Human & Fiscal Costs of Prison

The cost of imprisoning a woman in a federal prison is now estimated by corrections to average $175,000 per year and can be higher than $250,000 per year for women kept in the most isolated and segregated conditions of confinement, such as the segregated maximum security units in the prisons for women. In Canada, the incarceration rate of Aboriginal prisoners and women in prison continues to increase. Aboriginal people are incarcerated at a rate of 1024 per 100,000 prisoners in Canada, almost nine times the incarceration rate of non-Aboriginal people which is 117 per 100, 000 people.1 As a result of the growing number of people awaiting trial in custody, the number of people on remand has outnumbered those serving sentences. In Ontario and Manitoba, the proportion of people on remand was over 60 % in 2005/06.2 For 2003/2004, 103 prisoners died in custody of the criminal justice system.3 While the suicide rate amongst the prisoner population continues to be higher than what is found in the community, more prisoner deaths result from acute or chronic health issues.4 The Costs of Incarceratio