Victim Services at CSC

Frequently Asked Questions

The public often contacts the Services at the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to receive information about issues relating to corrections, the criminal justice system and victim issues. Answers to the most frequently asked questions are listed in this section. If you have questions that are not listed below, please contact us toll-free at 1-866-806-2275 or by email at victims-victimes@csc-scc.gc.ca.

Q1: How does a victim receive information about the offender who harmed them?

To receive information about an offender, a victim must request it in writing to CSC or NPB. This is commonly known as ‘registering’. A victim can contact CSC by telephone; however, in order to confirm registration, a victim must submit a written request or complete and sign an Information Request for Victims Form and sends it to CSC or NPB. A person can register as a victim or authoritize someone else in writing to act as their representative.

Q2: Is the offender notified when a victim registers?

No. Offenders do not have the right to be notified when a victim registers with the CSC or the NPB for victim notification.

Q3: Do victims have to receive information directly?

No. If a victim does not want to receive information directly, they can appoint in writing a representative or agent to receive the information on their behalf.

Q4: Does a victim’s registration ever expire?

Registration for victim notification does not expire. The file may be inactivated if any of the following situations occur:

• The offender’s sentence expires. However, if the offender receives a subsequent federal sentence, the victim will be notified and asked if they want to receive ongoing notification again.
• The victim advises the NPB or CSC that they no longer want to receive victim notification.
• The offender dies while incarcerated or under CSC supervision in the community.

Q5: Can victims request no contact from an offender?

Yes. Victims can request that an offender have no contact with them at various times during the criminal justice process. In order of sequence:

Role of courts:

Anytime during the court process, the sentencing judge can issue an order prohibiting the offender from communicating, directly or indirectly, with any person, victim or witness. This order comes to an end when the offender is sentenced.

Role of CSC:

Anytime during the incarceration of an offender under CSC jurisdiction, a victim can submit a written request to CSC requesting that an offender be prevented from communicating with them and/or their family. As well, an offender may be prevented from communicating with members of the public by mail or telephone when:

• The Institutional Head or designate believes, on reasonable grounds, that the safety of any person, both in the institution and the community would be jeopardized; or
• The Institutional Head or designate is satisfied that the intended recipient of the communication, or the parent or guardian of an intended recipient who is a minor, does not want to receive communications from the inmate.

Role of NPB:

A victim can submit a written request to NPB requesting that a “no contact condition” be included as part of an offender’s “release conditions”. The NPB may impose special conditions, in addition to those standard conditions as set out in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, on any conditional or statutory release. This might include a special condition not to have any contact with a particular person.

No contact at Warrant Expiry (End of full sentence):

Under the law, an offender must be released at the warrant expiry date (WED) of their sentence. An offender release at WED means that the offender has served the full length of their sentence and that their sentence has come to end. At this time, CSC and NPB no longer have the authority to impose a release condition. If CSC has reasonable grounds to believe that the offender may pose a threat to someone in society, CSC can inform the police of the offender’s release. With the information given by CSC, police services can apply to the courts to ask for a "peace bond" under section 810 of the Criminal Code. A “peace bond” can include various conditions, including a “no contact” condition. A “peace bond” is a court order that allows the police to protect the public by requiring an individual who poses a threat to society to abide by specific conditions for up to one year. Victims can contact their local police services or victim services to find out more about Peace Bonds.

For more information, please contact CSC toll-free at 1-866-806-2275 or by email at victims-victimes@csc-scc.gc.ca.

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Q6: Can victims share the impact of the crime with CSC or NPB?

Yes. CSC and NPB encourage victims to provide a Victim Statement describing the impact of the crime on their lives and/or other information related to the correctional and conditional release process.

CSC uses victim information in:

• Deciding the offender’s institutional security level;
• Recommendations to the NPB about whether the offender should be granted conditional release and what special conditions, if any, should be placed on the offender;
• Decisions about whether the offender should be released on a temporary absence or a work release; and
• Evaluations of the offender’s programming needs and overall risk of re–offending.

NPB uses victim information in:

• Decisions with respect to community releases (UTA, Day Parole, Full Parole, Statutory Release) that may or may not have special conditions imposed.

Personal information about a victim, such as address and telephone number, will NOT be made available to the offender. However, the law requires that CSC and NPB disclose to offenders any information that will be considered when they make decisions on such things as an offender’s parole application, conditions of release, etc.

Victims can submit a victim statement anytime during the correctional process. However, to present a victim statement at a National Parole Hearing, victims must complete and sign a Request to Present a Victim Statement at a Hearing form and submit it to the NPB.

Q7: What happens when an offender first enters a federal institution?

When an offender first enters a CSC institution, he or she undergoes a full assessment and referral process addressing his or her program and security needs, which may include medical, psychological, psychiatric, employment and educational assessments. The assessment will also determine in which institution the offender is placed. For more information, please read CSC’s Intake Assessment Process policy.

Q8: What programs are available to federal offenders?

CSC provides programs designed to address the needs of the offender and contribute to their successful reintegration into the community. Programs address issues including substance abuse, anger management, etc. For more information about correctional programs, consult CSC’s website.

Q9: Why are offenders transferred to different institutions?

