Commissioner's Directive

Planning and Consultation Guidelines for The Establishment and/or Relocation of Parole Offices

PURPOSE

  1. The purpose of these guidelines is to ensure that planning and consultation occurs prior to the establishment and/or relocation of parole offices that supervise offenders on release in the community.

CROSS-REFERENCES

  1. Facility Guidelines: Parole Offices
    CSC’s Consultation Toolkit

DEFINITIONS

  1. "Stakeholder" is used generically to refer to someone who has a stake in an organization or program. Stakeholders either have an interest or affect the organization, program or service, or may be affected by it.
  2. For the purpose of the establishment and/or relocation of parole offices, the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) stakeholders include, but are not limited to, Citizen Advisory Committees, school boards, police, municipal planning departments, Mayors/Councillors, Members of Parliament, provincially elected officials, business and neighbourhood associations, non-governmental organizations, etc.

PRINCIPLES

  1. Consultation is one of the processes through which CSC:
    1. seeks the opinions of Canadians, particularly key stakeholders;
    2. gains a better understanding of expertise, diverse views, and needs of communities and offenders; and
    3. takes into consideration information gathered when shaping policies, programs and services.
  2. Facilitation of outreach activities with key stakeholders is an ongoing activity.
  3. Consultation with Canadians is intrinsic to effective public guidelines development and services to the public.
  4. Consultation must be based on openness, trust, integrity, mutual respect for the legitimacy and point of view of all stakeholders, and transparency of purpose and process.
  5. Whenever possible, consultation should involve key stakeholders that can contribute to, or are affected by, the decision outcome.
  6. Involved stakeholders must have timely access to relevant and easily understandable information and commit themselves to sharing information.
  7. Effective consultation is about partnership. It implies shared responsibility and commitment. A clear, mutual understanding of the issues, objectives, purpose, constraints and expectations is essential.
  8. Effective consultation will not always lead to agreement; however, it should lead to a better understanding of each other’s positions.
  9. Effective consultation requires follow-through. Stakeholders are entitled to know what use is made of the views and information they provide in relation to government decision-making.

GROUNDS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND/OR RELOCATION OF PAROLE OFFICES

  1. CSC parole offices may need to be established and/or relocated for a number of reasons, including but not limited to:
    1. development of new laws and policies or amendment to existing laws and policies;
    2. changes to operational and security requirements and standards;
    3. implementation of new initiatives;
    4. variation in the distribution of offender populations;
    5. changes to organizational structure and/or priorities;
    6. expiry of existing leases and relocation to new sites; and
    7. response to Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) inventory solution.

ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL AND NATIONAL MULTI-YEAR COMMUNITY CORRECTIONS ACCOMMODATION PLANS

  1. Outreach and consultation must occur throughout the multi-year planning process that culminates in the establishment and/or relocation of parole offices.
  2. District Directors, in collaboration with the Regional Facilities Planning Officer, Regional Administrator of Security and PWGSC, will research potential co-location partnerships at least two years prior to the establishment and/or relocation of a parole office to permit host organization to plan for the inclusion of the parole office in its site location.
  3. The Regional Facilities Planning Officer will provide District Directors with lease expiry dates for existing parole office site locations and PWGSC real property inventory solution (i.e., details with respect to the sale of government buildings and/or removal of government buildings from PWGSC’s leasing inventory).
  4. District Directors, in collaboration with the Regional Facilities Planning Officer, as outlined in the Facility Guidelines: Parole Offices, will develop five-year Regional Community Corrections Accommodation Plans and include the information related to changes to operational standards in these plans.
  5. District Directors will consult with their respective Citizen Advisory Committees when preparing their five-year Regional Community Corrections Accommodation Plans.
  6. Regional Deputy Commissioners will approve the five-year Regional Community Corrections Accommodation Plans and submit them to the Director General, Community Reintegration Branch at National Headquarters, for review and evaluation.
  7. The Director General, Community Reintegration Branch, will review the five-year Regional Community Corrections Accommodation Plans against national priorities/direction for the approval of the Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs, for incorporation into the National Capital, Accommodation and Operations Plan. The Assistant Commissioner, Correctional Operations and Programs, will send the approved plans to Regional Deputy Commissioners, as well as to the Directors General, Facilities and Community Reintegration Branches.
  8. District Directors and Regional Directors, Communications and Executive Services, supported by Stakeholder Relations Directorate, will develop a consultation plan and communication strategy at least two years prior to the establishment and/or relocation of a parole office, taking into consideration timeframes determined in collaboration with PWGSC for each establishment and/or relocation project.

