S-40.1, r. 3 - Regulation respecting programs of activities for offenders

Updated to 12 December 2023

This document has official status.

chapter S-40.1, r. 3

Regulation respecting programs of activities for offenders

Act respecting the Québec correctional system

(chapter S-40.1, s. 193).

1. A reintegration support fund is to establish a program of activities based on

(1)  the specific characteristics of the correctional facility in which the program is established;

(2)  the services, personnel, premises and facilities the fund manages or is authorized to use by the Minister of Public Security or the person designated by the Minister, or that may be available to the fund in the community;

(3)  the skills of the inmates covered by the program;

(4)  the number of persons to whom the program applies, distinguishing between persons held in the facility awaiting trial and persons serving a sentence;

(5)  the nature of the activities, the possibilities of social reintegration they offer, in particular in terms of their educational value, the rate of participation they may achieve and their compatibility with the security in the facility;

(6)  the duration and frequency of the activities in relation to the average stay of the inmates and the facility’s rules of internal management;

(7)  the cost of developing and operating the program; and

(8)  the capacity of the fund to finance the program.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 1.

2. To implement a program of activities in a facility, a fund must

(1)  establish a program of activities and submit it for approval to the Minister before 1 November of each year; the program must contain information on its objectives, the number of persons covered and the nature, duration and frequency of the activities planned;

(2)  establish the annual operating budget and send it to the Minister with the program of activities; the annual operating budget must include information on anticipated costs, profit per activity, capital projects and proposed borrowings, and be sent with the agreements and contracts entered into or proposed with third persons; and

(3)  implement the program of activities on 1 January of each year.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 2.

3. In establishing a program of activities, a fund must give priority to inmates as much for activities involving the production of goods and services as for planning, supervision and management activities.

The use of non-inmates must be warranted on grounds of security, lack of resources preventing fulfillment of contractual commitments, or inmates not having the specific skills needed.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 3.

4. In addition to the sums referred to in the third paragraph of section 75 of the Act respecting the Québec correctional system (chapter S-40.1), the fund administered by a fund may be made up of

(1)  proceeds from the sale of property belonging to the fund;

(2)  sums loaned or given by another fund or by the Fonds central de soutien à la réinsertion sociale; and

(3)  grants made to the fund.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 4.

5. A fund may financially assist inmates by granting them a gift or an interest-free loan to

(1)  assist them where they do not receive any outside financial assistance, have no financial resources and cannot perform remunerated work nor participate in another activity of the program of activities;

(2)  promote participation in an activity of the program of activities, other than remunerated work; or

(3)  support them in their search for employment in the community.

A request for financial assistance must be submitted to the fund by the facility director or a person designated by the facility director.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 5; O.C. 51-2018, s. 1.

6. A member of the board of directors of a fund specially authorized for the purpose or the Minister, or another person designated by the board or the Minister, must deposit as soon as possible the sums collected for the fund or, as the case may be, the central fund, in a bank or a registered institution within the meaning of paragraph b or e of section 1 of the Deposit Institutions and Deposit Protection Act (chapter I-13.2.2).

Every payment from a fund must be made by cheque signed by 2 persons designated by the board of directors, one of whom must be a member of the board. For the central fund, cheques must be signed by 2 persons designated by the Minister.

Every investment of the sums referred to in the first paragraph belonging to a fund, except deposits in a bank or an institution referred to in that paragraph and the purchase of Québec or Canada savings bonds, requires the authorization of the Minister or the person designated by the Minister.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 6; O.C. 51-2018, s. 2.

7. A contract referred to in paragraph 1 of section 87 of the Act must include

(1)  the total or maximum amount;

(2)  the number of hours of work required;

(3)  its term and start and end dates;

(4)  the obligations of third persons, in particular, communication to the fund of the amount of work performed or the number of hours worked by each inmate;

(5)  (paragraph revoked).

O.C. 6-2007, s. 7; O.C. 51-2018, s. 3.

8. Borrowing by a fund exceeding $25,000 or raising the balance of borrowings to more than $25,000 must be authorized by the Minister or the person designated by the Minister.

A fund must ascertain from the Minister or another fund, as the case may be, that it may not obtain a loan from the central fund or that other fund before borrowing from another lender.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 8; O.C. 51-2018, s. 4.

