Commissioner's Directive

Number - Numéro:
541

Date:
2001-05-09

Interjurisdictional Agreements

Issued under the authority of the Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada

PDF

Policy Bulletin 115

[ Policy Objective  |  Authorities  |  Cross-Reference  |  Policy Statement  |  Management of Interjurisdictional Agreements  |  Duty To Act Fairly in Interjurisdictional Transfers  |  Role of the National Parole Board  |  Implementation  ]

POLICY OBJECTIVE

1. To provide a framework for the negotiation and management of Exchange of Services Agreements, including transfer, temporary detention and community correctional services agreements, and to ensure the effective and cost-efficient delivery of correctional services and programs to offenders under federal, provincial and territorial authority.

AUTHORITIES

2. Sections 15, 16 and 29 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, sections 11 to 16 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations and subsections 4 (2) and (3) of the Prisons and Reformatories Act provide the authority to enter into interjurisdictional agreements and outline the requirement for procedural fairness in their application.

CROSS-REFERENCE

3. Commissioner's Directive 540 - Transfer of Offenders.

POLICY STATEMENT

4. The purpose of interjurisdictional agreements, other than in an emergency situation, includes the following:

  1. to provide services, programming and treatment to inmates in a cost-effective manner;
  2. to facilitate the administration of justice, and ensure the offender's exercise of his or her legal rights;
  3. to facilitate and support the reintegration of the offender as a law-abiding citizen.

MANAGEMENT OF INTERJURISDICTIONAL AGREEMENTS

5. National participation: The Director General, Intergovernmental Affairs shall be responsible for the corporate management of Exchange of Services Agreements (ESA) regarding accommodation and services for offenders by ensuring:

  1. consistent application of national policy;
  2. timely identification and resolution of interjurisdictional issues;
  3. consistent interaction between the operational and policy elements of the interjurisdictional agreements;
  4. effective planning with respect to such agreements;
  5. adherence to central agency requirements;
  6. adherence to significant resource requirements;
  7. management of negotiation and implementation of agreements;
  8. establishment and maintenance of a monitoring system to track national bed utilization and expenditure data and any other data, as determined by senior management.

6. Regional participation: The Regional Deputy Commissioner has a vital role in the negotiation and day-to-day management of ESA, as he or she fosters critical relationships with the provinces/territories and is in the best position to identify ESA requirements. The region which is affected by an agreement participates in the negotiation by:

  1. operationally managing the interjuris-dictional agreements, in accordance with the terms and conditions of agreements;
  2. liaising with the provinces through regular exchanges of information;
  3. creating, as necessary, the required authorities and procedures setting out any significant differences associated with a particular agreement;
  4. ensuring the on-going management of the agreement once it is in place, through monitoring, tracking of financial information, annual reporting, provision of input to national systems designed to capture data as determined by senior management on interjurisdictional agreements, and periodic audit of agreements.

DUTY TO ACT FAIRLY IN INTERJURISDICTIONAL TRANSFERS

7. In the case of a transfer from federal to provincial or territorial custody, procedures for offender notification shall be in accordance with sections 11, 12 and 13 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Regulations.

8. These procedures do not apply, however, to offenders returned to the Correctional Service of Canada as a result of suspension of conditional release.

ROLE OF THE NATIONAL PAROLE BOARD

9. The National Parole Board shall be consulted prior to a transfer decision for any inmate sentenced to:

  1. life imprisonment as a minimum;
  2. death, commuted to life imprisonment; or
  3. detention in a penitentiary for an indeterminate period.

10. If the National Parole Board objects to a transfer, the Regional Deputy Commissioner may authorize the transfer, but he or she shall advise the provincial or territorial jurisdiction of the Board's objections and the response from the Correctional Service of Canada to these objections.

IMPLEMENTATION

11. The implementation of this Directive shall be set out in the Guidelines on Interjurisdictional Exchange of Services Agreements.



Original signed by
Lucie McClung