Correctional Service Canada
Canadian federal agency that administers prisons

The Correctional Service Canada (CSC; French: Service correctionnel Canada), also known as Corrections Canada, is the Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration and rehabilitation of convicted criminal offenders sentenced to two years or more. The agency has its headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.
The CSC officially came into being on April 10, 1979, when Queen Elizabeth II signed authorization for the newly commissioned agency and presented it with its armorial bearings.
The Commissioner of the CSC is recommended for appointment by the Prime Minister and approved by an Order in Council. This appointed position reports directly to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness and is accountable to the public via Parliament.
Insignia
In addition to using generic identifiers imposed by the Federal Identity Program, CSC is one of several federal agencies (primarily those involved with law enforcement, security, or having a regulatory function) that have been granted heraldic symbols. The badge (described below) was officially granted by the Canadian Heraldic Authority on October 15, 2009. The torch symbolizes learning, knowledge and hope, while the key represents the eventual unlocking of the door upon completion of a prison sentence. The motto means "to grasp the future". The CSC was granted a flag in 2009; it consists of the heraldic badge on a white field, with the Canadian flag in the canton.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Correctional Service Canada” is canadian federal agency that administers prisons. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Correctional, Service and Canada, not as a finished interpretation.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3480093. VIAF identifies the subject as 159368441. The Library of Congress control number is n93054352. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1979 and 2009.
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This entry incorporates text from “Correctional Service Canada” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.