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Minister’s Message

As Canada's Minister of Public Safety and Minister responsible for the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), I am pleased to present to Parliament this Report on Plans and Priorities that outlines CSC's strategic direction for 2012-13.

The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that Canadians are safe in their communities. As part of its contribution to public safety, CSC provides offenders with the resources and opportunities they need to become productive and law-abiding citizens. This is done while exercising reasonable, safe, secure, and humane control in the institutions, as well as effective supervision of offenders under conditional release in the community.

CSC remains committed to its ongoing transformation and renewal process. It continues to build on progress made, while implementing various new initiatives in response to a growing, and more diverse and complex offender population.

The Service’s priorities reflect what is necessary to help ensure public safety in communities across Canada. CSC’s efforts for 2012-13 will continue to focus on the following:

• safe transition to and management of eligible offenders in the community;
• safety and security of staff and offenders in our institutions and in the community;
• enhanced capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders;
• improved capacities to address mental health needs of offenders;
• strengthening management practices; and
• productive relationships with increasingly diverse partners, stakeholders and others involved in public safety.

By using these six key priorities as a focal point to guide the Service’s transformation and renewal efforts, CSC is well-positioned to enhance its active contribution to public safety.

This Report on Plans and Priorities establishes the way forward for CSC to continue its important role within the Public Safety Portfolio.

Section I: Departmental Overview

1.1 Raison d’être

1.2 Responsibilities

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CSC manages institutions for men and women, mental health treatment centres, Aboriginal healing lodges, community correctional centres, and parole offices where offenders under conditional release in the community are supervised.

CSC’s daily activities and longer-term goals are all aimed at ensuring that “the custody, correctional interventions, and supervision of offenders, in communities and institutions, contribute to public safety” which is CSC’s single strategic outcome.

CSC continues to adapt to ensure it delivers the most relevant, appropriate and effective responses to meet the needs of the growing, more complex and diverse offender population under its supervision. CSC is also addressing required infrastructure and accommodation enhancement, human resource renewal and strategic review exercises.

1.3 Organizational Information

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CSC is led by its Commissioner, who reports to the Minister of Public Safety. The organizational structure of the Service reflects the work of dedicated staff in institutions, parole offices, and communities all across Canada.

Of the approximately 18,568 people who comprise CSC’s workforce, about 83 percent of them work in institutions or in communities, with 40 percent of staff in the Correctional Officer category and 15 percent in the Welfare Programs group that includes Parole and Program Officers.

The rest of CSC’s workforce reflects the wide variety of skills needed to operate institutions and community offices such as health professionals, electricians, food service staff, and staff providing corporate and administrative functions at local, regional and national levels.

1.4 Operating Environment

CSC continues its transformative efforts and initiatives to improve operations and enhance public safety for Canadians. While transformation is fully integrated into operations and plans, this continues to be of utmost importance to CSC and an integral part of planning and performance reporting. CSC will continue its sustained drive to enhance offender accountability, eliminate drugs from institutions, improve correctional programs, and upgrade employment skills of offenders while strengthening corrections.

Complex challenges in CSC’s operating environment create pressures and demands related to an offender population with more extensive histories of violence and violent crimes; previous youth and adult convictions; affiliations with gangs and organized crime; higher rates of infection of Hepatitis C and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV); a disproportionate representation of First Nations; Métis and Inuit offenders; serious substance abuse histories and related problems; and serious mental health disorders.

Over the past several years, CSC developed a full range of new and/or revised correctional interventions designed to address specific criminal risk areas. These innovations have helped CSC respond effectively to changes in legislation that impacted on CSC operations, including the Truth in Sentencing Act and the Tackling Violent Crime Act. Specific funds, both one-time capital funding and permanent operational funding, were provided to CSC to expand its capacity to accommodate projected increases in the offender population related to those acts. However, CSC will not hire any new staff or build any new facilities that are not needed to effectively manage its actual population levels.

There are other recent criminal justice legislative changes that are also having a direct impact on CSC operations.

The Truth in Sentencing Act, which came into effect February 22, 2010, reduced pre-trial credit and created an increase in the number of offenders in federal custody. While original population projections have not been fully realized, the higher numbers continue to stress CSC’s system and have resulted in interim measures such as additional double-bunking, temporary structures to house offenders, and a requirement to increase capacity at the institutional and community levels.

The Abolition of Early Parole Act came into force March 28, 2011. It abolished Accelerated Parole Review, which allowed those convicted of non-violent offences to obtain day parole after serving one-sixth of their sentence and full parole after serving one-third. This legislation moves Canada one step closer to a system of earned parole.

