History of women’s corrections

From 1934 to 1990 the only federal institution for women serving sentences of 2 years or more in Canada was the Prison for Women. Located in Kingston, Ontario, it housed all federally-sentenced women, regardless of security level.

Starting in 1938 with the Archambault Report, there were many requests to close the Prison for Women. In the 1950s, a variety of task forces and Royal Commissions examined the disadvantaged situation of federally-sentenced women. Concerns included:

• the lack of a multi-level security environment
• the distance between many women and their families and home communities

In 1989, the federal government commissioned a task force to review the situation of federally-sentenced women and to chart a new direction. The task force released its report, Creating Choices, in April 1990.

• Creating Choices

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) subsequently opened:

In 1990

• Isabel Macneill House, a minimum-security institution in Kingston, Ontario named after the first woman Superintendent of the Prison for Women

In 1995:

• Nova Institution for Women in Truro, Nova Scotia
• Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge on the Nekaneet First Nation near Maple Creek, Saskatchewan
• Edmonton Institution for Women, in Edmonton, Alberta

In 1997:

• Joliette Institution for Women in Joliette, Quebec, and
• Grand Valley Institution for Women in Kitchener, Ontario

In 2004:

• Fraser Valley Institution, in Abbotsford, British Colombia

Note: Before Fraser Valley Institution (FVI) opened, federally-sentenced women in British Columbia were incarcerated at Burnaby Correctional Centre. FVI opened when CSC's exchange of services agreement with British Colombia ended.

In the year 2000, the Prison for Women, which had been operational for more than 6 decades, was permanently closed.

As one part of CSC's history ended, a new one began. In 2001, the Institutional Mother-Child Program became available in all of CSC's women's prisons and the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge. When certain criteria are met, this program allows children under the age of seven to live with their mothers during incarceration.

• Mother-Child Program

CSC announced in 2007 that Isabel Macneill House was to close, and by 2009 this was realised.

In 2010 , a new model for women’s correctional programming was implemented.

In 2011, CSC signed the first Section 81 agreement. A Section 81 agreement is between CSC and an Indigenous community partner organizations under Section 81 of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA). The first agreement was between CSC and Native Counselling Services of Alberta to allow federally sentenced women to reside at the Buffalo Sage Wellness House. This groundbreaking partnership was the first of its kind for CSC and federally-sentenced women were at the forefront of receiving the benefits.