In 2002-2003, the Correctional Investigator's Office (CIO) responded to 6,988 inmate inquiries or complaints and conducted 3,257 investigations. The staff performed 2,451 interviews with offenders during 373 person/days of visits to correctional institutions. In 2002-2003 there were 120 incidents that resulted in serious injury or death to inmates. In complying with relevant legislation, the CIO reviewed all Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) reports of investigations into these incidents referred to the CIO. The CIO also received information on 1,127 incidents that involved the use of force against inmates. A CIO innovation for this year has been the identification of four "areas of focus" as indicators of institutional performance on issues that significantly affect inmates. The CIO has acquired and reviewed institutional data on these issues. The areas of focus are programming/conditional release/case preparation; administrative segregation; security classification/transfers; and procedural fairness/redress/grievances. Seventeen major outstanding issues are addressed in this report. For each issue, the report presents an overview of the significance of the issue for offenders from a legal and policy perspective; the status of the issue at the beginning of the reporting year, along with the position of the CIO and the CSC on the issue; and the results of CIO's current discussions with CSC, including any plans adopted to deal with the issue. In addition to providing relevant statistical data on CIO's work in 2002-2003, this report presents responses from the CSC on CIO recommendations in each of the 17 areas addressed.