Reformatory prisons and juvenile offenders

Until the 1850s, there was no legislative
provision for the separate confinement of
juvenile offenders in Canada. This changed in
1857 when An Aet for the Establishment of Prisons
for Young Offenders was passed. The act provided
for the construction of reformatory prisons in
Upper and Lower Canada.

The federal government followed this direction
in the post-confederation period with the
enactment in 1886 of an Act Respecting Public and
Reformatory'” Prisons. This act contained
provisions for the operation of provincial
correctional facilities, which included
mandatory separation of youthful offenders
from older offenders.

At the provincial level, British Columbia passed
the Reformatory Act in 1890 to establish a
juvenile reformatory for boys. Similar legislation
was not passed for girls, who were not
incarcerated at this time in B.C. In Ontario and
Quebec, however, teformatories existed for
girls.

The reformatory was a lawful place of
confinement for boys 16 years and under,
sentenced by the court for a term of two years
but not exceeding five years. The Reformatory
Alct stated that the purpose of the reformatory
was “...custody and detention, with a view to
their education, industrial training, and moral
reclamation.” The British Columbia legislation,

like the federal legislation, allowed for
confinement of dependent and neglected
juveniles within the reformatory.

Boys between 10 and 13 years of age could be
confined to the reformatory for an undefined
period of not less than two years. Such
detention could result from the complaints of a
parent or guardian, satisfied by a judge or
magistrate, that their child could not be
controlled due to incorrigible or vicious
conduct. Juvenile offenders were confined to
improve their behaviour and skills through
training and education. The legislation also
provided for probation, although it was not
implemented in British Columbia until 1910.
When put into effect, probation did not occur
within the provincial system, but was initiated
by municipal governments.

In practice, the separation of incarcerated
juvenile offenders from adult offenders did not
begin in British Columbia until 1891. This
separation appears to have been administrative,
because juveniles were confined separately
within an institution used by adults, such as the
Victoria Gaol. J. Finlayson was appointed
superintendent and a separate report on the
Juvenile Reformatory at Victoria was submitted
for the year November 1, 1891 to October 31,
1892.

10 The word ‘reformatory’ was applied to institutions established to house juvenile offenders. ‘The variety of terms
(e.g. lockup, penitentiary, reformatory, prison, gaol) reflected the increasing complexity of custodial programs.

Era of Punishment (1871-1949)

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