Canada · BC · Surrey
British Columbia Penitentiary
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit British Columbia Penitentiary
Step-by-step guidance using the Canada system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Background
The British Columbia Penitentiary (BC Penitentiary, commonly referred to as the BC Pen and the Pen) was a federal maximum security prison located in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. The BC Penitentiary operated for 102 years, from 1878 until it was decommissioned in 1980. It was the first federal penal institution west of Manitoba.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
—
Current population
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Occupancy
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Year opened
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Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 28 May 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
Correctional Service of CanadaPopulation held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
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Region
BC
Security level
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Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Fenbrook InstitutionGravenhurstMediumFederal institution
- Spirit Lake Internment Camp
- Hampton Gaol
- Beaver Creek InstitutionGravenhurstMinimumFederal institution
- York County Gaol
- Nova Scotia Youth FacilityWatervilleYouth institution
Data completeness
34%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap Contributors
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q4969743)
- Wikipedia
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). British Columbia Penitentiary. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/british-columbia-penitentiary
"British Columbia Penitentiary." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/british-columbia-penitentiary.
@misc{worldprisons-british-columbia-penitentia,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {British Columbia Penitentiary},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/british-columbia-penitentiary},
urldate = {2026-10-20}
}