What is accelerated parole review (“APR”)?
- Kate Mitchell
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Accelerated parole review (“APR”) is a simplified parole review procedure for federal prisoners. It was repealed several years ago, but prisoners may still be eligible if they were sentenced before March 27, 2011.
Generally, prisoners have an in-person hearing before the Parole Board of Canada to be considered for parole, but APR reviews are done on a file review. An in-person hearing is only conducted if parole is not granted after the file review.
APR allows prisoners to be released on day parole after serving 6 months or 1/6 of their sentence, whichever is longer. APR is reserved for those prisoners who are unlikely to commit a violent offence before the expiry of their sentence. This test is somewhat different than the test that would apply for a typical day and/or full parole hearing.
APR is only available to first time offenders who have committed certain offences. For example, those convicted of murder, terrorism-related offences, Schedule I, and other offences are ineligible for APR. Similarly, those serving life sentences and whose day parole has been revoked are ineligible.
Correctional Service Canada needs to review the case of a prisoner who is eligible for APR, and it is then referred to the Parole Board of Canada. If a prisoner is eligible for APR, then it’ll be noted on their correctional documents.