The Department of Justice, with the support of the provinces and territories, has conducted a "One-Day Snapshot of Aboriginal Youth in Custody Across Canada". In response, the Department has developed a Cities Project for Aboriginal Youth (see backgrounder, attached).

In its most recent Speech from the Throne, the Government of Canada made a further commitment to support Aboriginal communities, building on its previous mandate to take the measures needed to significantly reduce the number of Aboriginal people entering the criminal justice system so that within a generation, it is not higher than the Canadian average.

To help facilitate this goal, the Youth Justice Policy Team requested that the Research and Statistics Division collect information to help direct financial and other resources to reduce the number of Aboriginal youth in custody and to support their reintegration into the community.

On May 10, 2000, the Research and Statistics Division coordinated a One-Day Snapshot of Aboriginal Youth in Custody Across Canada. The goal of the Snapshot was to determine the following:

• where Aboriginal youth lived prior to being charged or committing their offence;
• where they committed or allegedly committed their offence;
• where they plan to relocate upon release from custody;
• the number, age, gender and Aboriginal origin (e.g. First Nations, Inuit, Métis) of youth in custody on Snapshot day, and the nature of their charges or convictions.

In terms of absolute numbers, the Snapshot reveals that there is a significant Western urban problem of Aboriginal youth in custody.

A total of 1136 Aboriginal youth (932 male, 204 female) between the ages of 12 and 18 or older were found to be in custody across Canada. The data indicates that the typical Aboriginal youth in custody on Snapshot day was a 16/17-year-old male guilty of a property-related offence. Most came into conflict with the justice system in urban areas, and most had lived in a city for the previous two years, had been charged or committed their offence in a city, and planned to live in a city upon release from custody.

We are pleased to be able to distribute the Snapshot report at the launch of the Aboriginal Youth Cities Project on January 17, 2003 at The Circle of Life Thunderbird House in Winnipeg.

An executive summary and PDF version of the full Snapshot report are available at: http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/ps/yj/whatsnew.html

January 2003