The PBO tallies the cost of crime policy

The Parliamentary Budget Officer has released an “expenditure analysis of criminal justice in Canada.”

As a percentage of GDP, total criminal justice system expenditures trended downwards from 2002 to 2006 (1.032% to 0.968%) and since 2006 they have steadily increased to 1.115% in 2012…

Correction expenditures as a percentage of GDP declined for the federal government from 2001-2002 through 2005-2006 (0.131% to 0.114%) and increased through 2011-2012 (0.150%). For the provinces’ and territories’ correction expenditures as a percentage of GDP declined through 2006-2007 (0.116% to 0.093%) and have increased to 2011-2012 (0.109%).

In total, the PBO finds that the federal and provincial governments spent $20.3 billion in 2011-2012, comparable to the budget of National Defence, with the provinces carrying just less than three-fourths of that cost.