This report examines the major trends and developments in correctional practice, assesses progress, and reports the findings and recommendations in six well-established areas of systemic inquiry: access to mental and physical health care, prevention of deaths in custody, conditions of confinement, aboriginal corrections, access to programs, and issues affecting federally sentenced women. Findings show that visible minorities, Aboriginal people and women are entering Federal penitentiaries in greater numbers than ever before. Twenty-one percent of the inmate population is of Aboriginal descent and 9 percent of inmates are Black Canadians. Incarceration rates for these two groups far exceed their representation rates in Canadian society at large. In the last five years, the number of federally incarcerated women has increased by almost 40 percent while the number of Aboriginal women has increased by over 80 percent in the last decade; one in five Federal inmates are aged 50 or older; and 36 percent were identified at admission as requiring some form of psychiatric or psychological follow-up while 63 percent of offenders reported using either alcohol or drugs on the day of the offense. Data were collected using investigations, reviews, reports, and observations provided by the Office of the Correctional Investigator. Annexes