Aboriginal Initiatives

Working Together

Aboriginal Community Reintegration Program

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) is currently working with Aboriginal communities throughout the country to enhance the role of Aboriginal communities in corrections and reintegrate Aboriginal federal offenders into Aboriginal communities (First Nation, Metis, Inuit, and Urban).

The Corrections and Conditional Release Act governs the Correctional Service of Canada. In this legislation, Section 84 of the Act states:

84) Where an inmate who is applying for parole has expressed an interest in being released to an Aboriginal community, the Service shall, if the inmate consents, give the Aboriginal community:
a) adequate notice of the inmate's parole application; and
b) an opportunity to propose a plan for the inmate's release to, and integration into, the Aboriginal community.

Application Process:

• CSC informs Aboriginal federal offenders of Section 84 and the process involved. If the inmate wishes, they begin the process by applying and writing a letter to a community asking for their support;
• A representative of the Correctional Service of Canada, usually the offender's Parole Officer, will then establish contact with the community to discuss the process of the application;
• The community may request funding support by submitting a proposal. The proposal should be a 2-3 page submission outlining the proposed involvement of the community, describing the nature of community support, and outlining the funding requirements to support preparation of a release plan.

The Parole Officer can assist the community by referring the community to the appropriate CSC representative, if necessary who can provide information on the preparation of the proposal for funding.

The Correctional Service wants to ensure that costs are not an impediment to Aboriginal communities' participation in the conditional release of Aboriginal offenders. For that reason, some funding is available for Aboriginal communities that want to develop release plans with the CSC and assist in the safe reintegration of an offender to their community.

The funding may cover expenses such as:

• Transportation expenses for community resource people (community staff, Chief, councilors, Elders) travelling to federal institutions to work with offenders and Parole Officers on the correctional/release plan;
• Preparations in the community, such as reintegration circles, for the eventual release date.

For more information on Section 84 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, please contact a regional office of the Correctional Service of Canada at:

Pacific Region
Regional Headquarters
32560 Simon Avenue
P.O. Box 4500, Floor 2
Abbotsford, B.C.
V2T 5L7
Tel: (604) 870-2655 or
(604) 870-2449

Prairie Region
Regional Headquarters
2313 Hanselman Place
P.O. Box 9223
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
S7K 3X5
Tel: (306) 975-5002

Ontario Region
Regional Headquarters
440 King Street West
P.O. Box 1174
Kingston, Ontario
K7L 4Y8
Tel: (613) 536-4243

Québec Region
Central Office of the East-West District
222 St. George St.
Room 300
St. Jerôme, Québec
J7Z 4Z9
Tel: (450) 432-3737

Atlantic Region
Regional Headquarters
1045 Main Street
2nd Floor
Moncton, New Brunswick
E1C 1H1
Tel: (506) 851-6311