Standing Committee on Public Accounts

Comité permanent des comptes publics

For immediate release

Ottawa, May 15, 2017 -

Correctional Service Canada (CSC) provided correctional programs to Indigenous offenders to assist with their rehabilitation and successful reintegration into the community, but did not do so in a timely manner, according to a report of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts tabled today in the House of Commons by the Hon. Kevin Sorenson, Chair of the Committee.

In the fall of 2016, the OAG released a performance audit whose objective was to determine whether CSC provided correctional interventions in a timely manner to Indigenous offenders to assist with their successful reintegration into the community. The audit found that although CSC did provide rehabilitation and reintegration programs for Indigenous offenders, it also identified several deficiencies therein.

Specifically, the OAG found that CSC staff did not adequately define or document how offenders’ participation in culturally specific correctional interventions contributed to their potential for successful reintegration into the community. Moreover, CSC staff was not provided with sufficient guidance or training on how to apply Aboriginal social history factors in case management decisions. In this report, the Committee made eight recommendations that seek to ensure that CSC implements each of its proposed corrective measures in order to properly address the gaps identified in the OAG’s audit.