

CSC commenced the development of an Ethnocultural Action Framework in order to enhance its capacity to meet the needs of ethnocultural offenders in an inclusive, respectful, and culturally relevant manner. CSC made considerable revisions to Commissioner’s Directive (CD) 767 Ethnocultural Offenders: Services and Interventions, which is anticipated for promulgation early in fiscal year 2020−21.

In 2019–20, CSC also updated its Resource Toolkit for staff working with ethnocultural offenders to include a national staff translator/interpreter directory, community corrections fact sheets in eight different languages, and information on working with diverse groups of offenders.

CSC’s CORCAN employment and employability program made and sustained progress in employment interventions and employability support for offenders. This resulted in an increase in the percentage of employment referrals actioned within 120 days of admission since 2014–15, from 65.1 percent to 77.6 percent in 2019–20.These improvements in process contributed to the timely employment interventions available for offenders prior to release. Both domestic and international research demonstrates that employment programs for offenders are successful in changing offender behaviour during incarceration, reducing post-release recidivism and increasing employment opportunities in the community. ^{Footnote 9}

During the reporting period, CSC continued to seek opportunities to incorporate additional on-the-job and vocational training within institutions, and to broaden the types of employment training within women’s institutions and healing lodges, such as offering construction-related employment programs. Textile production allocations were reviewed to ensure that varying levels of skill complexity are provided for women through employment assignments. The horizontal collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada provided CSC with more direct access to information on job vacancies in local communities, thereby increasing its capacity to identify employment options for offenders.

CSC provided vocational and on-the-job training through transitional employment to men, women, Indigenous offenders, and offenders with mental health needs who were not able to find regular community employment and who required additional training and support to help them find regular community employment as soon as possible.

CSC’s achievements included:

• Of the offenders with an identified need for vocational training, 65.7 percent completed prior to first release, an increase from 60.5 percent in 2014–15; and
• Of the offenders with an identified need for employment in the community, the percentage who secured such employment prior to sentence expiry date was 75.6 percent, which was better than the target range.

In combination, the efforts of all areas within this Core Responsibility contributed to positive results as evidenced by the following indicators for 2019–20:

• 95 percent of transitions to lower security were successful (i.e., no reclassification to higher security within 120 days);
• 43 percent (median percentage) of sentence served prior to first release, for offenders with moderate or high reintegration potential; and
• 85 percent of offenders were not readmitted to federal custody within five years following sentence expiry date.

CSC collects performance data which are disaggregated, where applicable, by sex, gender and other intersecting identity factors, thereby enabling identification of impacts of programs or initiatives on specific groups of men, women or offenders or staff of other genders. (Please refer to the GBA+ Supplementary Information Table for information on program impacts on gender and diversity).

The variance of $21.7 million between the total authorities available for use and the planned spending is mainly due to in-year increases in authorities and internal budget adjustments between programs:

• An increase in operating authority of $14.8 million in Supplementary Estimates A to assist in meeting operational requirements ($4.8M), for Transforming Federal Corrections as part of Bill C-83 ($7.0M), and an authority transfer from capital to operating for OMS ($3.0M);
• An increase in operating authority of $9.8 million for Budget 2019 – Support for the Correctional Service of Canada, to allow CSC to pursue its activities and fulfill its mandate;
• An increase in operating authority of $5.9 million due to reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures;
• An increase in operating authority of $3.9 million for CORCAN prior year revenues;
• An increase in operating authority of $1.5 million due to reimbursement of Phoenix overpayments;
• An increase in operating authority of $1.0 million carried forward from 2018–19;
• An increase in operating authority of $0.1 million for employee compensation including retroactive payments due to the signing of collective agreements;
• A decrease in capital authority of $7.8 million for re-allocation of funding to Program 3: Community Supervision and to Internal Services;
• A decrease in statutory authority of $4.5 million for the Contribution to employee benefits plans; and
• A decrease in capital authority of $3.0 million in Supplementary Estimates A for an authority transfer from capital to operating for OMS.

Taking into consideration the above requirements, Correctional Interventions' authorities available for use were $470.9 million and the variance with the actual spending was $18.3 million, which was made available in the calculation of the carry forward to 2020–21.

