Federal Framework to Reduce Recidivism Implementation Plan
2023-2025

Context

On June 29, 2021, the Reduction of Recidivism Framework Act received Royal Assent, requiring the federal government to develop a Federal Framework to Reduce Recidivism (the Framework) within one year.

The Framework was tabled in Parliament on June 22, 2022. It was the first step in identifying crucial factors that impact why people reoffend and how to support safe and successful reintegration into the community. Developed in consultation with a diverse array of stakeholders, the Framework outlined five priority themes key to the successful reintegration of individuals: housing, education, employment, health, and positive support networks. Additionally, the Framework highlighted the need to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples, Black Canadians, and other marginalized groups in Canada's criminal justice system.

The Framework also signaled the intent to develop a comprehensive implementation plan that will direct efforts and resources to address the unique circumstances of individuals exiting the correctional system, in order to assist with their successful reintegration into the community following incarceration, and to prevent reoffending.

Following the tabling of the Framework, Public Safety Canada (PS) continued engaging with partners to help inform the development of the implementation plan, including through the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice, Indigenous representative organizations, government advisory committees, and more. Subject matter experts in the area of community corrections including Indigenous-led and Black-led organizations, academics, those with specializations in sectors related to gang disengagement and peer mentoring support, as well as people with lived experience, provided their perspectives on actions that can be taken to reduce the barriers to community reintegration. Further, at the 2023 Victims Roundtable victims expressed strongly that they want to know that an offender is well supported upon reintegration. These processes validated the direction of the Framework and confirmed that a broad multi-sectoral approach to address its complex interwoven issues is required.

In March 2023, the Mass Casualty Commission (MCC) released their final report that offered insights on what led to Canada's worst mass shooting in our country's history, and made recommendations to help make communities safer for all Canadians. A large portion of the recommendations from the MCC focus on community safety and well-being that speak to the need for multi-sectoral approaches, which aligns with the pillars of the Framework. It is anticipated that some of the work to be done under the Framework will be aligned with efforts that respond to the MCC's findings, and vice versa, and Public Safety Canada will work to ensure that there is continuous alignment among the complementary actions.

Introduction

The majority of individuals who are federally incarcerated will complete at least a third of their sentence in the community. Data shows that serving a part of their sentence in the community through gradual supervised release, assists individuals in their reintegration. The 2021 Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview (CCRSO) outlined how the successful completion rates for full and day parole supervision periods (known as conditional release) without a return to prison are about 90%, while the successful completion rate of statutory release without a return to prison is about 68%. Of the number of parolees (on conditional release) who commit an offence that results in a return to custody, 90% are re-admitted for non-violent crimes such as a breach of parole condition(s). Notably, the rate of violent reoffending by those on either day or full parole has been extremely low in the last five years, about 0.2% on average. Understanding the importance of conditional release, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) are targeting actions to improve the process for conditional release.

Initial steps under the implementation plan will look inward to federal programs and processes, primarily within the Public Safety portfolio, to make changes where necessary, to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Initial steps will also leverage existing programs to support the implementation of the Framework, while other opportunities are pursued. In addition to this, the Framework implementation plan will highlight changes that have been put into place since the coming into force of the Reduction of Recidivism Framework Act on June 29, 2021, given that work has been underway in support of the objectives of the Framework since that time, importantly, relating to addressing overrepresentation, digital education, and efforts to improve the record suspension process, among others. Lastly, we also recognize that there are initiatives already underway that are not necessarily happening as a direct response to the Framework. They are being implemented as a result of the recommendations from the Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI), Office of the Auditor General, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action, or the Calls for Justice from the Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. For example, the recent appointment of a Deputy Commissioner of Indigenous Corrections was in response to Call for Justice 5.23. Nonetheless the initiatives will lead to improvements and overall support for individuals to successfully reintegrate back into the community.

This implementation plan sets out actions that will take place over the next two years until the first report back on the Framework is tabled in Parliament. At the initial report back to Parliament, and every year thereafter, there will be an opportunity to update on challenges, make recommendations, and identify new actions, and new areas of focus under the plan. Therefore, the Framework implementation plan will continually be updated to include emerging best practices.

