Module 3: Organizational Levels of Criminal Justice Institutions in Canada

Question 1

Provincial and Territorial Government Agencies associated with Criminal Justice

Answer 1

1. Provincial Police Services
   - including the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), Quebec Provincial Police, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (doesn’t have jurisdiction across all province, mostly in capital of St. John’s)
   - oversee local police departments, ex. in London
2. Ministry of the Attorney General
   - provincial crown attorney (prosecute criminal code offenses)
   - courts and court administration
   - judges, appointed by an independent tribunal
3. Provincial Corrections (non-custodial programs and custodial programs)
   - non-custodial programs, ex. probation services, community service programs, victim/offender reconciliation programs
   - prisons where offenders whose sentence is less than 2 years, up to 2 years less a day
   - Quebec, Ontario, and BC have their own parole boards for provincial offences

Question 2

Federal Ministries associated with Criminal Justice

Answer 2

1. Department of Justice Canada
   - drafts laws/bills, often with public input, then bring bills to parliament for debate and votes, ex. the mandatory registration of firearms, longer sentences for crimes motivated by hate, the creation of a national DNA bank
   - contributes funding to certain organizations, ex. Canadian Society of Forensic Science, Canadian Association of Provincial Judges, Legal Aid (for people who cannot afford, Native Court Workers Programs, Programs for Young Offenders
2. The Department of the Solicitor General of Canada
   - Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Correctional Services of Canada (ex. prisons/reformatories), National Parole Board, Office of the Correctional Investigator (receives complaints from correctional facility inmates)