An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (parole review)

Bill C-243 changes how parole reviews work for people serving sentences for first-degree or second-degree murder. Under the current system, once the Parole Board turns down a request for day parole or full parole (or cancels or ends someone's parole), that offender can apply again for another review. This bill removes that option for murder offenders specifically.

Instead, once the Board decides not to grant day parole or full parole to a murder offender, or cancels or ends their parole, that offender can no longer submit a new application on their own initiative. Any future review of their case would only happen automatically, at the times already set out in the law, rather than being triggered by the offender applying again.

This change applies separately to day parole and to full parole, so the same rule is added in two places in the Act. It does not change the actual waiting periods or eligibility rules in the law; it only removes the ability of these offenders to request an earlier review by application after a denial, cancellation, or termination.

This bill amends the Corrections and Conditional Release Act to remove the option for offenders serving sentences for first or second degree murder to apply for day or full parole after the Parole Board has denied, cancelled, or terminated their parole, leaving only the statutory time-based review schedule in place.

• Who is affected — offenders serving sentences for first degree murder or second degree murder, as defined in section 231 of the Criminal Code.
• What changes — once the Parole Board of Canada decides not to grant day parole or full parole, or cancels or terminates an offender's parole, that offender can no longer submit a further application for the same type of parole.
• What remains — review of the offender's case still occurs, but only according to the time frames already set out in the Act, not upon the offender's request.
• Discretion held by the Board — the Parole Board retains its existing authority to grant, deny, cancel, or terminate parole; the bill does not alter how that decision is made, only what happens afterward regarding applications.
• No new body or reporting mechanism — the bill creates no new office, regulation-making power, or reporting requirement; it operates directly as a statutory bar on applications once triggered.