Prisoners in Canada to pay more for room and board

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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Prisoners in Canada will be charged more for room and board, and those who receive incentives will have to deal with less, states Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.

On Wednesday, Toews announced the new set of rules for criminals in Canadian prisons. The idea is to take some burden off the taxpayers. According to Toews, this new rule should save at least $10 million per year.

After December 2012, their charges will be increased. Inmates earning between $52.50 and $69 biweekly will contribute around 30% of their income towards room and board and between $1.58 and $2.08 per day will be charged for accommodation, food and utilities. Moreover, prisoners are now responsible for 85% of canteens and will take over the remaining 15% in 2013.

Toews said: “It’s important to increase individual responsibility with the money that they do have.”
Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard Society of Canada, said she does not find the new set of rules effective in any sense.

“The accountability for wrongdoing is the sentence that’s imposed by the courts and it concerns me that the minister thinks he should be adding to the measure,” she said.

Toews’ announcement was not taken optimistically even by the Opposition parties. The opposition insists these renewed set of rules will only put off prisoners instead of serving the main purpose of rehabilitation.

Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae said: “Eventually, people leave prison. What do you want them to leave with? No skills, no ability, no desire to make a better world for themselves?”