Provincial and federal corrections agencies

Provincial corrections

BC Corrections helps keep British Columbians safe by managing adults who are in custody or under community supervision.

• Community Corrections - Supervises individuals on bail or serving sentences in the community and offers programs to support behavioural change and reduce offending.
• Adult Custody - Operates 10 provincial correctional centres to provide safe and secure custody of individuals awaiting trial or serving a sentence of less than 2 years.

Federal corrections

The Correctional Service of Canada is the federal government corrections agency. The agency:

• Manages federal prisons with varying levels of security
• Supervises offenders conditionally released into the community
• Supervises sentences of two or more years in federal prisons
• Assists offenders to move back into the community after they leave prison

Public Safety Canada develops legislation and policies for the correctional service. 

The Parole Board of Canada is an independent federal agency within Public Safety Canada that decides whether an offender is paroled. The board can:

• Give or take away day or full parole
• Order an offender to be kept in prison until the end of their sentence. Offenders who are eligible for statutory release may be detained if they are considered at risk of committing other crime
• Decide if an offender should be conditionally released. The board decides on conditional releases for all provinces and territories except Quebec and Ontario. Those provinces have their own parole boards, which review parole eligibility for offenders serving less than two years in prison.