The Safe Streets and Communities Act includes provisions that heighten the requirement for offenders to be accountable for their crimes by having a stake in their own rehabilitation within the context of their correctional plans, and meeting court-ordered obligations like victim restitution or child support. As well, the Act enshrines the right of victims to participate in parole board hearings, and to be better informed about the management of offenders.

CSC must also manage the challenges associated with recruiting and retaining staff because of the aging workforce that also affects this organization. CSC’s goal remains to be an employer of choice and is therefore working to attract, recruit and retain the best and brightest people in order to have a dedicated and skilled workforce now and in the future.

1.5 Contribution to the Federal Sustainable Development Strategy (FSDS)

Although CSC is not required to provide a Sustainable Development Strategy, the organization has developed its own FSDS for 2012-2013 to 2014-2015, and will continue to report progress in future departmental performance reports.

1.6 Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture (PAA)

All of CSC’s efforts and activities are guided by its one strategic outcome: The custody, correctional interventions, and supervision of offenders, in communities and institutions, contribute to public safety.

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To achieve results against this strategic outcome, offenders are maintained in “Custody” in institutions. Those who become eligible and are granted conditional release are transferred to the community where they are managed under “Community Supervision”.

In both institutions and the community, offenders receive “Correctional Interventions” in accordance with their correctional plans to help them become and remain law-abiding citizens.

1.7 Planning Summary

CSC takes a comprehensive and proactive approach to annual planning and considers the impact of several factors and variables, including Government priorities that result in new and pending criminal justice legislation, the operating environment, corporate risks, human and financial resource capacity, as well as past performance outcomes and related lessons learned.

Approximately 70 percent of CSC’s 2012‑13 Annual Reference Level¹ will be dedicated to the provision of care and custody for offenders in institutions and in communities, which includes fixed and semi-fixed costs for security systems, salaries for correctional staff, facilities maintenance, health services, food services and capital. Approximately 19 percent will be allocated to correctional interventions, which includes case management and offender programs. Five percent will be dedicated to community supervision, which includes community-based residential facilities and community-based health services. The remaining six percent will be allocated to support enabling services and interactions.

Planning Summary Tables: Financial and Human Resources

Financial Resources ($ millions)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
3,026.0	2,946.0	2,863.5

Human Resources (FTEs)

2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
20,278	20,272	20,273

At this time, CSC plans to utilize 20,278 full-time equivalents (FTEs) in 2012-13 which represents a decrease of 1,435 or 7% from the information contained in the 2011-12 RPP. The major driver for hiring additional staff in CSC is the inmate population. In the 2011-12 Report on Plans and Priorities the FTE estimate for fiscal year 2012-13 was based on the materialization of a forecasted increase in inmate population as a result of initiatives such as the Truth in Sentencing Act and the Tackling Violent Crime Act. Since that time, the expected inmate population growth has not materialized resulting in a revised estimate of FTEs.

CSC has implemented strict financial controls around the funding it received related to the implementation of such legislation as the Truth in Sentencing Act, which involves strict internal oversight and the allocation of resources, including FTEs based on actual population levels. As projections have not been realized, it is expected that the funding available for 2012-13 and beyond will not all be needed and the actual FTEs may be further reduced.

CSC is working with central agencies to determine the financial impact and, hence, funding may be returned or frozen within existing reference levels. CSC will continue to ensure that hiring of staff is based on the actual number of inmates, not projections.

Planning Summary Tables: Strategic Outcome and Program Activities

In this planning period, CSC will place a high priority on measuring its performance in a more meaningful way, by better examining prevalent issues and efficiencies against effectiveness of outcomes.

Planning Summary Table
($ millions)

Program Activity	Forecast Spending2 2011-12	Planned Spending3			Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Custody	1,923.5	2,121.0	2,040.4	1,959.5	Safe and Secure Communities
Correctional Interventions	475.3	563.0	563.0	563.0	Safe and Secure Communities
Community Supervision	140.3	170.0	170.5	168.9	Safe and Secure Communities
Total Planned Spending		2,854.0	2,773.9	2,691.4

Planning Summary Table
($ millions)

Program Activity	Forecast Spending4 2011-12	Planned Spending5
		2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Internal Services	186.9	172.0	172.1	172.1

In this way, the organization can take more timely action to make any required adjustments that will produce better results for Canadians, relative to the resources entrusted to the organization.