IDENTIFICATION OF GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND/OR RELOCATION OF PAROLE OFFICES

  1. District Directors and Regional Directors, Communications and Executive Services, will consult with appropriate external stakeholders when establishing geographical boundaries for site selection.
  2. In establishing geographic boundaries, consideration should be given to the following: distribution of the offender population; offender accessibility and public transit issues; proximity to community support services, including police, social services, and private agencies; positioning of potential site locations (e.g., are building locations discreet so as to facilitate access by offenders, staff and volunteers); areas of particular community sensitivity and/or areas subject to municipal placement restrictions that preclude specific zones from consideration.
  3. Regional Directors, Communications and Executive Services, and District Directors will use the CSC’s Consultation Toolkit to plan and guide their consultation efforts with external stakeholders.

DEFINING SITE CRITERIA

  1. The Regional Facilities Planning Officer, in collaboration with District Directors, will determine parole office space requirements based on current or projected full-time equivalents, the Facility Guidelines: Parole Offices, and other unique requirements. These considerations will form the basis of CSC’s tenant/client requirements (i.e., parole office mandate).
  2. District Directors, in collaboration with the appropriate Citizen Advisory Committee, will confirm location evaluation criteria and adapt generic and national criteria to site-specific requirements. This review will also consider areas of particular community sensitivity.
  3. The Regional Facilities Planning Officer will confirm CSC’s tenant/client requirements (i.e., space requirement, geographic boundaries and lease term) with PWGSC.

IDENTIFICATION OF APPROPRIATE SITES

After potential sites have been identified

  1. District Directors will ensure that potential site evaluations include the requirements listed in the Facility Guidelines: Parole Offices, as well as other identified unique requirements in accordance with paragraphs 26 and 27, and ensure consultation with local stakeholders as part of this evaluation.
  2. The Regional Director, Operations and/or the designated Departmental Security Official, in collaboration with the District Director, the Regional Facilities Planning Officer, the Citizen Advisory Committee and PWGSC, will ensure that a Threat Risk Assessment on potential sites is conducted in a timely manner and within the timeframes determined for each establishment and/or relocation project.
  3. After acceptable sites have been identified, District Directors, in collaboration with Regional Directors, Communications and Executive Services, will consult with external stakeholders, as established previously. The CSC’s Consultation Toolkit will be used to guide consultation efforts with external stakeholders.
  4. Regional Directors, Communications and Executive Services, will develop a list of property owners within a specific distance of the proposed sites, as established in accordance with municipal norms for minor variance notifications. Where such norms do not exist, all property owners within a minimum of 60 meters of the property will be identified.
  5. District Directors will inform the identified property owners within the specified radius of the potential establishment and/or relocation of the parole office within ten working days of the identification of appropriate sites.
  6. District Directors may hold a public forum to address any potential concerns within an appropriate timeframe.
  7. District Directors will make a decision with respect to acceptable sites based on an objective analysis of considerations for the approval of the Regional Deputy Commissioner. District Directors will advise the Regional Facilities Planning Officer after acceptable sites have been identified and approved.
  8. The Regional Facilities Planning Officer will inform PWGSC of acceptable site(s) in preparation for the PWGSC lease/tender process.
  9. When the contract has been awarded for a specific site, District Directors will inform involved stakeholders of the site location to which the lease contract has been awarded.
  10. District Directors will ensure ongoing communication with the appropriate Citizen Advisory Committee and involved stakeholders, as required.

Assistant Commissioner,
Correctional Operations and Programs


Original signed by:
Chris Price


For more information

To learn about upcoming or ongoing consultations on proposed federal regulations, visit the Canada Gazette and Consulting with Canadians websites.