OTTAWA, CANADA - Cunning convicts have exploited their own grief and medical problems to pull off 315 escapes from federal prisons in the last six years.
From fleeing a funeral home while on a "compassionate" day pass to shrink-wrapping one's self in a box to be shipped out of prison in a cube van, resourceful inmates have managed to elude captivity despite the Correctional Service of Canada's intensified efforts to curb escapes.

CSC's board of investigation reports for the past two years, obtained through access to information, show at least two inmates fled while getting treated in hospital.

Another two snuck away after being granted compassionate, escorted, temporary absences to attend family funerals.

According to one 2005 report, a prisoner from Pittsburgh Institution successfully slipped custody by requesting private time at a funeral in Toronto.

"Having been granted permission by the chaplain for some private time at (the) casket, he took advantage of the situation and escaped custody from the funeral home," the report reads.

In another case, an inmate at B.C.'s Matsqui Institution bolted under a fence after being flown to Edmonton and fed in restaurants by two CSC escorts on a trip to attend a funeral. But annual figures show federal inmates must be increasingly creative to pull off a successful escape. Numbers have been dropping in recent years, with 82 in 2000 compared to just 23 in 2005.

CSC spokesperson Christa McGregor said more stringent rules on day passes and closer tabs on suspicious behaviour of inmates were imposed after a spike in escapes in 1999-2000. Inmates are also quickly re-classed to higher security as circumstances warrant, she said.

But Steve Sullivan of the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime said CSC should review its policies for eligibility and supervision for inmates who are granted temporary passes to maximize public safety.