Prisons, Jails and Community Supervision

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Fighting for the rights of the incarcerated.

CCLA fights for the dignity and rights of those behind bars, with a focus on issues and cases that will result in broad, systemic change.

On an average day, over 40,000 people are incarcerated in Canada’s jails and prisons. Many of these people are waiting for their trial or a bail decision and have only been accused of a crime. These people are subject to a deprivation of their liberty and basic rights that most of us will never experience or truly understand. For decades, provincial and federal inquests, inquiries, commissions and investigations into the treatment of Canadian prisoners have made repeated recommendations concerning oversight, accountability, and transparency; few have ever been implemented.

Although various laws and policies exist to protect prisoners and detainees from arbitrary or excessive use of power, systemic violations of human rights continue to occur behind bars. Prisoners who experience rights violations face significant, and at times insurmountable, barriers to sharing their experiences and pursuing legal remedies.

A landmark 2014 Supreme Court win

Khela, a prisoner in a medium-security facility, was transferred to a high-security facility after the government received information that he was involved in the stabbing of an inmate. Khela applied for habeas corpus, which is an ancient legal tool that has protected people against unjustified detention since 1215. The government attempted to argue that habeas corpus should be limited in the context of involuntary prison transfers.

Our lawyers went to court to argue that habeas corpus should remain accessible in all contexts and that the government can only withhold information on why a person is being detained when there are security-related reasons for doing so. Thankfully, the Supreme Court agreed and issued a judgment that affirmed the value of robust habeas corpus review.

Everyone should be granted protection against deprivations of their liberty, and the onus is on the government to justify any detention.

Our Recent Cases and Reports

View our latest work and activity.

Strip Searches in Ontario Prisons

Ontario's law gives provincial prisons carte blanche to strip search any prisoner, at any time, for no reason. We believe the law is unconstitutional.

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Fighting Strip Searches

In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada called strip searches “one of the most extreme exercises of police power” and “inherently humiliating and degrading”. So why has Canada’s federal prison system carried out hundreds of thousands of unnecessary strip searches since then? These are not trivial intrusions. Canadians serving sentences are forced to undergo highly invasive searches in low-risk situations, such as leaving a secure area, or even upon release from prison. These searches can inflict severe psychological trauma, particularly for those with a history of being abused. We’re asking the federal government to end these harmful practices.

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