Early focus for the Framework includes culturally relevant supports to help address the overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples and Black Canadians in the criminal justice system, as well as actions targeted towards communities and digital transformation. Initial work under the implementation plan has been focused in this way since many of the actions cut across the foundational pillars of the Framework, which continue to endure as the critical elements that are required to successfully support community reintegration. A summary of the actions to be implemented beyond June 2023 and how they respond to the pillars of the Framework has been included as an annex to the implementation plan.

In addition to the specific actions relating to programs and processes that are outlined in this implementation plan, research activities will continue to be conducted. For example, PS in partnership with Statistics Canada is putting into action a method to measure pan-Canadian rates of reoffending – including pathways into and out of the criminal justice system – by linking police, court, and corrections data from federal and provincial/territorial jurisdictions. PS also completed an Evaluation of Risk Assessment Tools for Indigenous Individuals with a History of Sexual Crime: A Response to Ewert Case (2018). The purpose of the study was to examine how well two widely adopted risk assessment tools can predict the reoffending risk for Indigenous individuals with a history of sexual crimes. The PS portfolio will also expand research, as well as knowledge dissemination and mobilization on issues related to reducing recidivism.

Addressing overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples and Black Canadians in the criminal justice system

Overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples and Black Canadians in the criminal justice sector remains a pressing and serious concern. This is illustrated in the 2021 Corrections and Conditional Release Statistical Overview (CCRSO), which highlights that Indigenous Peoples are 4.4 times more likely than other Canadian racial identities to be under the supervision of the CSC; and, Black Canadians are 1.9 times more likely to be under the supervision of the CSC than other racial identities.

Black Canadians, Indigenous Peoples, and ethnocultural groups experience systemic discrimination in the criminal justice system. Systemic discrimination is perpetuated by bias and racism in policing practices, in sentencing, and in serving the sentences imposed on Black, Indigenous or People of Colour (BIPOC). The legacy of colonialism and living with the harms of the lived experiences of racism in Canada have led to a disproportionate break-up of family and community structures and supports in Indigenous and Black communities. Indigenous and Black Canadians are disproportionately impacted by this legacy with larger numbers of young people joining gangs to meet unmet needs (e.g. seeking a sense of belonging, protection or a chance to make money).

When it comes to Indigenous corrections, its effectiveness rests, in large part, on CSC's capacity to expand relationships with Indigenous partners, critical to delivering culturally responsive interventions and services. To engage with partners, these services and interventions should be meaningfully and respectfully connected to Indigenous communities. By engaging directly with Indigenous partners who have a solid understanding of their communities, the ability to house and successfully release Indigenous offenders closer to home should increase. To achieve this work, CSC is committed to continuing to increase its cultural knowledge and acceptance of Indigenous ways of knowing and healing, which will differ between nations and communities.

Black Canadians have distinct and diverse cultural backgrounds and communities, and various lived experiences and histories across regions; however, they are all impacted by anti-Black racism. Providing individuals, while incarcerated, with opportunities to understand and heal from the effects of anti-Black racism is a part of the way forward for community corrections for Black Canadians. This requires partnerships with Black community organizations, groups and experts to provide culturally specific services and interventions.

Communities

A community, in its simplest form, is a group of people with something in common. The shared factors can be family, geography, faith, race or other factors. The community is at the centre of every incarcerated individual’s eventual reintegration. Community-based organizations are integral parts of communities, and provide support for reintegration through programs and services, and by connecting individuals with needed resources (e.g. housing to support individuals in rebuilding their lives). It is beneficial when community-based organizations are involved early in reintegration planning, as they are able to provide in-reach services that can complement interventions and services offered in the institutions. They can also start the process of developing relationships that are built on trust and that will support their work when previously incarcerated individuals are back in the community. These same individuals also benefit from early reintegration planning. They are able to identify the skills necessary to obtain meaningful work and find the resources available to apply for identification, find housing, and access positive support networks.

