Agreements

At any given time, there are over 1700 Canadian citizens incarcerated throughout the world. Canadians serving a sentence of imprisonment abroad are faced with serious problems such as isolation, culture shock, language barriers and have no means to address the root of their problems because of the lack of programs available to foreign nationals. To help alleviate these undue hardships, Canada has entered into international transfer agreements with several countries. These agreements, along with Canada's implementing legislation, are the legal basis for effecting international transfers. Without the benefit of transfers, offenders are deported at the end of their sentence to their country of citizenship, often after having spent years in confinement and being totally unprepared for a safe, secure and successful reintegration into society. Transfers provide offenders with the possibility of becoming productive members of the community, by contributing to the administration of justice and their rehabilitation and their reintegration into society as law abiding citizens.

A bilateral treaty is an agreement between two countries:

• List of Bilateral Treaties with Canada

A multilateral convention is an agreement between three or more countries. Canada accedes to three multilateral agreements:

• Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons (Council of Europe)
  • Acceding countries
• Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders within the Commonwealth
  • Acceding countries
• Inter-American Convention on Serving Criminal Sentences abroad
  • Acceding countries