Canada
Seen in the press
Read our selection of press reports about this country. This is a short description of prison conditions on a national scale. It gives an account of the preceding year’s events.
Canada : seen in the press / 2023
Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis. Change the language setting to French or Spanish to read other articles.
Canada: seen in the press / 2022
Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.
Canada: seen in the press / 2021
Violence, acts of protest, prison conditions, justice reforms: find out what is new about prisons and justice in this country. Prison Insider monitors the press on a regular basis.
Canada: abuse, discrimination in immigration detention
Canada incarcerates thousands of people, including those with disabilities, on immigration-related grounds every year in often abusive conditions, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today in a joint report ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20. The 100-page report, “I Didn’t Feel Lik…Source — Human rights watch
Canada : bannir les courtes peines de prison pour éviter des suicides
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Canada: why Covid-19 shows it’s time to consider prison abolition
There are five federal prisons for women in Canada, none of which are in Newfoundland. For women from the province facing a federal sentence, this usually means they will serve their time in the Nova Institution for Women (Nova) in Truro, Nova Scotia. Being a province away from their communities me…
Canada: class action alleges prison staff conducting illegal strip searches
Two former federal prison inmates are trying to bring a class-action lawsuit against the federal government to argue strip searches represent a “serious deprivation of liberty.” Under federal law, prison staff can strip search inmates if they have reasonable grounds to suspect an inmate has contrab…Source — CBC
Canada: spiritual needs of vulnerable federal inmates unmet during pandemic: chaplains
OTTAWA – Federal prison chaplains say the spiritual needs of inmates have become an unnecessary casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when offenders are feeling particularly vulnerable and alone. The Correctional Service of Canada is allowing only emergency in-person visits from chaplains to…Source — CTV News
Canada: décès d’un autre prisonnier, les proches des détenus lancent un appel à l’aide
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Canada: suspending prison visits over COVID-19 sparks fears of inmate backlash
In an attempt to control the spread of the novel coronavirus, most visitations with inmates have been suspended indefinitely in Ontario jails and federal prisons across Canada. The Ontario government has suspended all visits with family and friends, while Correctional Service Canada (CSC) has cance…Source — CBC
Canada: une cour ontarienne entendra une contestation judiciaire
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Canada: barring federal inmates access to clean needles in prison is unconstitutional, say activists
Correctional Service of Canada has long tried to keep drugs out of prisons, but recognizes that contraband inevitably finds its way to inmates.Source — National Post
Canada: Ontario prison farms making a comeback
Two federal prison farms in the Kingston, Ont., area are getting up and running again after the former Conservative government shelved the program in 2010.Source — CBC
Canada: new music project allows women to tell their stories from prison
Singing My Way Home pilot project helps female inmates in Miramichi compose their own songs.Source — CBC
Canada: santé mentale en prison, « une fabrique d’itinérance »
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Canada: un premier centre d'injection supervisée dans une prison canadienne
This article is not available in English. This article is available in the following versions: French
Canada: new course trains yoga instructors to teach in Canadian prisons
Hot yoga, prenatal yoga, yoga in the park: Since coming to the West, the increasingly popular practice of yoga has taken a kaleidoscopic number of forms. Now a new training course in Vancouver is helping it flourish in another arena: prisons.Source — The Globe and Mail
Canadian prison ombudsman says end-of-life needs of older prisoners not being met
Older, long-serving inmates are being “warehoused” in Canadian prisons not equipped to handle end-of-life care, Canada’s prison watchdog says.Source — The Globe and the Mail
Canada: prison drug scans for visitors potentially unreliable and keeping families apart, researcher says
Ion scanners cause stress for families of prisoners, research shows.Source — CBC
Canada: au Nunavik, les prisonniers d’un système inadapté
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.Source — Le Devoir
Canada: épiés 24/24, les détenus souffrent d’un manque d’intimité
This article is not available in English. If you wish, you can consult the French version.Source — Le Devoir
Canada: Length of solitary stays increasing in Ontario prisons
Five years after Ontario vowed to curtail its use of solitary confinement, average inmate stays in segregation cells have grown longer, with one prisoner in Ottawa remaining in isolation for at least 835 days, according to newly released provincial data.Source — The Globe and Mail
Canada: drugs in jails, ministry says it doesn't keep track of overdoses and naloxone use
Ontario’s corrections ministry says it does not track the number of opioid overdoses in its jails, even though prisoners have died and staff are routinely treating inmates for overdoses.Source — Ottawa Citizen
Canada : feds aim to replace solitary confinement in prisons with ‘structured intervention units’
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has tabled a new bill in the House of Commons aimed at ridding Canadian prisons of solitary confinement. Bill C-83 suggests designating “a penitentiary or an area in a penitentiary as a structured intervention unit for the confinement of inmates who cannot be ma…Source — Global News