Communities as a whole benefit from information about the process of rehabilitation and reintegration, what it means for their own safety, and how a successful reintegration benefits everyone. Landlords and employers also require specific knowledge that will help them better assess the risk of interacting with an individual with a criminal record for their business or their rental property. Information is an important tool to combat the stigmatization that impacts the ability of an individual to successfully reintegrate in the community.

Family bonds can provide hope when an individual is incarcerated, or meaning to their reintegration, and transitional support when moving back to the community. Maintaining strong family bonds during incarceration is an additional tool to support individuals through rehabilitation and reintegration. Families need support to welcome incarcerated individuals back in the home. It is often community-based organizations that provide this support for all involved.

Digital transformation

The use of technology has changed how we live our lives, including how we obtain identification, what types of educational or training opportunities we can access, and how we apply for employment. The same holds true for individuals who are incarcerated. CSC recognizes that increasing access to technology is important for those who are incarcerated and can shape their reintegration in the community. To do so, CSC has embarked on a digital transformation that will update their infrastructure, access to equipment, and training. More than ever, digital literacy skills are essential to successful reintegration.

Next steps

This is the first implementation plan for the Framework and will focus on improving existing programs, services, and processes. Although this plan looks inward, PS will continue to work in collaboration with other federal departments and other orders of government under their current mandates to find opportunities to tailor existing programs to meet the needs of individuals that are reintegrating back in the community, which will include but is not limited to collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada on employment and training, Health Canada on mental health and substance use, and Infrastructure Canada on reducing homelessness. Measures to support reintegration are continually adapted to meet the needs of diverse individuals and are based on release planning conducted by institutional staff with support from community corrections partners. Next steps will also include strengthening collaboration amongst partners in community corrections, identifying new opportunities that will be integrated in updated versions of the plan, and providing overall support for reintegration in the community. PS will also continue collaborating with the Department of Justice on strategies that they are developing to address overrepresentation, including Canada's Black Justice Strategy, and the Indigenous Justice Strategy, in addition to efforts to advance criminal justice reform.

PS, in partnership with other government departments and agencies, will take the next two years to support and move forward on the actions identified in the plan, will continue to examine new opportunities to strengthen action, and will report back to Parliament in 2025 on the progress of the Federal Framework to Reduce Recidivism.

Implementation Plan Actions

Addressing overrepresentation with culturally appropriate interventions

Actions implemented since June 2021

• As part of the Parole Board of Canada's (PBC) outreach program, the PBC conducts in-reach with incarcerated individuals across Canada to explain the PBC's mandate, raise awareness of parole and prepare them for upcoming reviews. Targeted in-reach includes equity-seeking populations such as Indigenous peoples, women, and racialized individuals. In April 2023, the PBC began formally compiling feedback from its in-reach sessions with incarcerated individuals to improve its in-reach strategy and inform policy development.

Indigenous Peoples

Actions implemented since June 2021

• Public Safety Canada (PS)'s Indigenous Community Corrections Initiative (ICCI) was renewed and expanded, with a total of $5.21 million in 2023-24, and $12.7 million ongoing thereafter. ICCI aims to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian criminal justice system by supporting grassroots efforts that offer alternatives to incarceration and support reintegration through knowledge building, knowledge sharing, capacity building, project development, and direct interventions. The ICCI funds projects that offer culturally relevant services that may include counselling, spiritual support, life skills coaching, and family reunification.
• The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls' Calls for Justice and OCI recommendations resulted in the appointment of a Deputy Commissioner of Indigenous Corrections at Correctional Service Canada (CSC). They will oversee the CSC implementation of Calls for Justice, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action, as well as support related United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Deputy Commissioner will play an integral role within CSC to help address issues within the correctional system, including the disproportionate overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples. This new position will also work to build and further partnerships with Indigenous peoples, groups, and communities, as well as ensure the delivery of culturally appropriate interventions, supports, and services for federal offenders.
• CSC launched the Indigenous Offender Reintegration Contribution Program (IORCP) in June of 2021 with total funding of $900,000 for 2023-2024, and $1.5 million for 2024-2025 and ongoing. The IORCP aims to address barriers to reintegration by supporting capacity building activities for organizations that assist Indigenous federal offenders in their reintegration, community support services in urban and rural and remote areas, and activities and resources to support the community's involvement in the successful reintegration of Indigenous offenders.
• CSC launched the CORCAN Ottawa Community Industry program in July 2022, providing Indigenous offenders with on-the-job and vocational training through transitional employment in Ottawa.
• The CORCAN Indigenous Offender Employment Initiative launched in 2017-18, expanded agreements with First Nation communities, associations and private industry to increase agreements for partners and clients to use the CORCAN program to help meet Indigenous community residential and other accommodation needs, while providing opportunities for Indigenous offenders to acquire employment skills in construction, cabinetry, millwork, and manufacturing. Several agreements were signed in Saskatchewan between 2018 and 2023, and the first Manitoba agreements under the new program were signed in 2022-23.

