Prison statistics on the flow and the population counts are two distinct kinds of figures, but are connected in terms of duration of the prison stay or of the sentence. Each of the current alternatives to incarceration, taken individually, usually have little impact on the prison count. One of the decisions that has had the most dramatic effect on Canadian prison populations has been the abolition of the death penalty in 1976. The impact of these legislative changes is estimated to be on the order of 888 added years of incarceration, signifying approximately the population of two maximum-security institutions and about 9 percent of present operational capacity. The author stresses the importance of penal reforms and points out that community measures should not be implemented on the basis of economic reasons, but rather carried out in the name of justice, humanity, and moderation in the penal law. 15 notes and 26 references