The above variance analysis also explains the major variances at the sub-program level under Program Area 2.0 Correctional Interventions.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the CSC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.^{Endnote ii}

CSC supervises offenders in the community and provides structure and services to support their safe and successful reintegration into the community. Services include accommodation options, community health services, and the establishment of community partnerships. CSC manages offenders on parole, statutory release, and long-term supervision orders.

On a typical day during the reporting year, 9,377 offenders were supervised in the community. Roughly one third of this population had a residency requirement, which challenged CSC to find suitable accommodation that would provide the appropriate programs and resources for offenders, including those with mental health needs and/or physical health issues. CSC, therefore, collaborated with provincial and territorial partners, while continuing to strengthen its management and supervision of offenders in the community to both reduce offender recidivism and increase their reintegration potential.

The various expansions of community accommodation capacity (increase of 92 beds compared with 2018-19) encompassed every region. CSC completed the Greenfield House CRF Accessibility Project in Moncton, NB, creating five additional beds designed for residents having mobility issues, as well as six additional beds for women offenders.

In November 2019, CSC launched the new Offender Accommodation Management (OAM) system, a central repository for all contracted CBRFs. The system streamlines data collection and provides real-time access to reliable information, supporting the release of offenders at the right time and to the right location.

The OAM system is equipped to generate ad-hoc reports from occupancy, to acceptance and refusal rates, which will inform corporate planning activities and help CSC to become more proactive in providing community accommodation options that meet offender needs. Discharge plans match offenders’ levels of health needs, supporting the continuity of health care in the transition from the institution to the community. Of note, CSC is collaborating with Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) to better support Indigenous offenders released to the community through activities such as integrated discharge planning, and streamlining the access to services.

CSC continued to work with community partners to help offenders under supervision find employment and secure a job after release. For example, Grande Cache Institution offers an Employment Readiness Program to offenders through a community partnership with Praxis Consulting and the Asinewuche Winewak Nation, and Common Good Solution is a social enterprise that collaborates with CSC in the Halifax area on different initiatives to assist offenders in their reintegration in the community.

All of these described efforts, among others, resulted in the positive performance results achieved under this Core Responsibility. The results for the following performance indicators met or did better than their targets:

• Percentage of offenders on conditional release successfully reached sentence expiry date without re-admission;
• Rate of convictions on supervision for offences resulting in death per 1,000 offenders; and,
• Convictions on supervision for serious or violent offences.

Another positive result is an upward trend of offenders’ time spent employed while they were under community supervision during the past five years. The result of this indicator is 68.8 percent in 2019–20, which is up from 63 percent in 2014–15.

To enhance the safety of staff in the community, CSC examined technology as recommended in its Audit of the Management of Community Staff. CSC conducted two sets of research in 2019 to study the impact of Electronic Monitoring (EM) on correctional outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. Findings show that overall, offenders on EM were less likely to return to custody and spent longer periods in the community prior to returning. Feedback from staff was supportive of electronic monitoring as an effective and efficient tool in monitoring supervision conditions. Even though there is a cost associated with EM, when combined with other more traditional methods of supervision, it offers added benefit in effectively supervising offenders who are on conditional release.

CSC collects performance data which are disaggregated, where applicable, by sex, gender and other intersecting identity factors, thereby enabling identification of impacts of programs or initiatives on specific groups of men, women or offenders or staff of other genders. (Please refer to the GBA+ Supplementary Information Table for information on program impacts on gender and diversity).

The variance of $11.0 million between the total authorities available for use and the planned spending is mainly due to in-year increases in authorities and internal budget adjustments between programs:

• An increase in operating authority of $7.6 million for a transfer of funding from Program 1: Care and Custody;
• An increase in capital authority of $5.0 million for a transfer of funding from Program 2: Correctional Interventions;
• An increase in operating authority of $1.0 million for employee compensation including retroactive payments due to the signing of collective agreements;
• An increase in operating authority of $1.0 million carried forward from 2018–19;
• An increase in operating authority of $0.6 million for Budget 2019 – Support for the Correctional Service of Canada, to allow CSC to pursue its activities and fulfill its mandate;
• An increase in operating authority of $0.4 million due to reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures;
• An increase in capital authority of $0.2 million carried forward from 2018–19 resulting from delays in the delivery of equipment, and delays in design and implementation of a number of projects;
• An increase in operating authority of $0.1 million due to reimbursement of Phoenix overpayments;
• A decrease in operating authority of $4.6 million following Supplementary Estimates A to assist in meeting operational requirements, where a technical adjustment to the operating authority between programs resulted in a reduction to Community Supervision; and
• A decrease in statutory authority of $0.3 million for the Contribution to employee benefits plans.

