Search resources

Booklets for People in Federal Prisons

These booklets, produced by Prisoners’ Legal Services in British Columbia, provide information to people in federal institutions on prisoners’ rights and other relevant topics, including:

Conditional release, Correcting your CSC file, Section 810 recognizances
Family: Child support, Family: Divorce
Grievances, Human rights complaints, Disciplinary process
Indigenous spiritual accommodation, Indigenous legal rights
Hepatitis C,

Enabling Justice: Printable Toolkit for Prisoners

This printable plain-language toolkit is intended for people who are incarcerated, with additional content for racialized and/or disabled prisoners. It has information on the legal process, legal options, as well as resources for prisoners and their support systems.

PASAN Cell Count quarterly newsletter

This quarterly newsletter produced by PASAN, an HIV/ AIDS organization supporting prisoners and ex-prisoners, covers various topics of interest to people in federal or provincial institutions across Canada. People in prison or their families can order free copies of the newsletter to be delivered to them directly, or current and past issues can be read online.

Women’s Prison Network quarterly newsletter

This quarterly newsletter produced by the Women’s Prison Network is available for downloading and printing online. It addresses issues relevant to women in prison.

CLEO Steps to Justice: police complaints

This Steps to Justice webpage produced by CLEO links to questions and answers about police complaints, as well as links to supplementary and referral information. The information is also available in French on CLEO’s Justice pas-à-pas website.

Inmate Information Guide for Adult Correctional Facilities

This guide produced by the Ministry of the Solicitor General outlines the policies that apply to people in jail in Ontario. It is a guide that is meant to be provided to people upon entering jail.

Inmate Telephone Communication Policy

This webpage outlines the policy on use of telephones in provincial institutions in Ontario.

Know Your Rights: Indigenous Communities and HIV and HCV in Federal Prisons

This resource produced by the Canadian HIV/ AIDS Legal Network provides information about HIV and HCV in jail or prison from the Indigenous perspective. Issues covered include:

privacy regarding health condition or diagnosis
access to traditional medicines
access to medication after leaving jail or prison
access to harm reduction strategies and treatments

The Prison Disciplinary Process

This clear-language resource, produced by Prisoners’ Legal Service in British Columbia, explains prisoners’ rights if charged with a disciplinary offence in federal prison.
** NOTE: this content relates to federal prisons rather than provincial jails, and was produced in a jurisdiction outside Ontario. It is included in this database for context.

Time Together: A survival guide for families and friends in Canada’s federal prisons

This resource was created for family members and friends of people who are incarcerated in a federal prison. It provides information on the emotional cycle of incarceration, how correctional facilities operate, how to maintain contact with your person inside, and types and procedures for visiting.