Visitation & Visiting an Inmate

Visiting your loved one in a federal institution in Canada.

Visiting a loved one in prison helps maintain emotional connection, reduces isolation, and strengthens family bonds. It can also support rehabilitation, lower the risk of reoffending, and offer a path toward healing and reintegration.

There IS NOT a physical barrier dividing you. Visitors and their loved ones can hug, shake hands, kiss, etc. at the beginning and end visitation. You can also talk and interact relatively freely.
Open visits commonly occur in a shared room with tables and chairs and others present.
There IS a physical barrier separating you and there is no physical contact between you and your loved one.
These visits are also more tightly supervised than open visits.
Available when in-person visits are not possible, such as if you live far away, are unable to travel, etc.
Available to immediate family and/or individuals with whom the inmate has a close personal relationship, including a common law relationship, children, parents and siblings.
These visits can take place in a self-contained unit inside the property, for up to 72 hours.