SIU Authorizations: January 1st, 2024 to March 31st, 2024 (Quarterly Report Q4)
Research Highlights: National SIU authorization counts declined slightly in Q4, though shifts were subject to regional variation.
Background
Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) were incorporated into the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) on November 30th, 2019. Such units are intended to provide intervention-focused accommodations to offenders who cannot be safely managed in the mainstream offender population. As part of a quarterly series highlighting trends in SIUs, the current analysis examines SIU stay-level data drawn from CSC’s data warehouse for the fourth quarter of 2023-2024 (i.e., January 1st, 2024, to March 31st, 2024).
Publication
RIB-24-06
2024
Research in Brief - PDF
SIU Authorizations: January 1st, 2024 to March 31st, 2024 (Quarterly Report Q4)[PDF - .206 MB]
Overview of Authorizations
In Q4 of 2023-2024:
- There were 694 new authorizations to an SIU, compared to 702 in Q3, 740 in Q2, and 750 in Q1.
- The average number of monthly authorizations in Q4 was 231 (representing approximately 1.7% of the in-custody population).
Regional Trends
In Q4, there was a decline in SIU authorizations in the Atlantic, Quebec, and Pacific Regions, relative to Q3. In contrast, there was an increase in the Ontario and Prairie Regions. Across the fiscal year quarters, authorizations counts were highest in the Quebec Region.
By region, SIU authorizations in Q4 represented roughly 1.7% of the in-custody population in the Atlantic Region, 2.6% in the Quebec Region, 1.7% in the Ontario Region, 1.2% in the Prairie Region, and 1.1% in the Pacific Region.
Authorization Reason
In Q4, 54% of authorizations were justified under 34.1 A (security) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), while 41% were justified under 34.1 B (safety). Authorizations justified under 34.1 C (investigation) remained uncommon. There was regional variation with respect to trends in reason (e.g., 34.1 A authorizations were most common in Quebec; See Table 2).
Table 1. SIU Authorization Counts by Quarter and Region, 2023-2024.
| Quarter | Region | Total | ||||
| Atlantic | Quebec | Ontario | Prairie | Pacific | ||
| Q1 | 78 | 269 | 172 | 150 | 81 | 750 |
| Q2 | 84 | 234 | 182 | 165 | 75 | 740 |
| Q3 | 75 | 253 | 180 | 121 | 73 | 702 |
| Q4 | 65 | 229 | 199 | 144 | 57 | 694 |
Table 2. SIU Authorization Reason by Region, Q4, 2023-2024 (January 1st, 2024 to March 31st, 2024).
| Reason | Region | Total | ||||
| Atlantic | Quebec | Ontario | Prairie | Pacific | ||
| 34.1 A | 33 | 162 | 84 | 74 | 24 | 377 |
| 34.1 B | 32 | 67 | 84 | 68 | 33 | 284 |
| 34.1 C | no data | no data | 31* | 2 | no data | 33 |
| Total | 65 | 229 | 199 | 144 | 57 | 694 |
*Significant increase due to two similar incidents at a single institution in the month of January, 2024.
Discussion
SIU authorization counts declined throughout 2023-2024, though shifts were subject to regional variation. Authorizations remained highest in the Quebec Region, with the majority justified under 34.1 A (security) of the CCRA.
Prepared by: The Special Projects and Data Management (SPDM) Team of the CSC Research Branch.