Offenders may be transferred to a different institution for a number of reasons:

• To respond to reassessed security needs,
• To access programs or services,
• To conduct an assessment,
• To facilitate a court appearance,
• To ensure the safety of inmates and staff,
• To place an offender in an Aboriginal Healing Centre, or
• To separate co-convicted offenders under certain circumstances.

For more information on institutional transfers, please read CSC’s Transfer of Offenders Policy.

Q10: Can a victim find out about the institution where the offender is placed?

Yes. Victims can find out more about CSC institutions on the Regions and Facilities page of CSC’s website.

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Q11: How is an offender released into the community?

CSC releases eligible federal offenders into the community under various types of conditional release: temporary absence, day parole, full parole, statutory release or accelerated parole review. In each case offenders are subject to strict monitoring and control. Conditions may include regular meetings with a parole officer, curfews or drug testing.

Public safety is the number one consideration in all decisions related to an offender’s release. If an offender’s risk becomes unmanageable in the community, his or her release will be suspended, and in many cases, revoked by the NPB or conditions will be applied.

By law, CSC must release offenders who have reached the warrant expiry date of their sentence.

For more information, click on conditional release.

Q12: Can victims attend NPB hearings?

Yes. Members of the general public who are 18 years of age and older, victims and their families and supporters, offenders’ families and supporters, and media representatives may attend NPB hearings. To observe a NPB hearing, complete and sign a Request to Observe a Hearing Form and submit it to the NPB.

Q13: Can victims receive financial assistance to attend NPB hearings?

Yes. Since November 1, 2005, victims registered with CSC or NPB have been able to apply for financial assistance for themselves and a support person to attend a NPB hearing of the offender who harmed them. The Policy Centre for Victim Issues at the Department of Justice administers this financial assistance. To apply for assistance, please complete and submit the Application for Financial Assistance for Victims and Support Persons to Attend National Parole Board Hearings.

More information is available by contacting the Policy Centre for Victim Issues’ toll free line for the Travel Fund at 1-866-544-1007 or the National Parole Board at 1-866-789-4636.

Q14: How can victims obtain information about an NPB decision?

Anyone demonstrating an interest in a specific case may make a request in writing to the NPB for a copy of a conditional release decision made after November 1, 1992. The NPB will withhold information that may jeopardize a person’s safety, reveal a confidential source of information or adversely affect the return of an offender to society as a law-abiding citizen.

To obtain an NPB decision, please complete and sign a Request for Registry of Decisions Form and submit it to the NPB.

To learn more about the decision registry, please contact the National Parole Board at 1-866-789-4636 or visit www.npb-cnlc.gc.ca/victims/victims-eng.shtml.

Q15: What services are available to family members of offenders?

CSC can help link family members to community-based organizations that assist families of incarcerated offenders.

For more information click on services for families of offenders.

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Q16: What services are available to victims harmed by a family member?

In addition to the services for families of offenders further information can also be found in the Victims harmed by a family member section of this site.

Q17: How can registered victims file a complaint about the services they have received from CSC?

Victims who are unsatisfied with the quality of service they are receiving from CSC should first address their concerns directly to their assigned Victim Services Officer (VSO). To contact your VSO, please call 1-866-806-2275 or email victims-victimes@csc-scc.gc.ca.

If the issue is not resolved to their satisfaction, a victim has three options in progressive sequence as follows:

• The victim may contact the Regional Victim Services Manager (RVSM) directly;
• The victim may contact the Director of Victim Services at CSC National Headquarters;
• The victim may also contact the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime for assistance at any time.

Q18: If an offender in custody is awaiting deportation, what information can be disclosed to a victim?

CSC can notify registered victims if the offender has been or will be released into the custody of Citizenship and Immigration. Once the offender is no longer in our custody, CSC cannot provide any further information.

Q19: What is Victim-Offender Mediation?

Victim-offender mediation is a process in which highly trained community-based mediators provide victims and offenders who request it with the opportunity to communicate within safe and structured conditions. Program models vary, but they all have certain features in common: voluntary participation at all stages of the process, extensive preparation (sometimes taking years), detailed procedural guidelines and rules to safeguard victims’ safety and offenders’ legal rights, strict confidentiality (to avoid influencing Parole Board decisions), and mediators who are perceived as neutral by both of the parties.

This type of process, which CSC calls "restorative opportunities”, allows victims to tell the offender about the crime’s physical, emotional, and financial impact on their lives, receive answers to lingering questions about the offender and the crime, and participate directly in looking at next steps for the offender. The process also affords the offender an opportunity to make apologies, provide information, develop reparative plans and gain insight for personal growth.

This approach differs from conventional mediation in that the parties are not "disputants" in the usual sense. Rather, one is clearly the victim and the other an admitted offender. As well, the process is not focused on reaching a settlement, but rather on open communication.

While face-to-face encounters may take place, other options for communicating, such as exchange of letters and videotapes, also exist.

Registered victims, representatives acting on behalf of registered victims, and non-registered victims of offenders serving federal sentences can participate in restorative opportunities by contacting CSC’s Restorative Opportunities Coordinator at 613-947-6434 or by e-mail at restorativejustice@csc-scc.gc.ca. Victims can also call CSC’s Victim Services Division toll-free at 1-866-806-2275 or by email at victims-victimes@csc-scc.gc.ca. Click on victim-offender mediation and Restorative Justice Contacts for more information.