The percentage of inmates over the age of 50 in federal penitentiaries is growing at an alarming rate and Correctional Service of Canada is struggling to keep up with the healthcare and mobility needs for aging offenders.

Known as the “grey wave”, every year older offenders are making up a larger share of the incarcerated population according to Offender Profile data from Correctional Service Canada. The percentage of inmates over the age of 50 has nearly doubled since the early 2000s from 13 per cent to 25 per cent today, according to statistics from the CSC watchdog.

Michel Gagnon, executive director for Maison Crossroads — a men’s halfway house in Montreal that provides services targeted for older offenders, says the explanation for this phenomenon can be partially explained by the abolishment of the death penalty in 1976.

“People who had committed a crime or murder before the 70s would usually be sent to prison for 10 to 12 years.” After the death penalty ended that changed. “Suddenly a life sentence could go from 15 to 25 years in jail,” Gagnon said.

A report by David Hooey, director of policy and research with the CSC watchdog gives a few reasons for the increase. Longer sentences have resulted in a “stacking effect” of long-term offenders who are aging behind bars. One out of four inmates in federal penitentiaries are serving indeterminate or life sentences which carry on average a 15 or 25-year punishment.

“What we know about these (older) offenders is they are more likely to be a vulnerable population. More likely to be: exploited by other inmates, bullied, forced to hand over their food or medication; they have serious chronic health conditions,” Ivan Zinger said, executive director and general counsel for the Correctional Service Investigator.

“The system is not very good in terms of providing routine and regime that are responsive to their life status.” Zinger adds that CSC has a lot of work to do in order to improve the infrastructure and programming for aging offenders.

In the Correctional Service Investigator’s annual report for 2015-2016 the top two complaints from offenders were healthcare related and conditions of confinement.

“Suddenly we are asking personnel in the prison to have some sort of geriatric expertise,” Gagnon said.

60-year-old Karol Frimmel Jr., a recent parolee, recalled assisting elderly inmates with showering and dressing while he was in prison in Quebec.

Gagnon is hoping to work with Corrections Services Canada towards an intervention model that would allow for a faster release of inmates who are suffering from health issues that are aggravated by imprisonment, and no longer pose a threat to the community.

Terminally ill and other inmates suffering from poor health have only two real mechanisms for seeking release: either they apply for a parole by exception (based on certain criteria) or a Royal Prerogative of Mercy. Neither has proven to be effective for releasing inmates requiring palliative care.

In the Correctional Investigator’s annual report for 2014-2015 none of the 28 requests for the Royal Prerogative of Mercy were granted. Zinger examined a sample of 94 in-custody deaths and found nearly 60 per cent of the inmates had been receiving palliative care inside CSC facilities. Of those cases, there were only four instances where parole by exception was granted between 2011 and 2014.

Source: 2015-2016 Correctional Investigator’s Annual Report

“There are no issues around risk when people are in palliative care under last breath and I think there is a significant case to be made in terms of human dignity,” Zinger said.

“It serves very little purpose to have someone in prison if there is no risk, instead of in the community, hopefully surrounded with family and some sort of support.”