Table 6
Sentencing outcomes upon conviction for Indigenous accused relative to White accused in adult criminal court, Canada, 2016/2017 to 2020/2021

Table 6
Sentencing outcomes upon conviction for Indigenous accused relative to White accused in adult criminal court, Canada, 2016/2017 to 2020/2021 Table summary
The information is grouped by Characteristics (appearing as row headers), Type of sentence , Custody, Conditional sentence, Probation and Fine, calculated using adjusted relative rate index1 units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Characteristics Type of sentence
Custody Conditional sentence Probation Fine
adjusted relative rate index Table 6 Note 1
Note 1

The adjusted relative rate index (ARRI) measures the likelihood of Indigenous accused encountering a sentence relative to White accused encountering the same sentence, controlling for the severity of the most serious offence in the case. Severity is based on the crime severity weight that is used in calculating the Crime Severity Index. The ARRI is a relative measure. For example, an ARRI of 0% means that Indigenous accused have the same likelihood of encountering the same sentence as their White counterpart. Furthermore an ARRI larger or smaller than zero means that Indigenous accused have a higher or lower likelihood of encountering the same sentence than white accused. The overall ARRI and the ARRIs by category can sometimes look quite different because the latter are averaged across both the category and the years. This can result in differences between the overall and disaggregated ARRIs, especially if the ARRI values vary substantially from year to year and between categories.

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Note 2

Sex is defined as female or male in the 2016 Census.

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Note 3

Age at date of offence. Excludes calculated age under 18 years and older than 100 years. When the date of the offence was missing, age was calculated using the case start date.

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Note 4

Sentencing is disseminated for the most serious offense in the case.

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Note 5

Prior convictions were identified as all convictions in the fiscal years prior to the case completion year back to the fiscal year 2005/2006.

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Note 6

Violent offences are defined as crimes against the person, which include criminal harassment; uttering threats; assault; sexual assault; other sexual offences; and offences in relation to sexual services, robbery, attempted murder and homicide.

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Notes: Only individuals who had a completed court case in the Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS) and were linked to the 2016 Census of Population long-form questionnaire were retained for analysis. Calibrated weights were developed for this dataset so that the sum of these weights equalled the total population of accused before the courts. Weights were calibrated to ensure consistency between the linked ICCS population and the total ICCS population in terms of key sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender and criminal history). Calibrated weights were developed independently for each fiscal year of ICCS data. Results for each year are produced using these calibrated weights. The results presented in this table are the averaged ARRIs from 2016/2017 to 2020/2021.
Source: Statistics Canada, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics, Linked 2016 Census of Population long-form questionnaire and Integrated Criminal Court Survey.
All 45 30 -16 -24
Sex Table 6 Note 2  
Female 44 24 -16 -20
Male 46 33 -15 -27
Age group (years) Table 6 Note 3  
18 to 24 43 32 -18 -24
25 to 34 41 28 -16 -23
35 to 44 40 27 -18 -19
45 to 54 42 24 -18 -16
55 and older 56 33 -10 -23
Most serious offence in the case Table 6 Note 4  
Crimes against the person 27 23 -27 13
Crimes against property 22 7 -24 -7
Administration of justice 24 12 -26 6
Other Criminal Code 27 22 -30 -2
Criminal Code traffic 80 80 -30 -9
Other federal statute 30 44 -35 7
Number of prior convictions Table 6 Note 5  
0 46 30 -14 -17
1 to 2 31 17 -22 -7
3 to 4 24 14 -24 1
5 or more 20 12 -25 5
Any prior conviction for a violent offence Table 6 Note 6  
No 50 31 -15 -23
Yes 27 22 -28 13
Province or region  
Atlantic 51 26 -15 -24
Quebec 41 40 -16 -23
Ontario 45 29 -16 -27
Prairies 50 29 -17 -24
British Columbia and the territories 34 15 -21 -11
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