6 Conclusion

This report provides a national descriptive overview of available administrative data on VIS, CIS, and Victim Statements across Canada’s justice system. Although these forms of victim participation have been embedded in legislation and practice for many years, national information on their use remains incomplete and uneven across jurisdictions.

The available data show that VIS were recorded in a minority of cases with a finding of guilt, but increased gradually over time in the jurisdictions currently reporting VIS data to the ICCS. Across justice system contexts, statements were most often associated with violent offences. In most cases with a recorded VIS, the victim knew the accused. Provincial and territorial data also show that VIS are tracked in different ways across jurisdictions, while data on VIS in review board proceedings and CIS remain limited. In the federal corrections and conditional release context, the number of Victim Statements remained relatively stable over the past five years, while presentations of Victim Statements at conditional release hearings increased.

The findings highlight important data gaps, including limited information on CIS use, statement presentation, and victim identity characteristics, particularly Indigenous and racialized identity. Continued collaboration among FPT partners to improve data availability, consistency, and quality will be important for building a clearer national picture of participation through VIS, CIS, and Victim Statements. This work will also support future research and ongoing monitoring of victims’ participatory rights under the CVBR.