4. Discussion

The CJS is a complex system that strives to achieve multiple goals critical to the safety, well-being, and productivity of Canadians. Like most social systems, the CJS must ensure that it operates in a way that is fair, accessible, and efficient, all while addressing challenges, such as systemic discrimination and racism, which perpetuate unequal CJS outcomes for certain groups and leads to their overrepresentation in the system. The SOCJS Framework is a useful tool that helps monitor how the CJS is performing in all of these key areas.

Using the Youth-Adapted Framework data presented in this report, this section provides a high-level assessment of the performance of the youth CJS by answering the following questions:

4.1 How have police reported youth crime rates evolved in Canada?

Maintaining the safety of all those living in Canada is a key expected outcome of the CJS. Examining crime trends is important to understand the frequency and nature of crime as well as to monitor how many people come into contact with the CJS as victims, accused and offenders.

Police-reported youth crime rates have generally been decreasing since 2004, shortly after the enactment of the YCJA.Footnote 78 Decreases in police-reported youth crime over the last two decades were primarily due to the large decreases in property crime, including theft of $5,000 or under, breaking and entering, theft of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property, fraud, arson, mischief, as well as drug offences.Footnote 79 Notable year-over-year decreases in police-reported youth crime rates were seen between 2012 and 2013 (-15%; coinciding with amendments made to the YCJA as a result of the enactment of the Safe Streets and Communities Act), and between 2019 and 2020 (-31%; coinciding with the enactment of the Cannabis Act and the COVID-19 pandemic). In 2022, an increase (+18% from 2021) in police-reported youth crime was observed for the first time since 2006. Despite this increase, the police-reported youth crime rate remains lower than pre-pandemic levels. This may indicate that youth crime rates are returning to usual levels after the large decrease in crime during the years following the COVID-19 pandemic, when the commission and reporting of crime may have been affected by lockdowns, parents working from home and various other factors.Footnote 80

Looking at crime rates only tells us about trends in the volume of crime, not the severity. The Youth Crime Severity Index (CSI) addresses this gap by measuring both the volume and severity of police-reported crime in Canada. The Youth CSI has fluctuated over the years. Since 2018, the Youth CSI generally showed a downward trend before increasing in 2022 (+21% from 2021), the first increase since 2017 (+5% from 2016).Footnote 81 The 2022 increase was largely attributed to the increase in the Youth Violent CSI, for example because of increases in robbery and homicide incidents. In comparison, the overall CSI, which measures adult and youth crime severity, showed a downward trend from 2004 to 2014, but it has since recorded year-to-year increases, except for 2020.Footnote 82 The increases in the overall CSI since 2015 have mostly been driven by increases in violent crimes, such as homicide, level 1 sexual assault, extortion, robbery and other property related crime. Other notable increases in types of crimes have included hate crimes, and firearm-related crime.

It is difficult to identify the cause of increases in volume and severity of crime, for youth more recently, and adults over the past few years. These may be the result of various factors such as social contexts, events, and movements that may have impacted the number and types of crime being committed and/or reported to police. For example, the MeToo/Time’s up movement, in 2017, may have contributed to enhancing reporting of sexual assault by victims.Footnote 83 The Black Lives Matter movement, which reached new heights in 2020 with the murder of George Floyd, may have contributed to increased occurrence and/or reporting of hate crimes, particularly those targeting Black people.Footnote 84 There was also the pandemic, which led to the temporary decrease in certain types of crime and changes in offending pattern, likely due to people spending more time at home and online.Footnote 85

Finally, when looking at trends in police-reported crime, it is critical to understand that these data only include incidents that come to the attention of police. In fact, a low proportion of incidents are reported to police, with certain types of crimes (e.g., sexual assault) being chronically underreported. To get a better picture of the full extent of crime, it is important to also consider self-reported experiences of victimization (i.e., incidents that may or may not have been reported to police). These data show that victimization, particularly violent victimization, continues to be present in communities across Canada, and even more so among younger individuals, especially females.Footnote 86 Self-reported data on experiences of physical and sexual abuse during childhood, as well as witnessing family violence, also provide a measure of the prevalence of violence and adverse childhood experiences among children and youth, which is linked to risks of poor life outcomes, such as subsequent experiences of victimization and offending.Footnote 87 Crime and victimization data highlights the importance of early intervention such as crime prevention efforts and collaboration across social systems, for example the education, health and child welfare systems.

