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Prison for Women
Low
Verified
Fresh · 2mo ago
Sources last reviewed on
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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 Prison for Women
Step-by-step guidance using the Canada system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Background
The Prison For Women ("P4W"; French: Prison des femmes), 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 Canadaâs most serious female offenders until its decommissioning following years of criticism and scrutiny over inmate treatment. The prison, designed in Neoclassical style by Henry H. Horsey, later became a federal heritage site. 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.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
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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
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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.
Notable inmates
- Karla Homolka1970 · murder accomplice
Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
40 Sir John A. Macdonald Blvd.
No public contact details available.
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
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Insufficient data
We don't have enough public data on this facility to score it. Have something to add? Send us a correction.
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
26%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- Wikidata (Q7245781)
- 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.
APA
World Prisons. (2026). Prison for Women. Retrieved July 21, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/prison-for-women
Chicago
"Prison for Women." World Prisons. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/prison-for-women.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-prison-for-women,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Prison for Women},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/prison-for-women},
urldate = {2026-07-21}
}