Civil Society Organizations Decry Neglect of Poor Prison Conditions, Impacts on Public Safety

OTTAWA, Ontario, Nov. 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- National civil society organizations that focus on prisons are sounding the alarm over worsening conditions in federal penitentiaries. They warn that government inaction and failure to invest in evidence-based practices and reintegrative efforts undermines public safety.

Despite repeated calls to address significant issues in Canadian penitentiaries, this government is doubling down on punitive “tough on crime” rhetoric—an approach that has notoriously failed in the United States to reduce crime or improve community safety.

The early resignation of Canada’s Correctional Investigator, Dr. Ivan Zinger, highlights the federal government’s unwillingness to act. Dr. Zinger cited persistent inaction on his office’s recommendations, and a lack of political will to address systemic issues as key reasons for his early departure as the official watchdog of federal incarceration in Canada.

“The public is concerned about repeat crime yet increasing violence in prisons coupled with inadequate access to rehabilitative programs and supervised and supported reintegration are fuelling risk to our communities,” said Catherine Latimer, Executive Director, John Howard Society of Canada. “The warehousing and abdication of correctional principles need to change now.”

At a time when Canadians are increasingly concerned for public safety, conditions inside federal penitentiaries are deteriorating, and the recently passed Budget 2025 fails to meet the moment. We see only cuts to Canadian prisons, and no investment in the community-based public safety serving organizations who provide critical supports for people in prison, and upon release.

“Overcrowding and harsh prison environments are not just a human rights crisis—which should concern us all – they are a critical public safety issue. Unsafe institutions make us all less safe,” said Emilie Coyle, Co-Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, “and we must also urgently address the lack of stable housing, mental health care, and employment supports for people when they leave prison. True public safety depends on creating conditions where people can build or rebuild their lives with dignity.”

Canada’s federal prison system is also extraordinarily expensive. It costs approximately $125,000 per year to incarcerate a person in a men’s penitentiary, and over $215,000 per year to incarcerate someone in a penitentiary designated for women at minimum. In contrast, community-delivered programs operate at a fraction of this cost—often delivering better outcomes in terms of reduced recidivism and improved public safety for around $15,000 per person annually.

The economic consequences of Canada’s approach to incarceration extend beyond prison walls. Formerly incarcerated people face persistent barriers to housing and employment-essentials for anyone to join a productive workforce. These barriers are detrimental for the 1 in 8 people in Canada living with criminal records, people who have completed their sentences and are working desperately to move forward with their lives. If Canada is serious about economic growth, it must address the ways we treat incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people and prevent them from becoming contributing members of our economy and communities.

Budget 2025 is silent when it comes to reducing the alarming number of Indigenous people behind bars in Canada. After years of national attention, Indigenous people continue to represent 50% of people in prisons designated for women and over 30% of federally sentenced men. This is unacceptable.

Budget 2025 also makes no investment in the Federal Framework to Reduce Recidivism (FFRR). The FFRR, first introduced by Conservative MP Richard Bragdon and subsequently supported unanimously by all parties, maps out that public safety is delivered through access to essential services: healthcare, education, employment opportunities, and positive social connections—both in prison, and when people are released. Our prison system fails categorically here, creating unnecessary, costly, and lasting damage for individuals, families, institutions and Canadian communities.

We are setting people up to fail: Canada cannot punish its way to public safety. “The Canadian government plays a significant and multifaceted role in safeguarding public safety and should not lose sight of the need for coordinated, evidence-based initiatives and strong community partnerships to support the successful integration of people exiting prison,” says Anita Desai, Executive Director of St. Leonard’s Society of Canada. “These elements are essential to a constructive and forward-looking government response to the public safety challenges created by the criminal justice system.”

“As Canada’s former Correctional Investigator, I can say unequivocally: there is nothing in Dr. Zinger’s report that hasn’t been warned about for years. Chronic failures in mental-health care, unsafe conditions of confinement, and persistent barriers to rehabilitation are all long-standing, well-documented issues within the Correctional Service. It is past time for the federal government to break with the status quo and mandate real, measurable reform,” said Howard Sapers, Executive Director of the CCLA.

We need to be having bigger conversations as a country that reflect the values Canadians have long cared about— such as fairness and second chances. We must all question the implications of embracing “tough on crime” practices, which Canadians have never previously accepted. “Legislation that continues to increase the prison population, while recommendations to ensure the human dignity and rehabilitation of every person housed in a prison are ignored, is a moral and policy failure,” added Shakir Rahim, Director of the Criminal Justice Program for the CCLA.

Media Contacts:

Catherine Latimer, John Howard Society of Canada clatimer@johnhoward.ca

Emilie Coyle, Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies
ecoyle@caefs.ca

Canadian Civil Liberties Association, media@ccla.org

Anita Desai, St. Leonard’s Society of Canada anita@stleonards.ca

Signatory Organizations

Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies

John Howard Society of Canada

Mennonite Central Committee Canada

St. Leonard’s Society of Canada

Centre for Community-Engaged Justices

Canadian Friends Service Committee

Canadian Civil Liberties Association

Circles of Support and Accountability

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