4.2 How is the youth CJS performing with respect to its fairness, accessibility, and efficiency?

Ensuring that the CJS is accessible and operates fairly and efficiently are key expected outcomes of the CJS. National public opinion data suggest that there is some public confidence that the youth CJS is fair and accessible, with certain groups reporting lower confidence than others (e.g., younger people, women, Indigenous people, Black people).Footnote 88 Additionally, data from the General Social Survey show the majority of Canadians, of all ages, reported having a great deal or some confidence in the police and the criminal court system.Footnote 89 However, when looking at the prison system, many youth (15 to 17 years) and adults both appeared to be unaware of its performance in helping prisoners become law-abiding citizens. This overall lack of confidence or uncertainty in the prison system may be partially explained by the low levels of awareness of the role of corrections reported by Canadians.Footnote 90 More generally, a previous study has shown a correlation between public confidence in the CJS and awareness levels.Footnote 91 Canadians also reported a lack of awareness in the YCJA, the legislation governing the youth CJS.Footnote 92 Indigenous and Black people were both more likely to report being aware of the YCJA than White people.Footnote 93 This may be indicative of their increased likelihood of contact with the CJS as a result of systemic discrimination and racism, which perpetuate negative outcomes for these groups.

Data also suggest possible issues with respect to the efficient operations of the youth and adult justice systems, as criminal court cases are taking longer to complete. In fact, case completion time for youth court cases started surpassing the case completion time for adult criminal court cases in 2017/2018.Footnote 94 Though cases involving administration of justice offences (AOJOs) as the most serious offence in the case have previously been documented as a contributor to CJS delays,Footnote 95 these represent a lesser percentage of cases in youth courts than in adult criminal courts.Footnote 96 The causes for criminal justice delays are complex;Footnote 97 these can partly be explained by the increasing complexity of police investigations (particularly crimes involving technology such as online child sexual exploitation and abuse, and cyberbullyingFootnote 98), judicial case flow management, and limited resources in the CJS.Footnote 99 Given the period of time covered in this report, it is important to also consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the operation of the CJS, which temporarily resulted in partial or full halt of court procedures. This was paired with efforts to adapt to new circumstances, such as for example, the rapid implementation of new technologies as well as updated and digitized processes, the increased use of virtual hearings, and enhanced safety measures for in-person appearances.Footnote 100

To improve the overall efficiency of operations and the accessibility of the justice system, a range of supports, services and programs are provided. This includes legal aid support through the number of approved applications, which has generally remained stable over time as a result of broad eligibility criteria, and the Indigenous Courtwork Program, which saw a decrease in the number participants in 2019/2020 alongside the decrease in the rate of police-reported youth crime.Footnote 101

4.3 How is the youth CJS performing with the respect to its use of resolution mechanisms and non-custodial processes?

Ensuring that the CJS promotes and supports diversion to community-based options for resolving incidents, when appropriate, is a key expected outcome of the CJS. This is particularly important within the youth context as they are still maturing and being held in custody can lead to negative effects on their development and life outcomes.

The youth incarceration rate has consistently decreased over the five-year period; a decrease more pronounced (-44%) than that observed in the adult system (-20%).Footnote 102 Data on incarceration rates, however, include not only sentenced individuals, but also those being held in pre-trial detention/remand and any other type of temporary detention. For this reason, it is also important to monitor trends in custodial sentences.Footnote 103 The majority of youth court cases found guilty received a non-custodial sentence during the period covering this report;Footnote 104 a percentage higher than that of corresponding adult cases.Footnote 105 The percentage of youth cases that received a custodial sentence saw a small, but consistent decrease over the years. This trend appears to be continuing after the removal of pandemic-related restrictions in 2021/2022.Footnote 106 Alongside the decrease in the percentage of youth admitted to custody, the percentage of youth admitted to community sentences has increased.Footnote 107

With respect to community-based justice programs, it is important to note that the administration of justice, including the delivery of youth justice programs and services, is a provincial and territorial government responsibility. For this reason, the capacity to produce national-level data on the use of community-based youth justice programs is limited. Despite this limitation, data on the use of restorative justice and Indigenous Justice Programs are available and show ongoing demand for such options for youth. These programs aim to support meaningful engagement and accountability, while also providing an opportunity for healing, reparation, reintegration, and the prevention of future harm. A recent program evaluation found that community-based justice programs operate efficiently and provide cost savings to the justice system. Other examples of important benefits include a reduction in reoffending and overall transformational changes in the lives of victims and offenders (e.g., repairing harm, helping offenders understand the impact of their actions on victims).Footnote 108 However, several capacity issues remain to be addressed such as the lack of resources and support, as well as insufficient awareness of, and access to the programs.Footnote 109

4.4 How does the performance of the CJS differ between female and male youth victims, survivors, accused, and offenders?

Examining the performance of the CJS through a gender-based lens is critical for understanding how gender can shape individuals’ experiences with the system. For example, data show that female youthFootnote 110 are more likely to experience victimization than male youth,Footnote 111 a gap that further increases when looking at violent victimization.Footnote 112 Female youth also report lower satisfaction with personal safety from crime.Footnote 113 Further, female youth report lower confidence in the courts compared with male youth, but statistically similar levels of confidence in the police and prison system.Footnote 114 Looking at youth supervised by correctional services, data show that, similar to adults, girls are incarcerated at a lower rate than boys and that they have been more impacted by the increasing use of community-based sentences when compared with male youth.Footnote 115

