Average counts of young persons in provincial and territorial correctional services¹

Corrections Key Indicator Report for Youth, Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics (CCJCSS), Statistics Canada. Fiscal year (April 1 through March 31). Due to rounding, figures may not add to totals. These data are administrative data. Although the Corrections Key Indicator Report attempts to standardize the way in which data are reported, limitations due to differences among jurisdictional operations may restrict uniform application of the definitions in some situations. For this reason, inter-jurisdictional comparisons of the data should be made with caution. The Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) came into effect on April 1, 2003. As such, comparisons between and within jurisdictions before and after 2003/2004 should be made with caution.

Data represent the total for all reporting jurisdictions. Data for a given year may be incomplete due to missing data for one or more jurisdictions. Comparison among years at the national level should be made with caution. Unless otherwise specified, counts for pre-trial detention and other temporary detention, sentenced custody and community supervision may include provincial director remand in some jurisdictions. Estimates are used for 12 to 15-year-olds in Ontario pre-trial detention and other temporary detention prior to 2003/2004 in order to calculate national youth incarceration rates. These estimates are not used at the provincial level.

The total actual-in count represents persons held in custody under sentence, pre-trial detention, Provincial Director Remand and other temporary detention at the time the count is taken.

Sentenced secure custody includes all young persons serving a sentence in secure custody as well as those who have been sentenced on one charge but who are awaiting the completion of court hearings on another charge, unless stated otherwise. It also includes youth that have completed the custodial portion of their sentence and have been returned to secure custody following a breach of conditions. A facility is considered secure when youth are detained by security devices, including those which operate with full perimeter security features and/or where youths are under constant observation. The extent to which facilities are secure varies across jurisdictions.

Sentenced open custody includes all young persons serving a sentence in open custody, as well as those young persons who have been sentenced on one charge but who are awaiting the completion of court hearings on another charge, unless stated otherwise. It also includes youth that have completed a custodial sentence and have been returned to open custody following a breach of conditions. Open custody facilities include community residential centres, group homes, childcare institutions, or forest or wilderness camps or any like place or facility. A facility is considered "open" when there is minimal use of security devices or perimeter security. The extent to which facilities are "open" varies across jurisdictions. For Quebec "open custody" includes intermittent sentence among the open custody, even though the law permits that an intermittent sentence be served in secure custody (see Youth Criminal Justice Act 47 (2)).

Pre-trial detention includes only those young persons detained in custody who are awaiting a further court appearance, and are not presently serving any type of sentence, unless stated otherwise.

Rates of incarceration for "actual-in" counts for young persons are calculated using the population for 12 to 17-year-olds as provided by the Demography Division of Statistics Canada. It should be noted that some youth in custody may be up to 20 years of age if they were less than 18 years of age when the offence was committed, but have since reached the age of a legal adult.

Probation is a type of community-based sanction, where the offender is placed under the supervision of a probation officer or other designated person. Total supervised includes all young persons who must, as a condition of a probation order report to and be under the supervision of a probation officer or other person designated by the court.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) introduced in 2003/2004, all youth custody sentences require a period of community supervision after the custodial portion of the sentence has been completed. The community portion of a custody sentence refers to the portion of the custody and supervision sentence which is served in the community.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) introduced in 2003/2004, a deferred custody and supervision order allows a young person who would otherwise be sentenced to custody to serve the sentence in the community under a number of conditions. Violation of conditions may result in the young person being sent to custody.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) introduced in 2003/2004, an intensive support and supervision order is an alternative to custody. Similar to probation, an intensive support and supervision order is served in the community under conditions, but provides closer monitoring and support than a probation order to assist the young person in changing his or her behavior. This is an 'opt-in' sanction under the YCJA, meaning that jurisdictions may choose not to implement this option.

Rates of probation counts for young persons are calculated for each jurisdiction using the population for 12 to 17-year-olds as provided by the Demography Division of Statistics Canada.