NCJ Number
96386
Journal
Impact Issue: 2 Dated: (1984) Pages: 23-28
Date Published
1984
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper presents an overview of current corrections costs, and recent trends in costs, for the Federal, provincial, and territorial correctional agencies.
Abstract
From 1976 through 1981, the total expenditures of the Correctional Service of Canada and the National Parole Board are shown to have increased at an average of 14 percent per year, reaching a total of $430 million in 1981. Additionally, operating costs of penitentiaries increased at an average of 12 percent per year and showed a cumulative increase of 56 percent over the 5-year period. Although exact figures are not available for the total expenditures of correctional agencies in the provinces and territories, capital costs are estimated for 1981 on the basis of long-term construction cost figures; a total expenditure of $465 million is determined. Further, institutional costs in the provinces and territories are shown to have risen 29 percent between 1978 and 1981. Canada's net cumulative increase of 26 percent in Federal corrections costs falls between the increases in costs in the United States and in England and Wales. Finally, the total cost of Federal and provincial expenditures in Canada in 1981 was about $900 million. Strategies must be adopted to control or reduce the number of persons incarcerated and the length of their incarcerations. Six figures and 11 references are included.