Nunavut has the highest incarceration rate for adult offenders in Canada: Stats Can
But the rate of Nunavummiut entering community supervision is dropping

New data from Statistics Canada shows Nunavut leads Canadian provinces and territories in its rate of offenders in the correctional system. (FILE PHOTO)
Compared with all other provinces and territories, Nunavut has the highest proportion of inmates housed in correctional facilities—more than six times the national average, says data released by Statistics Canada last week.
The rate of Nunavummiut adults in custody sits at 575 for every 100,000 people—a six per cent increase from the previous year—compared to the Canadian average of 139 per 100,000.
Nunavut’s rate is slightly higher than that of neighbouring Northwest Territories, which reports a rate of 570 in 100,000, according to StatsCan’s newly-released data for 2015-16.
Incarceration rates were up in nine out of 13 provinces or territories this year, although the rate of adults entering the country’s correctional system has seen an overall decline over the last five years when you factor in offenders who are under community supervision.
These can include offenders on probation, serving conditional sentences, provincial parole, full parole, day parole and statutory release.
That rate in Nunavut—3,222 in 100,000—is down by 13 per cent this year from last, but is still more than eight times the national average of about 377 in 100,000.
The new statistics also show that the overall cost of providing correctional services in Canada has remained steady from last year at about $4.6 billion a year
Nunavut paid about $36 million for its correctional services in 2015-16. The territory spends $1,007 per capita for those services, compared to the national average of $128 per capita.
Some other findings in Statistics Canada’s latest report:
• all provinces and territories saw an increase in adults in remand or pre-trial detention. Compared to 2005-06, the average numbers of Canadian adults in remand grew by 35 per cent by 2015-16. In Nunavut, that number grew by 104 per cent;
• across the country, women offenders make up 16 per cent of all adults admitted to custody, but just four per cent in Nunavut;
• Canadian adults under 35 years of age account for 58 per cent of offenders; and,
• Indigenous adults continue to be over-represented in Canada’s corrections system, accounting for 26 per cent of admissions although they make up just three per cent of the country’s population. All, or 100 per cent, of Nunavut’s offenders are considered Indigenous.
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