From the Institutional Head 

Throughout the reporting period, the Office returned to business as usual post pandemic. We fielded 19,132 inquiries and 4,897 complaints from federally incarcerated persons.  In addition, the Office completed its two-year, two-part investigation updating our findings on the state of Indigenous Corrections in Canada. I believe the findings and recommendations of this investigation, if actioned, provide a blueprint for change in Canada’s treatment of incarcerated Indigenous people.

                     
The Office also completed a number of thematic investigations examining other nationally significant issues.  Additional funding approved in Budget 2023 will help the Office build capacity and expertise in conducting culturally competent systemic investigations and team-based prison inspection activities as well as other specialized systemic investigations. We will also strengthen our capacity as a micro-agency to fulfill corporate reporting obligations and more effectively comply with central agency requirements. 

Innovating, doing things differently and more efficiently aligns with our corporate renewal efforts and strategies. I am committed to ensuring the Office remains an employer and workplace of choice and a centre of excellence and professionalism in prison oversight. My management team remains focused on learning and revitalizing the core of our organizational structure. We are enhancing our in-house data collection, reporting and measurement activities, including how we conduct and report out on our use of force and deaths in custody review functions. We are simultaneously looking at efficiencies in how we triage, process, and manage complaints to better support our team of Investigators.  

In June 2023, the Office celebrated its 50th Anniversary. We marked this achievement by launching our newly rebranded and streamlined website. Other activities and events are planned to celebrate this important milestone.                     
It is my privilege to submit the Office 2022-23 Departmental Results Report, which provides an overview of our results and achievements in fulfilling our mandate.

Ivan Zinger J.D., Ph.D.                      
Correctional Investigator of Canada                    
 

Results at a glance 

For more information on the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s plans, priorities and results achieved, see the “Results: what we achieved” section of this report. 

Results: what we achieved 

Core responsibility 

Independent Oversight of Federal Corrections 

Description 

The Office of the Correctional Investigator conducts investigations of complaints directed to the Correctional Service of Canada by federally incarcerated individuals or supervised offenders in the community, and carries out systemic investigations of issues that affect large numbers of federal offenders. The Office of the Correctional Investigator reviews all Correctional Services of Canada investigations of deaths in custody and serious bodily injury cases to ensure Correctional Service of Canada compliance with law and policy. The Office also conducts reviews of all use of force incidents. The Office of the Correctional Investigator’s investigative activities support a safe, lawful and humane federal correctional practice to ensure that federal correctional decisions and practices are in compliance with human rights, law, policy, and are fair.

Results 

Gender-based analysis plus 

Issues affecting GBA Plus groups in the federal correctional system has been a long-standing priority for the Office. For example, in order to effectively target and conduct GBA Plus analysis and investigation, the Office has a dedicated portfolio for investigating individual complaints as well as systemic issues affecting federally-sentenced women. The Office also has a dedicated Indigenous Champion and a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion to raise awareness on issues affecting Indigenous peoples and other equity groups.                     
 

In addition to investigating and responding to individual complaints, the Office’s public reporting has continued to highlight issues, raise awareness, and make recommendations on issues impacting GBA Plus groups. In our 2022-23 Annual Report, the Office reported findings and recommendations examining the experiences of various GBA Plus groups, including Indigenous peoples, gender diverse individuals, and federally-incarcerated women.                   

Specifically, this year the Office reported on Part 2 of a large-scale, two-year national investigation into Indigenous corrections. The report identifies long-standing and emerging issues that have contributed to the over-representation of Indigenous peoples in the federal correctional system. Indigenous women in particular, who now account for half of all women behind bars, face significant and unique barriers in serving their sentences.  

                  
Notably, over the last year, our Office has continued to monitor progress on the management and prevention of sexual coercion and violence behind bars, which disproportionately impacts GBA Plus groups.                      
 

United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals 

According to the 2022-26 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, the Office is required to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal 10: Advance reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and take action to reduce inequality. Aligned with this FSDS goal, the OCI mainly contributes to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Reduce Inequality goal (10). 