Actions to be implemented beyond June 2023

• Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), with support from CORCAN and CSC, will launch a pilot project to provide five previously incarcerated Indigenous persons with employment and training in the federal public service's Information Technology (IT) sector. The fully paid, two-year apprenticeship combines on-the-job learning with support from peer partners and mentors, along with self-paced training, to assist participants in developing in-demand skills and valuable work experience in IT. To remove barriers and to support inclusive practices, the pilot was developed in close collaboration with key partners, including Indigenous stakeholders. This pilot project will open the pathway to a career in IT with the Government of Canada, and could be a model for other employers.
• PS is funding:
  • A project that will explore how a community corrections organization and its affiliates can better understand how to apply decolonizing and Indigenizing strategies to contribute to advancing the Truth & Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action to support reconciliation efforts.
  • A project will bring together justice workers from various sectors in the North to meet and share knowledge, as they collaborate on community corrections. The goal of this initiative is to better understand and support reintegration of Indigenous women and gender-diverse people returning to northern communities so they can begin to address the current gaps in programs and services.
• CSC and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) will continue to increase their collaboration through the Enhancing Community Success Project to optimize release planning as Indigenous offenders return to their communities. This coordination should help to provide for better access to programs and services when leaving an institution. To date the CSC/ISC partnership has resulted in approximately 1,000 eligible Status First Nations' offenders in receiving their Secure Certificates of Indian Status, which provides access to limited Non-Insured Health Benefits such as prescription coverage and dental benefits. The new focus for the Enhancing Community Success Project will see three CSC regions (the Quebec, Ontario and Prairie regions) refer Indigenous offenders, who are being released, to a navigator who will assist in linking services and/or other opportunities.

Black Canadians and Ethnocultural Peoples

Actions implemented since June 2021

• To expand access to community supervision and to enhance access to cultural supports and services in the community, CSC promotes and monitors Day Parole releases to an 'Other Location' for ethnocultural offenders. This includes 'other locations' that may not have been previously considered. When reviewing whether to grant day parole to another location, PBC Board members will consider the unique needs and circumstances of ethnocultural offenders to ensure they receive the supports needed in their community supervision, which may be better provided by 'other locations' including community-based residential facilities or private home placements.
• CSC continues to enhance culturally responsive services and interventions for racialized offenders, including Black Canadians to better support their timely and successful reintegration, into the community. CSC has created an Ethnocultural Action Framework where over 60 staff members volunteered to be Site Coordinators, to provide culturally-responsive support to offenders at the site level.
• To better assess and meet the needs of Black offenders, CSC is using the pre-sentencing report: The Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA), to understand how the individual's lived experiences of racism and discrimination contributed to poverty, marginalization, and social exclusion, the offences committed, and their experience with the justice system. This will help to identify the most beneficial programs, interventions, and services within the correctional plans for Black offenders who received an IRCA.
• To help strengthen the relationship between faith communities and newly released offenders, the CSC Faith Community Reintegration Project has been put in place in 21 locations across the country. In 2022-2023, a new contract was awarded in the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area to provide targeted support for Muslim offenders. A faith community can provide a positive support network that can offer a foundation for reintegration in the community.

