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Correctional Service Canada

Canadian federal agency that administers prisons

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ3480093 ↗
Source-derived summary

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.

Editorial summary

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.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1979, 2009—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1978. For this dossier, Correctional, Service and Canada is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “canadian federal agency that administers prisons” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

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.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Correctional Service Canada”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Correctional Service Canada primary sources, Correctional Service Canada archive and Correctional research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Correctional Service Canada”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

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.