STATISTICS FOR 1999-2000

Adult Prison Population and Costs

Incarceration rates

• 135 per 100,000 adult population.
• A total of 220,600 adults were admitted to custody. While this number reflects a decrease in incarceration rates for seven years in a row, it still represents an increase over the last decade.

On any given day in canada during 1999-2000...

• An average of 152, 800 individuals were incarcerated or under community supervision (probation, conditional sentence or parole).
• There were 31,600 adults behind bars. These totals include both federal and provincial prisoners. The national average cost of keeping a prisoner in custody was $184 federally, and $128 provincially per prisoner per day.
• 121, 000 people were on probation or some form of conditional release in the community. The cost of keeping them amounted to only 13% of the total corrections budget.

Overall Budget

• Combined federal and provincial expenditures reached $2.4 billion for the year, a 5% increase over last year. Less than 1/4 of this money was spent on community supervision programs. This figure does not include policing or court costs which bring the total expenditures up to $10 billion for the year.

Source: juristat canada 1999/00

Remand Rates

Includes persons awaiting trial and immigration holds.
36% of all prisoners in provincial jails were there on remand. On any given day there were 6,700 individuals in remand. This is up 27% over 95/96. These increases in remand population have occurred despite a 7% decrease in the number of adults charged since 95/96. The net effect has been an increase in the resources required to administer these spaces.

First Nations

First Nations represent 2% of the total canadian adult population - 1996 Census. 17% of all admissions to custody, both provincially and federally, were First Nations, despite changes made by parliament to the sentencing provisions of the criminal code. These recent changes to the criminal code were designed to address the issue of overrepresentation of First Nations within the sentenced prison population. s.718.2(e) of the criminal code provides that "all available sanctions other than imprisonment that are reasonable in the circumstances should be considered for all offenders, with particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders."

Women

Provincial: 9% of all admissions to custody were female.
Federal: 5% of all admissions to custody were female.

Youth

Youth represented 21% of all persons charged by police in 1999 and 21% of these charges were against females. Property crimes accounted for the largest portion of charges against youth. 2/3 of these charges resulted in conviction. 23,215 youth were sentenced to a term of imprisonment.

In February 2001, the minister of justice tabled in parliament Bill C-&, the Youth Criminal Justice Act. This proposed legislation is intended to replace the 1984 Young Offenders Act. Key objectives of the YCJA include: reducing the use of court by dealing with less serious cases outside the court; fairness in sentencing; clearly distinguishing between serious violent offences and less serious offences.