Included in the 2022-23 OCI Annual Report, the Office conducted Part 2 of a two-year, in-depth systemic investigation into the experiences of federally sentenced Indigenous Peoples, which serves as a ten-year follow-up investigation to our special report to Parliament entitled Spirit Matters (2013).  The investigation notes that in the years since Spirit Matters, a number of National Commissions and Inquiries, Parliamentary Committee studies and reports have looked into the needs and experiences of incarcerated Indigenous persons. Despite calls for change and increased levels of public interest and Parliamentary scrutiny, the investigation found little material progress has been made in key legislated areas in Indigenous corrections since 2013. The investigation also notes that overrepresentation of Indigenous people in federal corrections has accelerated and disparities in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous persons have widened. Indigenous individuals are increasingly entering the system at a younger age, spending considerably longer behind bars, and returning to federal corrections at unprecedented rates compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Today, Indigenous peoples account for 32% of federally-incarcerated persons and Indigenous women account for 50% of all women in federal custody, yet comprise just 5% of the overall Canadian population. Furthermore, Indigenous persons continue to experience poorer outcomes on a range of prison indicators compared to non-Indigenous peoples.                     
 

The recommendations stemming from our 2022-23 annual report directly contribute to promoting equal opportunity and reducing inequalities of outcome as well as ensuring equal access to justice for all.                    
access to justice for all.

Innovation

This past year the Office has continued to implement its ambitious Three Year Strategic Plan. Our four-point plan is focused on: i. making the Office an employer of choice, ii. ensuring our organizational structure is aligned with Office priorities, iii. improving our systemic investigation and prison inspection capacities and iv. implementing a data management strategy. This ambitious agenda in addition to our ongoing operations has limited our capacity for experimentation or innovation; however, the Office has started piloting its new and innovative approach to prison inspections as well as using a teams-based approach to investigating thematic issues in corrections. The implementation of the four initiatives will provide the Office the opportunity to identify any future experimentation and innovation needs and projects.

Key risks 

In light of our national mandate, volume and complexity of issues facing federally incarcerated persons, and the geographical location of the 43 correctional institutions we are required to visit regularly, staff absences and turnover creates challenges for a micro agency such as ours. The difficult nature of our work responding to complaints from those behind bars presents challenges for staff retention and recruitment. This has created a risk in our capacity to fulfill our mandate, such as our ability to conduct timely reviews of all use of force incidents and deaths in custody. We mitigate this risk by a continuous assessment of high priority issues and occasional surge teams put in place to address the demand. In addition to a preliminary analysis process related to all incoming complaints, we are mitigating the risks posed by the sheer volume of cases by enhancing the role and training of Early Resolution Officers to more efficiently support the work of Investigators.                     
 

Secondly, the resolution of complaints in an environment traditionally closed to public scrutiny requires that the Office not only be, but be seen to be, independent of the Correctional Service of Canada and the Department of Public Safety. Through our strategic planning initiatives, the Office is reviewing its corporate ties with the Public Safety portfolio to fully assess the risk and implement appropriate controls, where applicable. Finally, over the past year, the Office has assessed its corporate structure and with the new program integrity funding approved in Budget 2023, OCI will address its resourcing capacity issues to better address government priorities and reporting requirements.         
 

Results achieved 

The following table shows, for Independent Oversight of Federal Corrections, the results achieved, the performance indicators, the targets and the target dates for 2022–23, and the actual results for the three most recent fiscal years for which actual results are available.

Financial, human resources and performance information for OCI’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase .

Budgetary financial resources (dollars) 

The following table shows, for Independent Oversight of Federal Corrections, budgetary spending for 2022–23, as well as actual spending for that year.

Financial, human resources and performance information for OCI’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase .

Human resources (full-time equivalents) 

The following table shows, in full‑time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to fulfill this core responsibility for 2022– 23.

Financial, human resources and performance information for OCI’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase .

