Corrections Through
the Years

For over 30 years, Corrections has focused on public safety, safety and security of staff and offenders, safe reintegration into the community, responding to a changing offender population and developing effective interventions for offenders with unique needs--such as Aboriginal offenders, women offenders and those with mental health needs.

1. 1961 Canadian Penitentiary Service created.
2. 1965 Regional offices established to address differences in geography, offender population and ethnicity.
3. 1966 Department of the Solicitor General created to unite national police, penitentiaries and parole.
4. 1976 Canadian Penitentiary Service and National Parole Service merge.
5. 1979 Commissioner Yeomans announces new name and new crest design.
   Queen Elizabeth II approves new crest design.
   Solicitor General Lawrence unveils crest at opening of Kent Institution in BC.
6. 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms clarifies the state's powers with respect to offender rights.
   First case of AIDS reported in Canada.
7. 1984 Young Offenders Act passed.
   CSC Exemplary Service Medal introduced.
8. 1987 Task Force on Aboriginal Peoples in Federal Corrections formed.
9. 1989 CSC redefines its mission statement.
10. 1990 New correctional philosophy for women offenders, Creating Choices, published.
11. 1991 Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples formed.

1. 1995 Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge for Aboriginal women opens in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.
2. 1996 CSC establishes Restorative Justice and Dispute Resolution Branch.
3. 1997 Pê Sâkâstêw Healing Lodge for Aboriginal men opens in Hobbema, Alberta.
4. 1998 CSC implements Tuberculosis surveillance system and Methadone Maintenance Treatment (MMT) program.
5. 2001 National Volunteer Association (NVA) created for federal correctional volunteers.
   Voluntary HIV treatment put in place.
6. 2003 Public Safety Canada (PS) created to guide security policy for six agencies, including the CSC.
7. 2005 CSC unveils new uniforms.
8. 2006 New Offender Management System helps Canadian criminal justice organizations share information.
9. 2007 CSC enhances employment programs in penitentiaries through transformation recommendations.
10. 2008 Total smoking ban applied across all institutions.
11. 2009 CSC celebrates 30th anniversary.