1.8 Contribution of Priorities to Strategic Outcome

CSC has six corporate priorities that focus attention on specific areas to improve correctional results, manage corporate risks and help effectively deliver results for Canadians.

The following table summarizes CSC’s priorities and illustrates how these activities are expected to contribute to effective corrections that impact on public safety results.

Additional details are provided in Section II.

Priorities	Type	Description
Safe transition to and management of eligible offenders in the community	Ongoing	CSC continues to focus its efforts on minimizing violent re-offending by offenders returning to the community. In both institutions and communities, offenders are offered interventions in accordance with their correctional plans, developed to address their criminal behaviour and assessed needs, in order to help them become and remain law-abiding citizens.
Safety and security of staff and offenders in our institutions and in the community	Ongoing	CSC is committed to continuing efforts to prevent violent and assaultive behaviour. Safety and security in institutions and the community encompass all activities related to the supervision and management of offenders, as well as practices that ensure the safety and security of staff and the public.
Enhanced capacities to provide effective interventions for First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders	Ongoing	CSC continues to focus its efforts on preventing a widening of the gap in correctional results between First Nations, Métis and Inuit offenders, and non-Aboriginal offenders. To help them succeed, CSC will further enhance its capacities to provide effective and culturally appropriate interventions.
Improved capacities to address mental health needs of offenders	Ongoing	CSC focuses on improving correctional results for offenders with mental health disorders. A number of mental health care services are in place that will improve correctional results as well as CSC’s capacity to address the mental health needs of federal offenders.
Strengthening management practices	Ongoing	Enhanced management practices lead to improved operational effectiveness and efficiency, better risk assessment and management, and greater flexibility in the organization’s ability to deliver operational, administrative and financial results.
Productive relationships with increasingly diverse partners, stakeholders, and others involved in public safety	Ongoing	CSC recognizes the important role that diverse partners play in helping the organization achieve positive correctional results. CSC will focus on strengthening existing partnerships and relationships, and developing new ones.

1.9 Risk Analysis

CSC’s mandate of safe, secure and humane corrections includes specific areas of risk that are predictably part of correctional systems. The accurate identification and effective management of risk areas are fundamental to the achievement of planned correctional results that contribute to public safety.

CSC must deal with challenges that impact corrections including: operational impacts of new and pending legislation, more offenders with violent criminal histories and gang affiliations, more offenders with mental health issues, and ever-increasing complexities in the offender profile. The number of women offenders in federal custody is increasing, and disproportionate representation of First Nations, Métis and Inuit continues in the federal correctional system.

CSC manages these multiple challenges on an ongoing basis, and has identified key risks that may impede the Service’s ability to achieve its mandate. The Corporate Risk Profile takes into account the organization’s internal and external operating environment and identifies the following key corporate risks:

There is a risk that…

• The existing infrastructure will not respond to the risks/needs of the challenging offender population.
• CSC will not be able to improve correctional results for offenders with mental disorders.
• CSC cannot maintain the required level of safety and security within operational sites.
• CSC cannot sustain results with regard to violent re-offending.
• CSC will not be able to maintain or secure financial investments that are required to sustain corporate commitments, legal obligations and results.
• CSC will not be ready and able to embrace and manage change.
• The correctional results gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal offenders will not narrow.
• CSC will not be able to continue to recruit, develop, and retain an effective and representative workforce.
• CSC will not be able to meet its Corrections and Conditional Release Act obligation to deliver essential health care services to offenders.
• CSC will lose the support of its current partners in providing critical services and resources to released offenders, and it will be unable to engage the general public to gain their overall support.

CSC keeps these risks at the forefront of management and operational activities and decisions by having mitigation strategies for each risk, as well as by having a functional risk profile that is the framework for risk management at all levels and sites across the country. This robust structure and integrated approach ensure that CSC is well positioned to handle any risk-related challenges that may arise, without compromising its operations or the public safety of Canadians.

1.10 Expenditure Profile ⁶, ⁷, ⁸

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The above profile illustrates CSC’s actual spending for the last three years, forecasted spending for 2011-12 and planned spending for the upcoming three years.

Program Activity	Main Estimates ($ millions) 2012‑13
Custody	2,121.0
Correctional Interventions	563.0
Community Supervision	170.0
Internal Services	172.0
TOTAL	3,026.0

1.11 Estimates by Vote

For information on our organizational votes and/or statutory expenditures, please see the 2012–13 Main Estimates publication. An electronic version of the Main Estimates is available at: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20122013/p2-eng.asp.

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