Internal services 

Description 

Internal services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. Internal services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support program delivery in the organization, regardless of the internal services delivery model in a department. The 10 service categories are:

• acquisition management services
• communication services
• financial management services
• human resources management services
• information management services
• information technology services
• legal services
• material management services
• management and oversight services
• real property management services

The organization has several memoranda of understanding (MOUs) in place with service providers for basic internal services such as financial administration services; pay and compensation; contracting; staffing; and other human resources services. These MOUs include quality control, oversight, monitoring, and performance indicators. Over 50% of the planned spending amount identified as Internal Services expenditures will be dedicated to goods and services to support the Core Responsibility: Independent Oversight of Federal Corrections and/or the organization as a whole, for example, consultant contracts and the MOUs.                    
 

The organization continues to implement the five-year IM/IT plan that takes the Office from one that is mostly a paper-based system to one with a full digital office. Over the last year, the Office has made progress on its disposition project and with the approved additional funding, the OCI is looking forward to improving its information management infrastructure by strengthening and expanding the support it receives from its service providers.                     
 

The OCI in collaboration with its service providers has also worked on assessing its material management and real property needs and processes to better establish the Office’s forward looking accommodation plans. Finally, during the last fiscal year, the OCI has redesigned its public facing website to improve its accessibility and upgrade its platform in order to better meet the needs of Canadians.

Contracts awarded to Indigenous businesses

The Office of the Correctional Investigator is a Phase 3 organization and is aiming to achieve the minimum 5% target by the end of fiscal year 2024-25.                     
 

To build up to its target by the established timeline, the Office has committed to meet a 3% target for 2023-24. The Office will also ensure that its management and corporate financial teams have completed the mandatory course Indigenous Considerations in Procurement (COR409) from the Canada School of Public Service. Finally, OCI has been working with its service provider (Public Safety) to improve its processes and incorporate better procurement planning that identifies Indigenous business opportunities and supports the Office in meeting its 5% target.  

Budgetary financial resources (dollars) 

The following table shows, for internal services, budgetary spending for 2022–23, as well as spending for that year.

Human resources (full-time equivalents) 

The following table shows, in full‑time equivalents, the human resources the department needed to carry out its internal services for 2022–23.

Spending and human resources

Spending 

Spending 2020–21 to 2025–26                     
 

The following graph presents planned (voted and statutory spending) over time.

                      
 

The OCI’s actual spending has incrementally increased over the past years, averaging $5.5 million of voted appropriations. Because of incremental program integrity funding secured in Budget 2018, spending in 2019-20 increased to $5.4 million. This level of expenditures is maintained in future fiscal years as well. The 3% increase between 2020-21 and 2021-22 budget is as a result of the signing of the collective agreement. Additionally, an increase of 6% from 2021-22 and 2022-23 is due to turnover slippage, carry forward and allocated budget for executive salary renewal. The signing of the new collective agreements and the revisions of the executive salaries, has established the OCI’s 2023-24 and ongoing budget to be $5.57M. 

Budgetary performance summary for core responsibilities and internal services (dollars) 

The “Budgetary performance summary for core responsibilities and internal services” table presents the budgetary financial resources allocated for OCI’s core responsibilities and for internal services.

The variance of 5% between the 2022-23 main estimate and the actual spending authorities is possible due to OCI’s ability to secure a full 5% carry forward in 2021-22.                     
 

2022–23 Budgetary actual gross spending summary (dollars) 

The following table reconciles gross planned spending with net spending for 2022–23.

Human resources 

The “Human resources summary for core responsibilities and internal services” table presents the full-time equivalents (FTEs) allocated to each of OCI’s core responsibilities and to internal services.

Human resources summary for core responsibilities and internal services 

The variance between the 2022-23 actual full-time equivalents and planned full-time equivalents for 2023-24 and 2024-25 is due to turnover and staffing delays.

Expenditures by vote 

For information on Office of the Correctional Investigator’s organizational voted and statutory expenditures, consult the Public Accounts of Canada .

Government of Canada spending and activities 

Information on the alignment of the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s spending with Government of Canada’s spending and activities is available in GC InfoBase .

