Under the authority of the Statistics Act, Statistics Canada is hereby requesting the following information which will be used solely for statistical and research purposes and will be protected in accordance with the provisions of the Statistics Act and any other applicable law. This is a mandatory request for data.
Youth crime and justice
Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) information
What information is being requested?
Statistics Canada is requesting information from provincial/territorial correctional services programs in Canada on youth who participate in Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) programs.
The federal IRCS Program is a contribution program with all provinces and territories for the delivery of specialized therapeutic programs and services for youth with mental health needs who are convicted of a serious violent offence. The IRCS program is funded by the Department of Justice Canada and has been available since 2003.
For this project, Statistics Canada will request a special extraction of IRCS program data from the Department of Justice Canada, as well as seven participating provincial correctional services programs: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.
Information on all youth participants since the beginning of each provincial IRCS program will be requested. The information requested will include various personal identifiers of participants, as well as information about their involvement in the program, such as length of time enrolled, case plans, and compliance.
What personal information is included in this request?
This request contains personal information from the provincial/territorial correctional services programs including (where applicable for IRCS participants):
- IRCS program number
- Person Identification Number for the correctional program
- sex
- date of birth
- first name, middle name, last name
- municipality or postal code
- Social Insurance Number (SIN)
- Driving License Number
- Fingerprint section ID number
These personal identifiers are required to perform data linkages for statistical purposes only. Once the data are linked, the personal identifiers will be anonymized. In addition, information on IRCS participants currently held by Justice Canada, such as diagnosis of mental health conditions, disaggregated data on Indigenous identity and racialized group, will also be requested.
For more information, see the supplement to Statistics Canada's Generic Privacy Impact Assessment for this request: Intensive Rehabilitative Custody Supervision (IRCS) Project
What years of data will be requested?
Historical data from 2003 to 2023 (or most recent year available).
From whom will the information be requested?
This information is being requested from the Department of Justice Canada and seven provincial correctional services programs: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan.
Why is this information being requested?
Statistics Canada requires these data to produce accurate information on the correctional population in Canada. This specific information is needed to produce demographic information at a disaggregated level on the populations supervised under federal, provincial, and territorial correctional services, including the youth population.
The IRCS program is an important component of correctional supervision of youth in Canada, as it has been developed for high-risk youth with mental health concerns who have committed serious criminal offences.
Summarized information describing outcomes of youth after participating in IRCS programs, and where appropriate, contrasting with outcomes for non-participant cohorts, has been a critical data gap in terms of evaluating the success of IRCS programs for many years. Working with participating youth corrections programs and Justice Canada, Statistics Canada aims to address this gap in its statistical program on youth corrections by collecting additional information from youth correctional service programs.
This new data collection will allow Statistics Canada to address this research priority for criminal justice policy makers and the public. All analysis will be performed at an aggregate level only. Analytical data files will contain only anonymized identification numbers and will not include any information that would directly identify an individual.
The personal information on the IRCS participants for this project will allow the record linkage needed to study recontact with the criminal justice system and reintegration into society. Once the data are linked, the personal identifiers will be anonymized. The analysis will help determine the overall outcomes of youth involved in IRCS programs.
Justice partners and stakeholders as well as the Canadian public will benefit from the results compiled as the information contributes to the creation of evidence-based policy and program development, and thereby contributes to the public interest. These data will help fill the need to inform evidence-driven approaches to crime prevention and programs aimed at reducing recidivism, as well as programs designed for rehabilitation, community integration, and public safety.
All data collected for the IRCS project are considered the minimum required to address the data needs and statistical goals of the project. Only non-confidential aggregate statistics and analyses conforming to the confidentiality provisions of the Statistics Act will be released outside of Statistics Canada.
Statistics Canada may also use the information for other statistical and research purposes.
Why were these organizations selected as data providers?
The Department of Justice Canada, as well as the provincial correctional service programs with comprehensive information systems on the populations under their supervision, are the only data sources in Canada with the detailed administrative data required for conducting statistical research.
When will this information be requested?
This information will be requested in March 2024.