Taking into consideration the above requirements, Community Supervision's authorities available for use were $173.4 million, which was entirely utilized over the course of the fiscal year.

The above variance analysis also explains the major variances at the sub-program level under Program Area 3.0 Community Supervision.

Financial, human resources and performance information for the CSC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.^{Endnote iii}

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:

• Acquisition Management Services
• Communication Services
• Financial Management Services
• Human Resources Management Services
• Information Management Services
• Information Technology Services
• Legal Services
• Materiel Management Services
• Management and Oversight Services
• Real Property Management Services

In 2019–20, CSC developed a National Comprehensive Strategy on Workplace Wellness and Employee Well-being to address harassment, discrimination, workplace violence and to support staff mental health and well-being. This strategy, which is expected to be formally released in the next fiscal year, builds on a series of activities undertaken the last few years, and addresses issues in a holistic manner, based on risks, and is supported by action plans with clear accountabilities and performance monitoring.

CSC created a partnership with LifeSpeak (a 24/7 online resource portal to promote and support employee wellness) as part of the Interdepartmental Letter of Agreement with Health Canada’s Employee Assistance Services. The Employee Assistance Program, Critical Incident Stress Management, Return to Work, and Duty to Accommodate programs are in place to support staff. A confidential tip line and generic email address, available 24/7, were available to provide employees with another avenue to report any concerns related to workplace misconduct.

In 2019–20, the first Workplace Climate and Employee Well-being Report was shared with the Minister’s office and with all CSC staff. This report monitored the health of the organization and was used in planning for the next fiscal year. It included data that established a clear reference point for assessing wellness-related challenges and progress. It also indicated areas for improvement, which helped guide major decision making within CSC.

CSC’s National Advisory Committee on Ethics provided independent advice on a range of initiatives, including services and training offered by the Offices of Conflict Management, Values & Ethics and Internal Disclosure. In addition, CSC remained committed to completing Ethical Risk Assessments at all sites. ^{Footnote 10}

CSC implemented the Strategic Plan for Human Resource Management 2019–20 to 2021–22, which identifies people management priorities for the next three years and serves as a framework for regional and sector human resources plans. To support the priorities identified within the Strategic Plan, CSC finalized its HR Business Plan and continued to implement and monitor its Employment Equity Action Plan and Official Languages Action Plans to ensure that it can recruit and retain a diverse workforce. In addition, CSC reviewed its internal policy on Official Languages to ensure that applicable services are available and offered in the inmate’s official language of choice.

CSC ensured its empirical and fact-based information in performance results and reports from internal evaluations, audits, and investigations were available to decision makers and policy analysts to draft policies and guidelines. Additionally, CSC’s Research Branch informed strategies around correctional approaches, interventions, policies, procedures, and programs by providing relevant research results/reports and consultations. Finally, CSC reviewed and considered reports from external sources including the Office of the Auditor General, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission mediation agreements and court/tribunal decisions. Additionally, as part of its policy review process and its participation in mediations on particular cases, CSC considered input and suggestions from a wide-range of external stakeholders to strengthen its practices and policy framework.

During the reporting year, CSC engaged all 13 provinces and territories in bilateral discussions to update the joint Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) for the sharing of court information. Electronic information-sharing solutions identified to improve the timely access to information, have been tested in three provinces. MOUs with the Yukon, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, and Saskatchewan have been signed. The remaining MOUs are in various stages of the process.

CSC completed a comprehensive review of all operations and related expenditures to determine strategies for future financial stability, and continued to work with central agencies to address the organization’s fiscal challenges. CSC’s resource allocation model was re-aligned to take into consideration incremental resources for the Transforming Federal Corrections initiative. At the end of the fiscal year, efforts were also made to reallocate financial resources to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

CSC implemented the Treasury Board Policy on Financial Management (including Internal Controls over Financial Management (ICFM)). As part of the policy, CSC was required to establish, monitor and maintain a risk-based system of ICFM. CSC initiated a plan to expand the scope of monitoring to internal controls over financial management. Preliminary work under the plan was started in 2019–20, and CSC will achieve ongoing monitoring for ICFM by March 31, 2021.

