Prisons and Reformatories Act

Marginal note:Remission

• 6 (1) Subject to subsection (7.2), every prisoner serving a sentence, other than a sentence on conviction for criminal or civil contempt of court where the sentence includes a requirement that the prisoner return to that court, shall be credited with 15 days of remission of the sentence in respect of each month and with a number of days calculated on a pro rata basis in respect of each incomplete month during which the prisoner has earned that remission by obeying prison rules and conditions governing temporary absence and by actively participating in programs, other than full parole, designed to promote prisoners’ rehabilitation and reintegration as determined in accordance with any regulations made by the lieutenant governor of the province in which the prisoner is imprisoned.

• Marginal note:Computing remission credits

  (2) The first credit of earned remission pursuant to subsection (1) shall be made not later than the end of the month next following the month the prisoner is received into a prison and thereafter a credit of earned remission shall be made at intervals of not more than three months.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (3) Where a prisoner was received into a prison before July 1, 1978, the date of the first credit of earned remission referred to in subsection (2) is August 31, 1978 and the subsequent intervals run from that date.

• Marginal note:Forfeiture

  (4) Every prisoner who, having been credited with earned remission, commits any breach of the prison rules is, at the discretion of the person who determines that the breach has been committed, liable to forfeit, in whole or in part, the earned remission that stands to the credit of the prisoner and that accrued to the prisoner after July 1, 1978.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (4.1) Where the parole of a prisoner who has been credited with remission is revoked under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the prisoner shall forfeit that remission.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (4.2) A prisoner whose parole has been terminated under the Corrections and Conditional Release Act is not liable to forfeit any remission with which the prisoner was credited pursuant to this Act.

• Marginal note:Effect of remission

  (5) Where remission is credited against a sentence being served by a prisoner, other than a prisoner to whom subsection 127(1) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act applies, the prisoner is entitled to be released from imprisonment before the expiration of the sentence.

• Marginal note:Transfer from penitentiary to prison

  (6) Where a prisoner is transferred from a penitentiary to a prison, otherwise than pursuant to an agreement entered into under paragraph 16(1)(a) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the prisoner is credited with full remission under this section for the portion of the sentence that the offender served in the penitentiary as if that portion of the sentence had been served in a prison.

• Marginal note:Idem

  (7) Where a prisoner is transferred from a penitentiary to a prison pursuant to an agreement entered into under paragraph 16(1)(a) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, the prisoner is entitled to be released, in accordance with section 127 of that Act, on the day on which the prisoner has served the period determined in accordance with that section and a period of imprisonment equal to any remission that the offender fails to earn or forfeits and that is not recredited under this Act.

• Marginal note:Transfer or committal to prison

  (7.1) When a prisoner is transferred from a youth custody facility to a prison as the result of the application of section 743.5 of the Criminal Code, the prisoner is credited with full remission under this section for the portion of the sentence that the offender served in the youth custody facility as if that portion of the sentence had been served in a prison.

• Marginal note:Exceptional date of release

  (7.2) When a prisoner who was sentenced to custody under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act is transferred from a youth custody facility to a prison under section 92 or 93 of that Act, or is committed to imprisonment in a prison under section 89 of that Act, the prisoner is entitled to be released on the date on which the custody portion of his or her youth sentence under paragraph 42(2)(n), (o), (q) or (r) of that Act expires.

• Marginal note:Effect of release

  (7.3) When a prisoner is committed or transferred in accordance with section 89, 92 or 93 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act and, in accordance with subsection (7.2), is entitled to be released,

  • (a) if the sentence was imposed under paragraph 42(2)(n) of that Act, sections 97 to 103 of that Act apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, with respect to the remainder of his or her sentence; and

  • (b) if the sentence was imposed under paragraph 42(2)(o), (q) or (r) of that Act, sections 104 to 109 of that Act apply, with any modifications that the circumstances require, with respect to the remainder of his or her sentence.

• Marginal note:Recrediting by institutional head

  (8) The institutional head may recredit any remission that was forfeited under subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Recrediting by parole board

  (9) The Parole Board of Canada or a provincial parole board may recredit any remission that was forfeited under subsection (4.1).

• Marginal note:Where parole suspended and then revoked

  (10) Where a prisoner is reincarcerated following the suspension of parole and the parole is subsequently revoked, the prisoner shall be credited with remission in respect of the portion of the sentence that was served during the suspension.