Prison for Women (Kingston, Ontario)

Prison for Women
Demolition of the stone security wall on March 10, 2008
Map
LocationKingston, Ontario, Canada
Coordinates44°13′21″N 76°30′48″W / 44.2225°N 76.5133°W / 44.2225; -76.5133
StatusClosed
Security classMaximum
Opened1934
Closed2000
Managed byCorrectional Service of Canada
Notable prisoners
Karla Homolka

Ann Hansen

Evelyn Dick

The Prison For Women ("P4W"; French: Prison des femmes[1]), located in Kingston, Ontario, was a Correctional Service of Canada prison for women that functioned at a maximum security level from 1934 to 2000. Known for its controversial legacy and significance as Canada's only federal-level penitentiary for women until 2000, the institution housed some of Canada’s most serious female offenders until its decommissioning following years of criticism and scrutiny over inmate treatment[2][3]. The prison, designed in Neoclassical style by Henry H. Horsey, later became a federal heritage site[4]. Throughout its history, P4W faced ongoing controversies, including inmate abuse, racial discrimination, unethical experiments, and a notorious 1994 riot that led to the influential Arbour Report, eventually prompting significant reforms in the Canadian correctional system[5][6]. In its later years, the P4W building has been repurposed for development, though its legacy endures through advocacy groups, such as the P4W Memorial Collective, and the publicly available archive of Tightwire, the P4W's self-produced inmate newspaper[7][8][9].

  1. ^ "Projet de vérification de la dotation mixte 2. Contexte." Correctional Service of Canada. October 8, 1999. Retrieved on August 6, 2016. See English page
  2. ^ "Crime, punishment, and prison for women". www.canada.ca. Correctional Service Canada. 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  3. ^ Doyle-Driedger, Sharon; Chisolm, Patricia (2003-03-17). "Women's Prison Riot Report". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Maclean's Magazine. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  4. ^ "Former Prison for Women". www.pc.gc.ca. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Ling, Justin (2019-08-12). "Canada's prisons are failing". www.nationalmagazine.ca. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  7. ^ Guenther, L. (2021). Memory, Imagination, and Resistance in Canada’s Prison for Women. Space and Culture, 25(2), 255–265. https://doi.org/10.1177/12063312211066549
  8. ^ "Kingston Prison For Women – The Gaucher/Munn Penal Press Collection". penalpress.com. Retrieved 2024-10-26.
  9. ^ Hutchins, Bill (2024-10-22). "'It's a very complicated property': Parts of former Prison for Women being sold for $13M – Kingston News". Kingstonist News - 100% local, independent news in Kingston, ON. Retrieved 2024-10-26.