CSC also streamlined payments to suppliers and increased the number of employees with Chartered Professional Accountant designations through both recruitment and educational support to current staff. CSC completed its CSC/Parole Board Canada Information Management (IM)/Information Technology (IT) 2017–20 Business Plan, which aligned strategic elements to the operational elements required by Treasury Board Secretariat. CSC also ensured alignment with the GC’s IT Strategic Plan through work such as the launch of the CSC Cloud Strategy.

CSC established a data release plan for the publication of datasets onto the Government of Canada’s Open Government Portal and successfully on-boarded shift workers in Health Services onto its Scheduling and Deployment System as part of the Interim Enterprise Resource Planning project aimed to eliminate duplicate data entry and associated errors. The deployment of Food Services workers on this platform was scheduled in mid-March, however, onboarding was delayed to 2020-21 as a result of COVID-19.

CSC worked with the Treasury Board Secretariat and Public Services and Procurement Canada in an agile procurement process to ensure that its Offender Management System (OMS) modernization program is compliant with government IT and project standards. CSC advanced the OMS foundation and modernization projects in the reporting year by preparing OMS legacy systems for transition to a new platform. This will assist CSC in improving public safety outcomes by systematically incorporating structured assessments of risk and interventions with offenders into information management systems and procedures.

The variance of $71.0 million between the total authorities available for use and the planned spending is mainly due to in-year increases in authorities and internal budget adjustments between programs:

• An increase in operating authority of $33.9 million in Supplementary Estimates A to assist in meeting operational requirements ($3.8M), for Transforming Federal Corrections as part of Bill C-83 ($27.1M), and an authority transfer from capital to operating for IMS ($3.0M);
• An increase in operating authority of $18.6 million for Budget 2019 – Support for the Correctional Service of Canada, to allow CSC to pursue its activities and fulfill its mandate;
• An increase in operating authority of $13.2 million carried forward from 2018–19;
• An increase in operating authority of $3.0 million due to reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures;
• An increase in capital authority of $2.8 million for re-allocation of funding from Program 2: Correctional Interventions;
• An increase in operating authority of $2.4 million for employee compensation including retroactive payments due to the signing of collective agreements;
• An increase in operating authority of $1.4 million due to reimbursement of expenditures related to Phoenix overpayments;
• An increase in capital authority of $1.0 million carried forward from 2018–19 resulting from delays in the delivery of equipment, and delays in design and implementation of a number of projects;
• An increase in operating authority of $0.3 million to address issues in Pay Administration Modernization (horizontal item);
• An increase in operating authority of $0.3 million for sale of surplus Crown assets;
• A decrease in capital authority of $3.0 million in Supplementary Estimates A for an authority transfer from capital to operating for IMS; and
• A decrease in statutory authority of $2.9 million for the Contribution to employee benefits plans.

Taking into consideration the above requirements, Internal Services' authorities available for use were $372.9 million and the variance with the actual spending was $15.5 million, which was made available in the calculation of the carry forward to 2020–21.

The above variance analysis also explains the major variances at the sub-program level under Internal Services.

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

The table shows details of CSC's planned spending in $ millions for fiscal years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23. In 2017-18 there was 203 million of spending on statutory and 2,425 million on voted for a total of 2,628 million. In 2018-19 there was 223 million of spending on statutory and 2,366 million on voted for a total of 2,589 million. In 2019-20 there was 229 million of spending on statutory and 2,424 million on voted for a total of 2,653 million. In 2020-21 there was 220 million of spending on statutory and 2,334 million on voted for a total of 2,554 million. In 2021-22 there was 223 million of spending on statutory and 2,355 million on voted for a total of 2,578 million. In 2022-23 there was 225 million of spending on statutory and 2,380 million on voted for a total of 2,605 million.

For the fiscal year 2019–20, CSC’s actual spending exceeded planned spending by $167.7 million.

To fund the above variance, CSC’s total authorities available for use were increased by $256.3 million. Taking into consideration this increase, CSC’s total authorities available for use were $2,741.4 million and the variance with the actual spending was $88.6 million. Of this variance, $79.5 million in operating and capital funds were carried forward to 2020–21.