Actions to be implemented beyond June 2023

• CSC is developing a Black Offender Strategy to identify opportunities to address the unique lived experiences and barriers faced by federally sentenced Black individuals.
• CSC will use the results of the Expression of Interest, launched in March 2023, to further support efforts towards the safe and successful reintegration of federal offenders from Black, ethnocultural, and racialized community groups.
• The CSC National Victims Services Program will reach out to Indigenous, Black and other racialized communities to increase awareness of services and victim rights.
• To ensure that Black-led, community-based organizations are able to be involved more consistently with Black inmates both inside institutions, and upon an offender's release, CSC is currently enhancing its national framework, tools, and outreach to better share and promote opportunities available to offenders in communities across Canada.
• The PBC is implementing recommendations from its Working Group on Diversity and Systemic Racism to incorporate elements of cultural responsiveness in hearing processes. For example, a culturally responsive hearing includes a Cultural Advisor from Black communities who can provide Board members with information that helps to better understand systemic or background factors that may have contributed to the individual's involvement with the criminal justice system.

Communities

Actions implemented since June 2021

• Recognizing that children benefit when they are able to maintain strong bonds with their mothers while they are incarcerated, CSC is reviewing the Mother-Child program to eliminate discriminatory and systemic barriers to Indigenous and other ethnocultural mothers in accessing the program.
• CSC is reviewing the guidelines for in-person and video visits with family, friends and community members to make them more accessible and consistent across institutions to assist in maintaining or building a positive support network.
• To increase access to sites for volunteers and community supports who can play an important role in reintegration planning, CSC implemented an additional security screening process called "site access" that does not require a credit check for volunteers, when applicable.

Actions to be implemented beyond June 2023

• PS is funding an organization to develop an app that will link a conditionally released individual experiencing a crisis with a community partner to provide immediate reintegration support.
• CSC is developing a stakeholder registry that will be accessible at the local, regional and national levels and will include community partners who provide reintegration support services. The registry will support the sites in analyzing risk and approving preliminary access on a national scale, as well as include information on services for specific groups or needs.
• PS will work with partners to raise awareness and educate the public on the benefits of reintegration. This will aim to reduce to stigma against incarceration and having a criminal record, which have been identified as barriers to successful reintegration.
• Infrastructure Canada and PS will work together to identify key actions for collaboration that impact corrections, public safety and homelessness in support of the Government of Canada's commitments to end chronic homelessness by 2030 and to reduce recidivism.
• Infrastructure Canada is collaborating with communities to support community-driven research projects to identify ways to prevent and reduce homelessness for individuals that are involved in the criminal justice sector. Individuals that have a criminal record face additional barriers to finding housing. Understanding the complexities of their situations can be helpful in providing new programs and services to address homelessness.

Digital Transformation

Actions implemented since June 2021

• CSC and Shared Services Canada are working together to increase the external network capacity (bandwidth) and to modernize the internal network infrastructure to enhance its technology infrastructure. These changes aim to support increased collaboration between CSC locations and correctional service partners and provide increased access to virtually-delivered programs and services. As many buildings currently face security barriers to providing this access, the modernization is necessary to make this change.
• CSC is partnering with the Kativik School Board of Nunavik to offer Inuit offenders (in the Quebec region) virtual educational and vocational courses to provide access to culture and language that supports resiliency and connection to the community.
• ESDC Canada created a virtual platform, eSIN, for people to apply electronically for a Social Insurance Number (SIN) and therefore increase the access to this type of ID.

Actions to be implemented beyond June 2023

• CSC is working towards launching a Virtual Correctional Program Delivery project that will transform delivery of correctional programs from classroom-based to a blended learning approach that includes an interactive virtual environment. The goal is to improve the efficacy of current correctional programs by leveraging technology to address individual needs as well as by increasing access to correctional programming. This virtual programming will expand the availability and shorten the wait time to access correctional programs. This is important because it has the potential to prepare offenders for presentation to the Parole Board earlier in their sentences.

Additional Actions

Many of the actions under the Framework fall under the focus areas of culture, communities, and digital transformation. Other actions could not be easily assigned to one theme, revealing the interconnectedness of needs to be addressed.