Financial statements and financial statements highlights 

Financial statements 

Office of the Correctional Investigator’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2023, are available on the departmental website .

Financial statement highlights 

Condensed Statement of Operations (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2023 (dollars) 

The 2022–23 planned results information is provided in Office of the Correctional Investigator’s Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2022–23 .

Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2023 (dollars) 

The 2022–23 planned results information is provided in Office of the Correctional Investigator’s Future-Oriented Statement of Operations and Notes 2022–23 .

Corporate information 

Organizational profile 

Appropriate minister[s]: The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, P.C., K.B., M.P.                     
Institutional head: Ivan Zinger, J.D., Ph.D.                       
Ministerial portfolio: Public Safety                       
Enabling instrument[s]: Corrections and Conditional Release Act                       
Year of incorporation / commencement: 1973 pursuant to the Inquiries Act and 1992 pursuant to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.                       
Other: 

Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do 

“Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s website.

For more information on the department’s organizational mandate letter commitments, see the Minister’s mandate letter.

Operating context 

Information on the operating context is available on the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s website 

Reporting framework 

The Office of the Correctional Investigator’s Departmental Results Framework and Program Inventory of record for 2022–23 are shown below.

Supporting information on the program inventory 

Financial, human resources and performance information for the Office of the Correctional Investigator’s Program Inventory is available in GC InfoBase.

Supplementary information 

Reporting on Green Procurement                     
The Office has demonstrated its commitment to Green procurement through its compliance with its Public Safety contracting service provider. Specifically, the OCI contributes to increasing the knowledge of green procurement by ensuring that each acquisition cardholder completes the green procurement training before issuance of the acquisition card. The Office has also integrated environmental considerations into procurement processes and instruments for proposals and contracts, by maximizing our use of the Mandatory National Master Standing Offer and Supply Arrangement that has green considerations and requesting that all contracting documentation is in electronic format, including invoicing.

Gender-based analysis plus                    
While supplementary information tables were not required, the Office has demonstrated its commitment to GBA Plus through its investigative work on issues affecting incarcerated GBA Plus groups, such as women, diverse race/ethnicity groups, gender groups, among others. In addition to investigating and resolving individuals complaints, in 2022-23, the Office reported on issues impacting women, as well as issues at the intersection of race and gender. The over-representation, pervasive discrimination, and differential treatment of Indigenous individuals under federal sentence, in particular Indigenous women, who now account for half of all women behind bars has been an issue of ongoing concern and investigation by this Office. Furthermore, in the last year, the Office has continued to monitor, investigate, and report publicly on the policies and practices as they relate to gender diverse individuals serving federal sentences.

United Nations 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals                    
As a micro agency, the Office of the Correctional Investigator was not required to develop a Departmental Sustainable Development Strategy. This will be developed and implemented with the final approval of the 2022-26 Federal Sustainable Development Strategy. Nevertheless, the Office, following its commitment in 2020-21 Departmental Plan, has contributed to the GBA Plus initiative and United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals.                    
 

Federal tax expenditures 

The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. The Department of Finance Canada publishes cost estimates and projections for these measures each year in the Report on Federal Tax Expenditures . This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs as well as evaluations and GBA Plus of tax expenditures.

Organizational contact information 

Mailing address: Office of the Correctional Investigator Canada, PO Box 3421, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6L4, Canada                       
Telephone: 1-877-885-8848                       
Fax: 613-990-0563                       
Email: org@oci-bec.gc.ca                       
Website(s): https://www.oci-bec.gc.ca/index-eng.aspx                  

Appendix: definitions 

Appropriation (crédit)     
Any authority of Parliament to pay money out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Budgetary expenditures (dépenses budgétaires)     
Operating and capital expenditures; transfer payments to other levels of government, organizations or individuals; and payments to Crown corporations.

Core responsibility (responsabilité essentielle)     
An enduring function or role performed by a department. The intentions of the department with respect to a core responsibility are reflected in one or more related departmental results that the department seeks to contribute to or influence.

