BackThe Office of the Correctional Investigator (OCI) was first established in 1973 pursuant to Part II of the Inquiries Act. In November 1992, the Office was formally entrenched into legislation with the enactment of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Corresponding to this law, the Ombudsman is appointed by the Governor General, on the advice of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada for a term not exceeding five years. The current incumbent is Mr. Howard Sapers.
The primary function of the Office is to investigate and bring resolution to individual offender complaints. The Office as well, has a responsibility to review and make recommendations on the Correctional Service's policies and procedures associated with the areas of individual complaints to ensure that systemic areas of concern are identified and appropriately addressed.
The Correctional Investigator has the control and management of all matters connected with the office of the Correctional Investigator. The OCI’s budgetary independence is found in its ability to negotiate its budget directly with Treasury Board Secretariat and to manage spending independently from Public Safety Canada and the Correctional Service Canada. The OCI is accountable to Parliament for its financial administration and management.
The OCI reports to Parliament on its activities and releases public interest reports on systemic issues at any time. Annual and Special Reports are tabled in Parliament and briefings are held with Parliamentarians and senior government officials to ensure understanding and acceptance of its recommendations.
Following recommendations by the Secretary General and the competent Regional Vice-President the Board acknowledged that the Correctional Investigator fulfilled the IOI criteria for institutional membership set out in Article 6 (1) of the IOI by-laws and decided to accept the Office of the Correctional Investigator as institutional member of the IOI.
Further information can be found here.
