Statistics Canada Report on Young Offenders

Yesterday, Statistics Canada released its report on Youth custody and community services for 2004/2005.

The study looked at the number of youths between the ages of 12 and 17 who were admitted into custody or community probation under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Five jurisdictions are excluded from the report: Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

"Admissions of young people aged 12 to 17 to remand, as well as sentenced custody and probation, fell for the second consecutive year following the enactment of the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) on April 1, 2003".

"This decline in admissions coincides with decreases in both the youth crime rate and the youth incarceration rate" (...)

"Since the introduction of the YCJA, the number of admissions to youth custody and community correctional services has declined 33%. Admissions to probation have declined 54%, sentenced custody admissions are down 50%, and remand declined by 22%. On the other hand, admissions to the community portion of a custody and supervision order have increased 12%, while admissions to deferred custody were up 27%".