Financial Assistance for Victims to Attend Parole Board of Canada Hearings

One of the important entitlements of victims of crime in Canada is the opportunity to attend hearings conducted by the Parole Board of Canada. Victims may attend hearings as observers or to present a victim impact statement.

However, attending Parole Board of Canada hearings often involves travel and accommodation away from home.  The Department of Justice’s Victims Fund offers financial assistance to registered victims who wish to attend hearings for the offender who harmed them in order to help victims participate more fully in the criminal justice system.

Financial assistance is also available for a support person to accompany registered victims to Parole Board hearings or to provide child or dependant care to enable victims to attend hearings.

• WHO CAN APPLY?
• WHO IS CONSIDERED A SUPPORT PERSON?
• WHICH PAROLE BOARD OF CANADA HEARINGS ARE ELIGIBLE?
• WHAT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE?
• WHAT EXPENSES ARE NOT COVERED BY THE VICTIMS FUND?
• WHAT IF TWO OR MORE VICTIMS TRAVEL TOGETHER?
• HOW DO I APPLY?
• WHERE DO I SEND MY APPLICATION FORM?
• WHAT IS THE APPROVAL PROCESS?
• WHEN WILL APPROVED FUNDING BE RECEIVED?
• WHAT HAPPENS IF FUNDING IS PROVIDED AND THE HEARING IS POSTPONED OR CANCELLED?
• I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS – WHOM CAN I CONTACT? 

• WHO CAN APPLY?
  
  Victims who wish to attend a Parole Board of Canada hearing may apply to the Department of Justice for travel funding assistance if they have:
  • registered with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) or the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) pursuant to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act;
  • applied to the PBC to attend a hearing of the offender who harmed them, either to observe or to present a victim impact statement; and
  • been approved by the PBC to attend the hearing.
  Victims must attend the hearing to receive financial assistance.
  
  A support person may also apply to the Department of Justice for travel funding assistance if he or she will be:
  • traveling with a registered victim to a PBC hearing;
  • attending a PBC hearing with a registered victim;
  • providing child care in order for a registered victim to attend a PBC hearing; and/or
  • providing dependant care in order for a registered victim to attend a PBC hearing.
    
    
• WHO IS CONSIDERED A SUPPORT PERSON?
  
  An eligible support person must be an adult over the age of 18 years of age who is chosen by the registered victim. Support persons may include relatives, friends or victim service workers.
  
  
• WHICH PAROLE BOARD OF CANADA HEARINGS ARE ELIGIBLE?
  
  Victims may apply for financial assistance to travel to any or all of the PBC hearings scheduled for the offender who harmed them.
  
  Support persons may apply for financial assistance to travel to any or all of the PBC hearings to which the registered victim they are supporting is travelling.
  
  
• WHAT FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS AVAILABLE?
  
  Travel, hotel and meal expenses, in accordance with current Government of Canada Travel Guidelines, will be provided to victims to travel to and from the PBC hearing. In most cases, those receiving financial assistance will travel the day before the hearing and return home the day following the hearing (maximum 3 days expenses and maximum 2 nights hotel accommodation unless travelling from a rural or remote area or great distance).
  
  The Victims Fund can help cover the following expenses:
  • travel costs: gas mileage rates; air, bus or train travel at economy rates (receipts required)
  • hotels, generally to a maximum of two nights (receipts required)
  • meals and incidentals, generally to a maximum of three days (currently approximately $80 per day). “Incidentals” included in the daily rate are intended to cover such expenses as telephone calls and tips (no receipts required)
  • costs of transportation (taxi, shuttle bus, ferry, other), if necessary, between airport, hotel and place of hearing (receipts required)
  • airport surcharges (receipts required)
  • costs for child care or dependant care to a maximum of three days (receipts required)
    
    
• WHAT EXPENSES ARE NOT COVERED BY THE VICTIMS FUND ?
  
  The Victims Fund does not cover:
  • lost wages
  • any other expenses not related to travel or accommodation
  
  
  
• WHAT IF TWO OR MORE VICTIMS TRAVEL TOGETHER?
  
  A separate application is required for each victim who seeks funding.
  
  Where two of more victims travel together, each should apply for and claim his or her own expenses, and just one should claim the shared expenses, such as transportation (gas mileage) and accommodations. The application form must clearly identify which expenses cover both the applicant and other victims. The other victims would apply for and claim their own meals and incidentals and their own transportation if not shared (individual air, bus or train fare).
  
  
• HOW DO I APPLY?
  
  
  • Step 1: Apply to Attend the PBC Hearing
    
    Victims:
    Victims who wish to attend a hearing, whether to observe or to make a victim impact statement, must submit a written request to the office of the PBC in the region where the hearing will take place. Application forms, a list of regional offices and other information about the parole process are available on the PBC Web site at: http://pbc-clcc.gc.ca/.
    
