individuals who were jailed.

In 1997-98, about half of all adults
admitted to custody were on remand, The
average increase across all jurisdictions

in the number of remands varied widely
among provinces and territories. British

followed by Ontario (83%) and
Saskatchewan (50%).

B.C. shows largest increases in custodial remand through the 1990s

The Use of Custodial Remand in Canada examined the trend of remanding people into
custody while they awaited their next court appearance. In this study, it was reported that
the number of adults remanded into custody represented a growing proportion of all

between 1988 and 1998 was 39%. Increases

Columbia (128%) had the sharpest increase

150
Increase in custodial
® remand — 1988-1998
oO
+100
—
ra
8
5 50
a
0

B.C. Ont. Sask. Canada

Addtessing population growth in
institutions

Until the construction of North Praser Pretrial
Centre in Port Coquitlam, all the replacement
facilities of the Branch produced only a
seven-bed increase in capacity. While the
offender population in sentenced and remand
custody continued to grow, there were no

additional resources through most of the 1990s.

Because most provincial offenders served
sentences of 90 days or less, early release
options were developed for this group. For the
remaining institutional population—the
burgeoning remand population and a
significantly hardened group of sentenced
offenders—the Branch required additional
secure custody space.

The pressure became acute by 1993, In March
of that year, the count at Vancouver Pretrial

Services Centre (VPSC) reached 197—or 47
more than the design capacity of 150, The
Branch decided to use some beds at Fraser
Regional Correctional Centre (RCC) for
remanded inmates and transfer inmates from
VPSC to FRCC and Surrey Pretrial Services
Centre (SPSC), At PRCC, counts averaged
slightly below capacity (244 inmates with 254
available beds). SPSC counts averaged slightly
above (155 with 150 available beds).

Once maximum bed capacity was reached,
double-bunking became the only option.
Additional beds were installed to address the
increased population. In January 1994, 36 cells
at SPSC received extra beds, increasing the
institution’s capacity from 150 to 186.

In 1994, the Corrections Branch instituted a
double-bunking policy. It stated that double
bunks were only to be used when:

190

Corrections in British Columbia