The net increase in authority of $256.3 million is due to the following:

• An increase in operating authority of $95.0 million for Budget 2019 – Support for the Correctional Service of Canada, to allow CSC to pursue its activities and fulfill its mandate;
• An increase in operating authority of $77.2 million in Supplementary Estimates A to assist in meeting operational requirements ($21.6M), for Transforming Federal Corrections (Bill C-83) ($48.5M), and authority transfers from capital to operating for IMS and OMS ($7.1M);
• An increase in operating authority of $56.7 million carried forward;
• An increase in operating authority of $19.4 million due to reimbursement of eligible paylist expenditures;
• An increase in operating authority of $14.1 million for employee compensation including retroactive payments due to the signing of collective agreements;
• An increase in capital authority of $7.0 million carried forward from 2018–19 resulting from delays in the delivery of equipment, and delays in design and implementation of a number of projects;
• An increase in operating authority of $6.5 million due to reimbursement of expenditures related to Phoenix overpayments;
• An increase in operating authority of $3.9 million for CORCAN prior year revenues;
• An increase in operating authority of $3.3 million for additional funding to maintain ongoing operations while compensatory time has been granted to employees in compensation for Phoenix hardship;
• An increase in operating authority of $2.0 million for sale of surplus Crown assets;
• An increase in operating authority of $0.3 million to address issues in Pay Administration Modernization (horizontal item);
• An increase in operating authority of $0.1 million for the reimbursement of expenditures related to Phoenix damages;
• A decrease in statutory authority of $22.1 million for the Contribution to employee benefits plans; and
• A decrease in capital authority of $7.1 million in Supplementary Estimates A for capital to operating vote swap for IMS and OMS transfers.

Carry forward amounts in the 2019–20 fiscal year were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Operating expenditures saw an increase, as CSC did its part to prevent the spread of the virus and manage outbreaks at several institutions. Conversely, planned capital expenditures were not reached, as large capital projects were put on hold, as mandated by municipal and federal governments, in response to the pandemic. All unused funding has been made available in the capital carry-forward calculations to 2020–21.

The variance between planned and actual FTEs of 132 is mostly explained by increases due to the implementation of Transforming Federal Corrections (Bill C-83). These increases were observed in Core Responsibility 1.0 Care and Custody, mostly in Intelligence and Supervision, Core Responsibility 2.0 Correctional Interventions, mostly in Offender case Management and Correctional Programs, and Internal Services, mostly in Human Resources. Other increases also occurred in CORCAN Employment and Employability and in the Information Technology sector. Increases were offset by Core Responsibility 1.0 Care and Custody, which saw a reduction due to a significant number of employees on leave without pay.

For information on the CSC’s organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada 2019–2020.^{Endnote iv}

Information on the alignment of the CSC’s spending with the Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase.^{Endnote v}

The Correctional Service of Canada’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020, are available on CSC’s website.

Over 80 percent of CSC’s total expenses are personnel costs, amortization, utilities, supplies and professional services. As reflected in the Consolidated Financial Statements, CSC’s total expenses increased by $449 million compared to 2018–19 primarily due to an increase in the contingent liability provision and a write-down of the Kingston Penitentiary and the Ontario Regional Treatment Center.

The Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations shows actual expenses of $3,141 million for 2019–20. The Care and Custody core responsibility represents $2,034 million (65%), the Correctional Interventions core responsibility represents $558 million (18%), Internal Services represent $368 million (11%) and the Community Supervision core responsibility represents $180 million (6%).

For detailed financial information, refer to CSC's 2019–20 Consolidated Financial Statements.

CSC’s net liabilities include $735.7 million in accounts payable and accrued liabilities, $74.3 million in employee future benefits, $58.9 million in vacation pay and compensatory leave, $17.5 million in the inmate trust fund, $2.6 million in environmental liabilities and $0.3 million in deferred revenue. The increase in total net liabilities is mainly explained by an increase in the contingent liability provision.

The total net financial assets include $291.2 million in the amount due from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, $111.1 million in accounts receivable, advances and loans and $19.1 million in inventory held for resale. The increase in total net financial assets is mainly explained by an increase in receivables with other government departments related to timing of recoveries and billings.

Appropriate minister[s]: The Honourable William Sterling Blair, P.C., C.O.M., M.P

Institutional head: Anne Kelly, 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)

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

CSC’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2019–20 are shown below.

Financial, human resources and performance information for CSC’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.^{Endnote vi}

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

• Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy
• Gender-based analysis plus
• Response to parliamentary committees and external audits

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. ^{Endnote vii} 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.

Correctional Service of Canada website

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