Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good morning, and thank you, Madam Chair and committee members, for the opportunity to discuss how the proposed bill would affect CSC operations, that being Bill C-31.
First I'd like to address how many federal offenders may be impacted by this bill and then I will provide you with some information about how we manage offenders' moneys while they are incarcerated. The Correctional Service of Canada is currently housing about 13,700 offenders in our institutions across the country. Of these, approximately 850, or 6%, are 60 years of age or older. And approximately 1,160, or 8%, of the 8,600 offenders supervised in the community are 60 years of age or older.
However, we are unaware of how many are actually receiving benefit payments, as some offenders who are receiving the payments may have the funds deposited to a bank or a credit union in the community rather than having it sent to them at an institution.
By way of background, I would like to describe how offenders' money is handled while they are incarcerated. Institutions manage two forms of accounts for offenders, a current account and a savings account. Offenders can receive a maximum of $6.90 per day for participation in work, training, or intervention programming. Offenders who refuse to participate in all programs and assignments receive one dollar per day. These funds may be subject to a number of deductions at source, including indebtedness to the crown, room and board, and contributions to the inmate welfare fund. Offenders may receive income from other sources, such as the sale of hobby crafts or government pensions such as old age security benefits, and they would until the coming into force of this bill.
Offenders are allowed to keep in their current account no more than 90% of any income received after deductions, to a maximum of $69 for a two-week pay period. This can be used for items such as telephone calls, canteen purchases, and the purchase of certain approved personal property items. Anything above the $69 per two-week period is placed in the inmate's savings account, which is only accessible for approved purposes and in support of his or her correctional plan.
Offenders are allowed to transfer funds from their savings account to their current account no more than four times per year and the total annual transfer may not exceed $500. Furthermore, they are required to maintain a minimum balance of $80 in their savings account. This, in part, is intended to ensure funds are available to them upon their release.
When an offender is released on day parole, full parole, or statutory release, all funds in the current and savings accounts are made available to him or her. As such, any offender who may currently be in receipt of their old age security benefits would not normally be able to access any funds in excess of $69 per two-week pay period while incarcerated. The exception to this is the transfers I mentioned earlier. So an offender's discretionary funds in his or her current account can be supplemented by a maximum of $500 per year.
These mechanisms are in place to ensure that offenders can properly budget for their release, to control the flow of money inside institutions, to ensure the safety and security of staff and offenders, and to support inmate welfare funds that assist with both the welfare of offenders and contribute to outside charitable contributions.
I'd like to come back quickly to the issue of room and board. In the case of an offender receiving a pension from a private or government source, commissioner's directive number 860 on inmate's money allows, at the discretion of the institutional head or warden, the deduction of up to 25% of an inmate's total income for the cost of room and board. This is to a maximum of $25 per week, which does not represent full cost recovery.
As my final point, I would like to address the mechanics of how Correctional Service Canada would help implement the withholding of old age security benefits. We have developed a draft information-sharing agreement with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada that would permit the disclosure by CSC of information on federal offenders age 60 years or older. This would include information on those who are incarcerated in order to facilitate the suspension of payments, as well as information on those who are recently released by virtue of parole or statutory release, so that payments can be reinstated.
This information would be provided to officials at HRSDC on a monthly basis, and again annually, to ensure data reliability. Correctional Service Canada will absorb all costs related to the enactment of proposed Bill C-31 and we are confident that we can put these mechanisms in place quickly.
Madam Chair, in closing, I wish to thank you for the opportunity to speak to the committee. I welcome any questions you may have today.
