Program directory · Parole Board of Canada
Conditional Release Decisions
- Department
- Parole Board of Canada
- Program code
- BUA01 (NPB)
- Core responsibility
- Conditional Release Decisions
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
Conditional release is based on the principle and supported by research that community safety is enhanced by the timely and gradual release of offenders to the community under supervision. Quality conditional release decisions, based on the risk of re-offending in conjunction with effective programs and treatment, and effective community supervision all contribute to the release process. Through this core responsibility, the Parole Board of Canada provides timely, accurate information for Board member decision-making, and develops training and policies that are essential tools for risk assessment and decision-making that are in accordance with the law.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2017-18. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conditional Release Decisions | This program | 2017-18 – 2028-29 | $321M |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: The percentage of offenders on parole who are not convicted of an offence prior to the end of their supervision period.; The percentage of post-suspension and detention decisions that are processed within the legislated timeframes without loss of jurisdiction. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators added: The percentage of appeal applications that are processed in 120 calendar days or less. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | ≥ 95% | 2023 | 74% The Appeal Division was operating in a context of competing priorities. Specifically, Appeal Division Board members were called upon to provide substantial support to the regions to make conditional release decisions and record suspension decisions, which in turn affected the PBC’s target of “Appeal applications that are processed in 120 calendar days or less” which is set at 95% to an actual res… | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 95% | 2024 | 63% The Appeal Division was operating in a context of competing priorities; specifically, the Appeal Division Board members were called upon to provide voting support to PBC regional offices to render conditional release decisions, which in turn affected the PBC’s target of “Appeal applications that are processed in 120 calendar days or less”, which is set at 95%, to an actual result of 63%. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 95% | 2025 | 53% In 2024-25, the Board faced a shortage of Board members that required Appeal Division Board members to provide substantial and sustained voting support to the Conditional Release program. Simultaneously, over the same period, the Appeal Division managed the departure of one full-time and one part-time Board member, while training a newly appointed Board member. As a result, the PBC's performance… | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 95% | 2019 | 78% In 2018-19, the PBC’s Appeal Division affirmed 318 decisions out of 405 (78%) demonstrating that original Board decisions were compliant with law and policy. The current affirmation rate remains lower than the target of 95%. The most common reasons for the Appeal Division to intervene were the Gladue principles and erroneous/incomplete information. Since the last reporting period, the number of d… | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 95% | 2020 | 79% The current affirmation rate remains lower than the target of 95%. The most common reasons for the Appeal Division to intervene were the Gladue principles and an inadequate risk assessment. | Not met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 85% | 2021 | 86% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 85% | 2022 | 81% The current affirmation rate is slightly below the departmental result target of 85%. The most common reasons for which the Appeal Division intervened was Inadequate/Unfair Risk Assessment and Risk Assessment: Special Conditions. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 85% | 2023 | 79% In 2022-23, the PBC’s Appeal Division rendered 304 decisions , affirming 240 of them (79%). The current affirmation rate is below the departmental result target of 85%. This reduced affirmation rate is due largely to the standards and legal criteria assessed by the Appeal Division becoming more rigorous and complex over time. | Not met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 85% | 2024 | 79% This lower affirmation rate is due largely to the standards and legal criteria assessed by the Appeal Division becoming more rigorous and complex over time. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 85% | 2025 | 83% The lower affirmation rate is largely due to the increased rigor and complexity of the legal criteria and standards applied by the Appeal Division. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 98% | 2019 | 99% | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 98% | 2020 | 99% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 98% | 2021 | 99% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 98% | 2022 | 100% This metric is not always static for previous fiscal years, as offenders can be charged with an offence that occurred during a supervision period and then subsequently convicted of the offence after the fiscal year end. | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 98% | 2023 | 99% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 98% | 2024 | 99% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 98% | 2025 | 99% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 96% | 2021 | 98% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 96% | 2022 | 99% This metric is not always static for previous fiscal years, as offenders can be charged with an offence that occurred during a supervision period and then subsequently convicted of the offence after the fiscal year end. | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 96% | 2023 | 99% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 96% | 2024 | 99% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 96% | 2025 | 99% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | ≥ 98% | 2019 | 99% | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 98% | 2020 | 99% | Met |
| 2020-21 | ≥ 98% | 2021 | 99% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 98% | 2022 | 99% | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 98% | 2023 | 99% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 98% | 2024 | 99% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 98% | 2025 | 99% | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 98% | 2021 | 100% | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 98% | 2022 | 100% | Met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 98% | 2023 | 100% | Met |
| 2023-24 | ≥ 98% | 2024 | 100% | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 98% | 2025 | 100% There was one (1) loss of jurisdiction decision in 2024-25, resulting in a percentage of 99.99%, which was rounded to 100%. | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 85% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 85% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 98% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 96% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 98% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 98% | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | — | $35.3M |
| 2018-19 | $37.5M | $36.9M |
| 2019-20 | $37.8M | $37.1M |
| 2020-21 | $35.6M | $38.7M |
| 2021-22 | $39.2M | $37.8M |
| 2022-23 | $39.1M | $42.3M |
| 2023-24 | $42.6M | $47.4M |
| 2024-25 | $46.2M | $45.3M |
| 2025-26 | $42.5M | — |
| 2026-27 | $42.5M | — |
| 2027-28 | $40.4M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $40.3M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 335 | 317 |
| 2018-19 | 320 | 316 |
| 2019-20 | 320 | 320 |
| 2020-21 | 318 | 323 |
| 2021-22 | 328 | 320 |
| 2022-23 | 328 | 329 |
| 2023-24 | 328 | 345 |
| 2024-25 | 322 | 344 |
| 2025-26 | 317 | — |
| 2026-27 | 288 | — |
| 2027-28 | 287* | — |
| 2028-29 | 286* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $37,510,445 | $34,959,173 | $34,967,835 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $37,752,653 | $35,306,791 | $35,306,791 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $35,564,058 | $35,175,808 | $35,175,808 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $39,224,460 | $36,029,460 | $36,029,460 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $39,101,358 | $36,490,261 | $36,490,260 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $42,584,134 | $40,798,273 | $40,798,273 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $46,247,091 | $42,923,011 | $42,101,473 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $42,454,148 | $41,701,482 | $41,701,482 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $42,456,740 | $40,411,810 | $40,321,949 | ||||||||
| Actual | $36,915,792 | $37,068,405 | $38,658,315 | $37,771,739 | $42,264,222 | $47,411,727 | $45,270,212 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