From an operational perspective, data show youth court cases involving girls on average take a shorter amount of time to complete (approximately 3 weeks less) than male youth cases.Footnote 116 However, cases involving AOJOs on average take longer (a little over one week) to complete for female youth cases in comparison to male youth cases.Footnote 117 This disparity may be explained by the gendered differences in the types of offences committed; a higher percentage of male youth commit violent offences and these cases often take longer to complete than other offences.Footnote 118

Gender-based analyses can also be applied to the experiences of Indigenous and Black youth within the system: see 4.5 How is the CJS performing in reducing the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the system? and 4.6 How is the CJS performing in reducing the overrepresentation of Black youth in the system?

For more information on the experiences of women and girls with the CJS, see the SOCJS Dashboard’s Women Theme and Youth Theme, as well as the State of the Criminal Justice System Report: A focus on women (2020).

4.5 How is the CJS performing in reducing the overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the system?

Addressing the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the CJS is a key expected outcome of the CJS, as identified in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 30th Call to Action, to monitor, evaluate, and report on the progress made in this area. Despite ongoing efforts to reduce the involvement of Indigenous people in the CJS, data show that Indigenous youth continue to be overrepresented in Canada’s CJS, as victims, survivors, accused and offenders.

The ongoing overrepresentation of Indigenous youth as victims is evidenced through their disproportionate representation among homicide victims. This is despite these data underestimating the actual number of Indigenous victims as they do not account for the disproportionate number of unresolved Indigenous homicide and missing person cases.Footnote 119 Research has also found that overall victimization rates tend to be highest among Indigenous people when compared to non-Indigenous people.Footnote 120 Though this is the case for Indigenous and non-Indigenous adults aged 35 to 54, self-reported data collected in 2019 show that younger Indigenous, aged 15 to 34, report similar rates of violent victimization as non-Indigenous people in the same age group.Footnote 121

Data on the Indigenous identity of people accused of crime are limited. Available data highlight the ongoing overrepresentation of Indigenous youth as accused of homicide.Footnote 122 Further, a recent study providing the first national estimates of Indigenous people in criminal courts in Canada found that in 2015/2016, Indigenous youth and adults were overrepresented among accused, and Indigenous youth experienced disproportionate court outcomes when compared with White youth, including being more likely to receive a custodial sentence.Footnote 123

The overrepresentation of Indigenous peoples in the CJS is most notably observed through correctional data. Despite the data showing overall decreases in the number of Indigenous youth admissions to correctional services, their percentage among all youth admissions, and thus level of overrepresentation, has remained somewhat stable over time. A similar but more pronounced trend can also be observed when looking specifically at Indigenous youth admissions to custody. Further, the level of overrepresentation continues to be more pronounced for Indigenous girls than Indigenous boys (approximately 6 and 5 times their representation in the general population, respectively), a trend again more pronounced among custodial admissions (7 and 5.5 times their representation in the general population, respectively).Footnote 124 Though still of significant concern, the level of overrepresentation of Indigenous people among admissions to correctional services is less pronounced in the youth system than in the adult system.Footnote 125

The SOCJS is a tool that allows for the ongoing monitoring of the state of overrepresentation of Indigenous youth in the system, based on available data. Efforts are currently underway to improve disaggregated data collection,Footnote 126 which will help inform ways to address the systemic discrimination that exists within the system, namely through Canada’s Indigenous Justice Strategy.

4.6 How is the CJS performing in reducing the overrepresentation of Black youth in the system?

Addressing the overrepresentation of Black people in the CJS is a key expected outcome of the CJS. Despite current efforts to reduce the involvement of Black people in the CJS, data show that Black youth continue to be overrepresented in Canada’s CJS as victims, survivors, accused and offenders. Although data on the racialized identity of those involved in the CJS are currently limited, a recent study providing the first national estimates of Black people in criminal courts in Canada found that in 2015/2016, Black youth and adults were overrepresented among accused, and Black youth experienced different and disproportionate court outcomes when compared with White youth, including being more likely to be sentenced to custody.Footnote 127

Available correctional data representing three Canadian jurisdictions, show that the overrepresentation of Black youth among the provincial/territorial correctional population has remained stable between 2019/2020 and 2021/2022 (about 2 times their representation in the Canadian youth population). However, the level of overrepresentation was more pronounced among those admitted to custody than those admitted to community supervision. The overrepresentation was also more pronounced among Black male youth than Black female youth, particularly in custody.Footnote 128

The SOCJS is a tool that allows for the ongoing monitoring and high-level assessment of the state of the overrepresentation of Black youth in the system, based on available data. Efforts are underway to improve disaggregated data collection.Footnote 129 Canada’s Black Justice Strategy is being developed to address anti-Black racism and systemic discrimination, which has contributed to the overrepresentation of Black people within the system.