Youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2014/2015 Youth correctional statistics in Canada, 2014/2015

Rate of youth in correctional services decreases

• In 2014/2015, there were 7,966 youth aged 12 to 17 years being supervised in either custody or a community program on any given day in the nine reporting jurisdictions.^{Note 2} This equates to a rate of 54 youth in correctional services for every 10,000 youth in Canada. The rate of youth in correctional services among reporting jurisdictions fell 14% from the previous year and was down 31% from five years earlier (Table 1).
• Ninety percent of youth under correctional supervision in 2014/2015 were supervised in the community.
• Most jurisdictions followed the overall downward trend in the correctional population. The exceptions were the Northwest Territories, which had a 38% increase in the rate of youth in correctional services between 2013/2014 and 2014/2015, and Saskatchewan, where the rate remained unchanged. For the Northwest Territories, it was a jump in the community supervision rate (+45%) that was responsible for the overall increase. Of the jurisdictions that reported a decrease in rates from the previous year, Ontario’s was the largest at -21% (Table 2).

Youth incarceration rate declines

• Under the YCJA, the youth justice system is meant to reserve its most serious interventions for the most serious crimes and reduce the over-reliance on incarceration.^{Note 3} In 2014/2015, in the 12 reporting jurisdictions, there was an average of 1,040 youth being held in some type of custody on any given day.^{Note 4} This translates into a youth incarceration rate of 6 per 10,000 youth (see Text box 2). The rate was down 12% from the previous year and 26% from 2010/2011 (Table 1).
• British Columbia had the lowest incarceration rate among the reporting provinces and territories in 2014/2015 with a rate of 2 per 10,000 youth. Manitoba had the highest rate of incarcerated youth at 26 per 10,000 youth (Table 2).
• Since 2007/2008, youth held in pre-trial detention have outnumbered those held in sentenced custody. In 2014/2015, the rate of youth in pre-trial detention was 3.1 per 10,000 youth, while that for sentenced custody was slightly less at 2.5 (Chart 1).

Rate of youth supervised in the community continues decade long downward trend

• There are a number of community sanctions available under the YCJA.^{Note 5} As well, the legislation mandates that every period of custody should be followed by a period of community supervision to assist youth in their rehabilitation and reintegration. On average, there were 7,139 youth being supervised in the community in nine reporting jurisdictions on a typical day in 2014/2015 (Table 2).^{Note 6} The majority (90%) of youth being supervised in the community were on probation.
• British Columbia reported the lowest rate of youth in community supervision in 2014/2015 at 21 per 10,000 youth, while the Northwest Territories had the highest rate at 163.
• The rate of community supervision was down 31% in 2014/2015 when compared to five years earlier, a figure that is similar to what was reported for the incarceration rate (Table 1).
• The rate of youth under community supervision has been trending downwards for more than 10 years (Chart 2).

Nearly half of all youth begin their period of supervision in probation

• Initial entry measures the number of youth commencing a period of correctional supervision and provides an indication of new workload entering the corrections system. In 2014/2015, there were 5,538 initial entries of youth into correctional services in the eight reporting jurisdictions.^{Note 7} This was down 15% from the previous year. Nearly half of all youth began their period of supervision in probation (47%) (Table 3).
• In 2012, the YCJA was amended in order to simplify decision-making regarding pre-trial detention and ensure that youth be managed in the community where possible. In 2014/2015, just under one-third of youth (30%) started their period of correctional supervision in pre-trial detention.^{Note 8} This was up slightly from 29% five years earlier.

Admissions to correctional services decline

• In 2014/2015, the total number of youth admissions to correctional services among the nine reporting jurisdictions fell 15% to 17,752 admissions.^{Note 9} Admissions to community supervision fell by 19% and admissions to custody fell 10% (Table 4).
• The majority of reporting jurisdictions had decreases in admissions to both custody and community supervision. Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick were exceptions, having reported increases in custody admissions (11% and 14% respectively).

Youth in correctional services predominantly male

• In 2014/2015, just over three-quarters of youth admitted into correctional services were male (77%).^{Note 10} The findings were about the same for both custody and community supervision (Table 5).

Older youth account for the majority of admissions to correctional services

• In 2014/2015, the majority of youth admissions to correctional services in the nine reporting jurisdictions involved youth aged 16 to 17 at the time of admission.^{Note 11} This was particularly true for custody admissions where 16- and 17-year-olds accounted for 59% of admissions, while the proportion for community admissions was somewhat lower at 52% (Table 5).
• Youth aged 12 and 13 accounted for 4% of all youth admissions to correctional services; the figure was the same for custody and community. While youth aged 18 years and older represented 7% of admissions to custody, they accounted 20% of those to community supervision.^{Note 12}
• Among all youth admitted to correctional services in nine jurisdictions in 2014/2015, the largest proportion of admissions (24%) were males aged 17. The number of male admissions to provincial and territorial correctional services tended to increase with age while for females the phenomenon was less pronounced (Chart 3).

Aboriginal youth continue to be over-represented in the correctional system

• There were just over 5,700 Aboriginal youth admitted to correctional services in nine jurisdictions in 2014/2015, representing 33% of admissions.^{Note 13} This percentage was unchanged from the year before. By way of comparison, Aboriginal youth aged 12 to 17 account for about 7% of the youth population in the nine reporting jurisdictions (Table 5).^{Note 14}
• In 2014/2015, Aboriginal females accounted for 44% of female youth admitted to the corrections system, whereas Aboriginal males accounted for 29% of male youth admitted. These figures are virtually unchanged from the previous year.
• Sentencing principles in the YCJA mandate that the Court consider alternatives to custody, particularly in the case of Aboriginal youth.^{Note 15} In 2014/2015, 52% of Aboriginal youth admitted to correctional services were admitted to custody whereas the comparable figure for non-Aboriginal youth was 42%. Conversely, 48% of Aboriginal youth were admitted to community supervision compared to 57% of non-Aboriginal youth.^{Note 16}

Length of time youth serve unchanged

• In 2014/2015, the majority of youth (81%) released from pre-trial detention in nine reporting jurisdictions were there for one month or less. This figure was unchanged from five years earlier (Chart 4).
• For youth released from sentenced custody in 2014/2015, almost half (46%) were there for one month or less, with 91% spending six months or less. In 2010/2011, the comparable figures were 45% and 93% respectively.
• Just over half (51%) of youth released from probation in 2014/2015 were supervised for one year or less and another 35% were supervised for more than one year and up to two years. These results were similar to five years earlier.
• Females tend to be under correctional supervision for shorter periods of time. For example, 87% of female youth were released from pre-trial detention after one month or less in 2014/2015, compared to 79% of male youth. Similarly, for sentenced custody, 56% of females were released after one month or less, whereas for males the figure was 43%.