Community Safety and Community-based Corrections

Public Safety Canada works with community-based organizations to support the safe rehabilitation and successful reintegration of federal offenders while helping to ensure victims’ rights are protected and respected, enhancing community safety and well-being. This work also focusses on addressing the overrepresentation of individuals from racialized, marginalized and at-risk communities in the corrections and criminal justice system, including Indigenous Peoples.

Supporting Indigenous community safety

Aboriginal Community Safety Planning Initiative (ACSPI)

Through this initiative, Public Safety Canada supports Indigenous communities in developing Community Safety Plans and implementing community-designed safety projects.

Indigenous Community Corrections Initiative (ICCI)

Through this initiative, Public Safety Canada supports grassroots efforts that offer alternatives to incarceration or help to reintegrate justice-involved Indigenous Peoples.

Protecting and respecting victims' rights

Public Safety Canada's National Office for Victims (NOV) is a central resource working to improve victims' experience with the federal corrections and conditional release system, through the development of policy and information products.

Grants and contributions programs to enhance community safety

Through the Grants and Contributions Program to National Voluntary Organizations the Department supports Canadian not-for-profit national voluntary organizations that provide services in the area of corrections, conditional release or community reintegration.

Through the National Flagging System (NFS) Class Grant Program, Public Safety Canada provides funding to enhance the capacity of participating provinces and territories to identify and track high-risk and dangerous offenders and to facilitate appropriate sentences for these individuals should they re-offend.

Restorative Justice

Public Safety Canada works collaboratively with the Department of Justice to advance restorative justice through programs, resources, legislation and policy. Public Safety Canada has published several research summaries in the area of restorative justice research.

Learn more about…

• The interventions, programs and services for offenders being released back to the community.
• Community safety, policing and engagement, and how you can help keep yourself, your family and neighborhood safe.
• The National Joint Committee of Senior Criminal Justice Officials (NJC) which promotes mutual understanding, information sharing and cooperation among major criminal justice organizations.
• Restorative justice programs across Canada, an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm to communicate about and address their needs in the aftermath of a crime.
• The Victim Services Directory, created by the Policy Centre for Victim Issues of the Department of Justice Canada to help service providers, victims and individuals locate services for victims of crime across Canada.
• Correctional Service of Canada’s Restorative Opportunities Program, which offers post-sentence victim-offender mediation services across Canada.
• Public Safety Canada’s involvement in developing legislation and policies governing corrections and criminal justice.
• Public Safety Canada’s research on corrections, which helps the Department complete its work while making evidence-based decisions.

Date modified:

2026-06-02