Departmental Plan (plan ministériel)     
A report on the plans and expected performance of an appropriated department over a 3‑year period. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring.

Departmental priority (priorité)     
A plan or project that a department has chosen to focus and report on during the planning period. Priorities represent the things that are most important or what must be done first to support the achievement of the desired departmental results.

Departmental result (résultat ministériel)     
A consequence or outcome that a department seeks to achieve. A departmental result is often outside departments’ immediate control, but it should be influenced by program-level outcomes.

Departmental result indicator (indicateur de résultat ministériel)     
A quantitative measure of progress on a departmental result.

Departmental results framework (cadre ministériel des résultats)     
A framework that connects the department’s core responsibilities to its departmental results and departmental result indicators.

Departmental Results Report (rapport sur les résultats ministériels)     
A report on a department’s actual accomplishments against the plans, priorities and expected results set out in the corresponding Departmental Plan.

Full‑time equivalent (équivalent temps plein)     
A measure of the extent to which an employee represents a full person‑year charge against a departmental budget. For a particular position, the full‑time equivalent figure is the ratio of number of hours the person actually works divided by the standard number of hours set out in the person’s collective agreement.

Gender-based analysis plus (GBA Plus) (analyse comparative entre les sexes plus [ACS Plus])     
An analytical tool used to support the development of responsive and inclusive policies, programs and other initiatives; and understand how factors such as sex, race, national and ethnic origin, Indigenous origin or identity, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic conditions, geography, culture and disability, impact experiences and outcomes, and can affect access to and experience of government programs.

Government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)    
For the purpose of the 2022–23 Departmental Results Report, government-wide priorities are the high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the November 23, 2021, Speech from the Throne: building a healthier today and tomorrow; growing a more resilient economy; bolder climate action; fighter harder for safer communities; standing up for diversity and inclusion; moving faster on the path to reconciliation; and fighting for a secure, just and equitable world.

Horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)     
An initiative where two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority.

Non‑budgetary expenditures (dépenses non budgétaires)     
Net outlays and receipts related to loans, investments and advances, which change the composition of the financial assets of the Government of Canada.

Performance ( rendement)     
What an organization did with its resources to achieve its results, how well those results compare to what the organization intended to achieve, and how well lessons learned have been identified.

Performance indicator (indicateur de rendement)     
A qualitative or quantitative means of measuring an output or outcome, with the intention of gauging the performance of an organization, program, policy or initiative respecting expected results.

Performance reporting (production de rapports sur le rendement)     
The process of communicating evidence‑based performance information. Performance reporting supports decision making, accountability and transparency.

Plan (plan)     
The articulation of strategic choices, which provides information on how an organization intends to achieve its priorities and associated results. Generally, a plan will explain the logic behind the strategies chosen and tend to focus on actions that lead to the expected result.

Planned spending (dépenses prévues)     
For Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports, planned spending refers to those amounts presented in Main Estimates. 

A department is expected to be aware of the authorities that it has sought and received. The determination of planned spending is a departmental responsibility, and departments must be able to defend the expenditure and accrual numbers presented in their Departmental Plans and Departmental Results Reports.

Program (programme)     
Individual or groups of services, activities or combinations thereof that are managed together within the department and focus on a specific set of outputs, outcomes or service levels.

Program inventory (répertoire des programmes)     
Identifies all the department’s programs and describes how resources are organized to contribute to the department’s core responsibilities and results.

Result (résultat)     
A consequence attributed, in part, to an organization, policy, program or initiative. Results are not within the control of a single organization, policy, program or initiative; instead they are within the area of the organization’s influence.

Statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)     
Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. The legislation sets out the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made.

Target (cible)     
A measurable performance or success level that an organization, program or initiative plans to achieve within a specified time period. Targets can be either quantitative or qualitative.

Voted expenditures (dépenses votées)     
Expenditures that Parliament approves annually through an appropriation act. The vote wording becomes the governing conditions under which these expenditures may be made.