9. The Minister or the person designated by the Minister may, under a program of activities, permit a fund to use the services, personnel, premises and facilities of the facility when they are required for the program, provided that the facility director consents to such use and the cost and duration of use are set out in the agreement for use.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 9.

10. The facility director may not authorize an inmate in a facility to engage in activities without having considered

(1)  the opinion of a health professional or one of the facility’s correctional counsellors, in the case of a person with physical or mental health problems or drug or alcohol abuse problems; or

(2)  the opinion of one of the facility’s correctional counsellors, in the case of a person who may be a danger to himself or herself, to others or to the physical environment, or who is the subject of special protection or disciplinary measures or of a suspension of temporary absence or conditional release.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 10.

11. Inmates performing remunerated work under a program of activities of a fund are remunerated at an hourly rate corresponding to 35% of the minimum wage provided for in section 3 of the Regulation respecting labour standards (chapter N-1.1, r. 3).

A fund may grant a premium to inmates supervising other workers or performing complex tasks.

Non-inmates performing duties under a program of activities may not receive remuneration greater than the remuneration paid by the Government for equivalent employment in the public service.

The fund must take out liability insurance for the persons referred to in the third paragraph.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 11; O.C. 51-2018, s. 5.

12. In the case of liquidation of a fund, 1 or 3 liquidators must be appointed by the board of directors which is deemed to continue to exist for the purpose of the liquidation.

The services of the liquidator or liquidators are free of charge unless their remuneration has been previously determined by the board of directors.

The property of the fund is distributed as follows:

(1)  the debts of the fund and the liquidation costs are paid first;

(2)  property from gifts or legacies is returned, where applicable, to the donor or testator or their legal representatives in accordance with the provisions of the act constituting the gift or legacy; and

(3)  any remaining assets are then distributed to the central fund.

At the end of the liquidation, the liquidator or liquidators must file with the Minister or the person designated by the Minister a liquidation report, the financial statements of the fund and the activities report for the fiscal year ending on the date of closing of the facility.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 12; O.C. 51-2018, s. 6.

13. The Minister or the person designated by the Minister may dispose of the property other than sums making up the assets devolved to the central fund during liquidation by giving or selling the property to the funds of other facilities depending on their respective financial situation and needs in relation to their program of activities.

The Minister or the person designated by the Minister may dispose of the property referred to in the first paragraph as the Minister or the person designated by the Minister sees fit if the property is of no use to other funds.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 13; O.C. 51-2018, s. 7.

14. In addition to the sums referred to in section 104 of the Act, the Fonds central de soutien à la réinsertion sociale is made up of

(1)  the sums transferred to the fund at the time of the liquidation of a fund;

(2)  the proceeds from the sale of property acquired by the central fund or the property transferred to it at the time of the liquidation of a fund; and

(3)  grants made to the central fund.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 14.

15. The percentage used to calculate the amount that a fund must deduct from the remuneration owed to an inmate under the program of activities of a fund, for the purposes of section 91 of the Act, is fixed at 10%.

The percentage is calculated on remuneration after the deductions referred to in section 91 of the Act have been made.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 15.

16. The allowance that the facility director must give to an inmate, according to the second paragraph of section 91 of the Act, is determined at 50% of the amount paid by the fund to the facility director.

With the allowance received, an inmate may purchase items from the canteen for personal use or materials necessary to produce goods and services under the program of activities, or pay the cost of participating in the program.

Any sum owed to a fund by an inmate on the date of his or her release must be repaid out of the inmate’s allowances or, if that is not possible, from sums credited to the inmate’s savings account held in trust by the director.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 16.

17. The limits within which the Minister determines the assessment that a fund must pay annually to the central fund are not less than 5% and not more than 25% of the net operating revenues of the fund, calculated by subtracting from the sum of all its revenues the costs and charges paid to produce the revenues, without taking into account the disbursements made to finance the activities of its program of activities other than remunerated work.

O.C. 6-2007, s. 17; O.C. 51-2018, s. 8.

18. This Regulation replaces the Regulation respecting programs of activities for confined persons (O.C. 1471-88, 88-09-28) and the Community Work Regulation (O.C. 148-86, 86-02-19).

O.C. 6-2007, s. 19.

19. (Omitted).

O.C. 6-2007, s. 19.

REFERENCES

O.C. 6-2007, 2007 G.O. 2, 91A

O.C. 51-2018, 2018 G.O. 2, 258

S.Q. 2018, c. 23, s. 811