We know that most offenders are classified as medium security. That's also where most of the institution-based programming is. Five or six out of ten inmates in a federal penitentiary are in a medium-security penitentiary in a medium-security cell. About one-fifth are classified as minimum security, and those you would think are the ones most apt to be released into the community the quickest. About 14% are considered maximum security.
Programming is available at all institutional levels, but the bulk of the programming is focused on medium security, and it's timed so that offenders are getting into programs to get the program's benefits before they're eligible for their first release. Correctional Service of Canada has made some changes to target those who will get the most benefit and to get them into programs more quickly.
The jury is still very much out, in my opinion, on whether those changes have resulted in the positive benefits hoped for. We do know that more inmates are getting into their first program more quickly and we know that more inmates are completing their programs. We don't know if they're getting the same benefit out of the programs as they once received.
The Correctional Service of Canada has used some good science to determine who maybe shouldn't even be programmed for. There are some very low-risk offenders for whom the focus is really on vocational preparation and community release planning, as opposed to correctional intervention, because they are at a very low risk to reoffend. The Correctional Service does a fairly good job of doing that assessment.