Actions implemented since June 2021

• CSC is continuing to use a treatment and harm reduction approach aligned with community standards that treats problematic substance use as a health issue, consistent with the Government of Canada's Canadian Drugs and Substance Strategy and recommendations by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. More recently, a treatment option was added that includes Opioid Agonist Treatment and psychosocial treatment (SMART Recovery).
• To enhance the offer of educational and employment program opportunities CSC is:
  • Increasing the use of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) process (Evaluation et reconnaissance des acquis in Quebec) to formally recognize and accredit offenders' learning acquired outside of the formal educational setting, including vocational and on-the-job training.
  • Continuing to incorporate vocational training courses into computer-based platforms for education to support the acquisition of general and technical employment skills, through ongoing partnerships.
  • Facilitating individuals' opportunities to further academic learning or obtain/upgrade a trade or professional qualifications through the Post-Secondary Education Program
  • Maintaining partnerships with local universities and colleges to make post-secondary education more accessible to individuals within institutions.
• To improve the record suspension process:
  • The PBC is working with community-based organizations to help individuals complete an application for a record suspension. Since 2022-2023 and until 2025-2026, PS provides funding for National Voluntary Organizations to create or expand application support services for individuals with criminal records looking to apply for a record suspension (pardon).
  • To increase accessibility to pardons, the Government of Canada reduced the fee for a record suspension from $657.77 to $50.00 in January 2022.

Actions to be implemented beyond June 2023

• New federal investments for healthcare were announced on February 7, 2023. The federal government will work collaboratively with provinces and territories on four shared health priorities to improve integrated health care for Canadians:
  • expanding access to family health services, including in rural and remote areas;
  • supporting our health workers and reducing backlogs;
  • improving access to quality mental health and substance use services; and,
  • modernizing the health care system with standardized health data and digital tools.
• To support this patient-centered and multi-disciplinary system of care, the federal government is providing $25B over ten years to provinces and territories through tailored bilateral agreements. In order to access the bilateral funding, provinces and territories are to submit an initial 3-year action plan by July 1, 2023, with action plans to follow for the remaining years. The tailor-made agreements with provinces and territories will increase access to mental health and substance use services, while meeting the unique needs and context of individual jurisdictions and communities.
• Health Canada is working with PTs to advance investment in the area of complex needs, including intersections with homelessness and public safety, through collaboration with provinces and territories, as well as aligning available levers available across the government of Canada.
• CSC is developing a National Security Threat Group (STG) Strategy that outlines a framework to address barriers for offenders affiliated with a STG (i.e., gang), to safely manage these offenders throughout their sentence, and assist in their reintegration into the community. The Strategy will focus on four pillars, which include identification, management, prevention, and disengagement and reintegration. The Strategy will be responsive to the unique needs of different groups, such as Indigenous Peoples and Black Canadians.
• CSC will be providing offenders in 2023-2024 with additional funds for approved expenditures and to save for their release. This should support the transition in the community as financial resources are often limited during that time.
• PS is funding:
  • A community corrections organization to develop a virtual approach to Restorative Justice. The virtual approach will support and hold individuals that have committed a sexual offense accountable. With this approach, each released individual is encircled by staff and volunteers who meet regularly to support their goal of living a crime-free life. Even though in-person circles are preferred over virtual circles, the virtual approach provides an opportunity to serve more remote communities. This project will develop a consistent model for virtual circles, a management plan for referral of participants, as well as a national bank of volunteers.
  • A community corrections organization will provide individualized case management and community support circles to assist senior offenders, an underserved group, prior to and through release from custody. This project will include work on reducing stigma with public education campaigns, collaboration with key partners on release planning, building the volunteer capacity, supporting transition back in the community through various programs, helping individuals develop life skills and positive relationships in the community including connecting to health resources and community programs and services.
• To improve the record suspension process:
  • The PBC is developing an online application portal to support individuals applying for a record suspension. The portal is expected to be operational by March 2025 and will simplify the process and make it more widely accessible.
  • PS and the PBC will continue to consult with provincial, territorial, and municipal partners, and other key criminal justice stakeholders to identify ways to remove barriers to successful reintegration linked to criminal records, including a potential automated process for sequestering criminal records.

Annex

Date modified:

2023-11-15