    Victims should apply to the PBC as soon as possible after receiving notice from CSC/PBC of potential hearing dates. A security screening must be conducted, as it is on all visitors before they are allowed into a penitentiary. The screening may take a number of months to process, so victims are encouraged to apply early.
    
    Support persons:
    Support persons who wish to attend a PBC hearing with a registered victim must submit a written request to the office of the PBC in the region where the hearing will take place, once the victim has received notice from CSC/PBC of potential hearing dates. A security screening must be conducted, as it is on all visitors before they are allowed into a penitentiary.
    
    If the support person is accompanying the victim to the hearing, but does not intend to attend the hearing, then a security screening is not required. Please note, however, that if the support person should need to enter the penitentiary, the security screening would be required.
    
    
  • Step 2: Apply to the Department of Justice for Financial Assistance to Attend the Hearing
    
    Victims:
    It is important to start the funding application process as far in advance of the scheduled hearing date as possible so that financial assistance will be available when required. Applications may be submitted based on the most accurate information available; the information can be updated and finalized when the date and time of the hearing, as well as proposed travel arrangements and costs, are confirmed.
    
    Victims who have applied to or been approved by the PBC to attend a hearing and who seek financial assistance to travel to it, should apply to the Department of Justice for funding at least 30 days before the scheduled date of the hearing. To apply for financial assistance, please complete the following Application Form.  Please submit the form with as much information as possible and provide additional necessary information as soon as it is available. Application Form (PDF Version, 72 KB, PDF Help)
    
    Where an application for funding is received less than 30 days before the scheduled hearing date, advance funding will likely not be possible. If the application is approved, eligible expenses will be reimbursed after the hearing when the Victims Fund Manager receives an expense claim with receipts. Confirmation by letter outlining the expenses to be covered will be sent to the applicant.
    
    Where an application for funding is received after the hearing date, no retroactive financial assistance will be available unless the hearing has proceeded on short notice, or if the applicant who attended can show that he or she was not aware of the Victims Fund.
    
    Support Persons:
    A separate application is required for a support person, indicating the name of the registered victim that he or she will be supporting.
    
    As with the victim, it is important to start the support person’s funding application process as far in advance of the scheduled hearing date as possible so financial assistance will be available when required. Ideally, the application for funding for the support person would accompany the application from the victim.
    
    
• WHERE DO I SEND MY APPLICATION FORM?
  
  Completed Application Forms should be sent:
  
  By Email to: victimsfundmanager@justice.gc.ca
  
  or
  
  By mail to:
  Victims Fund Manager
  Programs Branch
  Department of Justice
  284 Wellington Street, 6th Floor
  Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8
  
  or
  
  By fax to: 613-941-2269
  
  or
  
  You can complete and submit the following version of the form electronically: Submit the form electronically
  
  
• WHAT IS THE APPROVAL PROCESS?
  
  Applications are reviewed for completeness and eligibility for funding. Decisions on the eligibility of an applicant and the amount of funding he or she may receive are made as soon as possible after receipt of a properly completed application. Applicants are advised by letter of the decision, including confirmation of the expenses that will be covered.
  
  Applications should be submitted as far in advance as possible before the proposed hearing date so that funds are available when required.  A letter confirming eligible expenses will be provided as soon as possible.
  
  
• WHEN WILL APPROVED FUNDING BE RECEIVED?
  
  Where applications have been submitted at least 30 days before the hearing, every effort will be made to provide the decision letter, as well as some funding to approved applicants, before the hearing date. Payment will generally be made in two instalments. The first instalment will represent about 70% of anticipated travel and hotel expenses, and will be issued before the hearing, where possible. The second instalment will be paid after the hearing when the Victims Fund Manager has received the applicant’s expense claim, supported by receipts, for actual expenses incurred.
  
  Where an application is received less than 30 days before the scheduled hearing date, and is approved, eligible expenses will be reimbursed after the hearing once the Victims Fund Manager has received an expense claim with receipts.
  
  Expense claims with receipts should be submitted to the Victims Fund Manager within 30 days of having attended the PBC hearing.

• WHAT HAPPENS IF FUNDING IS PROVIDED AND THE HEARING IS POSTPONED OR CANCELLED?
  
  If the hearing does not proceed as scheduled and is not rescheduled within three months, those who have received financial assistance must return to the Victims Fund Manager all funds advanced, including any unused tickets that have been purchased.
  
  Where funding recipients have travelled to a scheduled hearing that does not proceed and have incurred expenses as a result, they can still claim eligible expenses. If the funds advanced exceed what has been spent, the difference must be returned to the Victims Fund Manager.
  
  All subsequent applications for financial assistance must provide details of travel funding assistance previously received.
  

• I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS – WHOM CAN I CONTACT? 
  
  Victims Fund Manager
  Programs Branch
  Department of Justice
  284 Wellington Street, 6th Floor
  Ottawa, Ontario
  K1A 0H8
  
  Telephone: 1-866-544-1007 (toll-free number)
  Fax: (613) 941-2269
  E-mail: victimsfundmanager@justice.gc.ca