HALIFAX - Convicted spy Jeffrey Delisle has already been allowed to take escorted leaves from prison, according to a parole board ruling that offers more details about why he sold secrets to the Russians.

A Parole Board of Canada ruling this week granted day parole at a halfway house to the former junior officer, possibly as early as next month.

But it also said that Delisle has been a "model inmate" since being sentenced in 2013 to 20 years in prison, and that he had previously been granted 24 escorted absences to attend church.

He had also been granted temporary leaves to renew his driver's licence and open a bank account.

The parole board report, released in written form Thursday, notes police are "not supportive" of Delisle's release.

Delisle, who is in his mid-40s, started selling Western military secrets to Russia in 2007. He was caught four years later when the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation tipped off the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.