Open Letter to Commissioner Anne Kelly, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, Public Safety Canada, Canadian Human Rights Commission, and Senator Kim Pate
Call for Accountability and Systemic Change Following the November 2 Incident at Grand Valley Institution for Women
We at Wellness Within are writing to express grave concern regarding the reported break-in and assault of two women incarcerated at Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVIW) on November 2, 2025. This deeply disturbing event represents not only a failure of institutional security but also a profound reflection of the ongoing crisis within Canada’s correctional system—one that continues to endanger the lives, dignity, and well-being of incarcerated people.
According to multiple sources inside the institution, the incarcerated individuals in House 14 where the security breach occurred called for help repeatedly. These emergency calls to staff were ignored or unanswered for an extended period. Police were then called to the institution and documented the injuries, however after law enforcement left, Correctional Service Canada staff reportedly sent the women off to bed and told them to wait to speak with mental health staff the following day. It is clear that women and gender diverse prisoners are not safe inside GVIW.
While this incident demands urgent investigation, it must be recognized as part of a broader systemic pattern. Violence within prisons is not exceptional; it is an outcome of carceral systems built on punishment and control rather than care, healing, and accountability. Incarcerated women and gender diverse individuals—disproportionately Indigenous, Black, poor, and criminalized survivors of violence—experience conditions that exacerbate trauma, heighten vulnerability, and strip individuals of autonomy and safety.
Wellness Within is disturbed by reports from people incarcerated at GVIW that prisoners are suffering grave consequences following the security breach — an extended full lockdown, thrashing of cells and searches resulting in missed yard time and the cancellation of school, programming and professional visits. For too long, responses to institutional failures have focused narrowly on “increased security” or “tightened controls.” Such measures not only fail to prevent future harm but often reproduce the very dynamics that make prisons unsafe. Safety cannot be created through surveillance or confinement; it must be rooted in justice, community support, and human rights.
We therefore call on Correctional Service Canada, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, and Senator Kim Pate to take immediate and transformative action:
Launch a transparent, independent, and trauma-informed investigation into the events of November 2, 2025. This process must include participation from external experts, community-based organizations, and individuals with lived experience of incarceration. The findings and recommendations must be made public.
Ensure survivor-centered supports for the individuals affected, including access to independent, culturally safe medical and mental health care. These supports must be voluntary, non-punitive, and free from Correctional Service Canada oversight.
Undertake a comprehensive review of institutional conditions at Grand Valley Institution for Women, with particular attention to staff training, the use of restrictive measures, and the adequacy of health and safety protocols.
Develop a national decarceration strategy aimed at reducing women’s imprisonment through investments in housing, mental health and substance use supports, community-based alternatives, and income security. Such a strategy must be guided by evidence and by the expertise of those most affected by incarceration.
Commit to long-term justice transformation that prioritizes prevention, care, and accountability over punishment—grounded in restorative and transformative justice principles and led by communities, not correctional institutions.
The events at Grand Valley Institution expose more than a breach in security; they reveal the inherent instability and violence of incarceration itself. Prisons cannot deliver safety, healing, or justice. True safety arises from communities that are supported, resourced, and free from the harms of criminalization.
We urge Correctional Service Canada, the Office of the Correctional Investigator, and Senator Kim Pate to take immediate steps not only to address the harm done but to confront the systemic conditions that make such harm inevitable. Accountability must extend beyond this single event to the very structures that perpetuate cycles of trauma and confinement.
Signed,
Natasha Hines RN, BScN
Chair, Wellness Within