Prisonlabourunder scrutiny as inmates producemilkforpublic consumption

Inmates at Joyceville Institution, a minimum-security prison outside Kingston, Ont., are producing milk that enters Canada’s commercial supply chain. It’s part of the national prison labour program critics say has drifted far from its rehabilitative goals. CORCAN, an agency within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), employs federal inmates across the country in agriculture, manufacturing and services. Inmates produce office furniture, textiles, food and other goods for government departments and in some cases for public consumption. “Very few actually gain skills that are transferable,” said Ivan Zinger, the Correctional Investigator of Canada, the federal government’s prison watchdog. “In my view, it even amounts to a human rights violation.” For the first time in recent history, milk produced at a federal prison is being mixed into the commercial pool of dairy products sold to the public, said Calvin Neufeld, founder of Evolve Our Prison Farms, a prison rights and animal welfare advocacy organization. “Anybody who’s drinking milk in this part of Canada is drinking milk from a prison,” Neufeld said referring to Ontario. Calvin Neufeld is the head of Evolve our Prisons. Photo: Brittany Guyot/APTN. Neufeld said there is no labelling to identify prison-produced dairy, calling the lack of transparency troubling. He said it’s important for public to be able to make informed decisions about what products they purchase and consume, further stating that some may see the lack of labour protections of prison workers as a human rights violation. When asked how the CSC ensures transparency when prison made products like dairy enter public supply chains, no answer was provided to APTN Investigates. “If the public knew their milk came from a prison, I think it would leave a sour taste,” he said. Under current federal policy, inmates are not legally recognized as employees and are excluded from workplace protections and labour laws. Jeff Ewert, a former federal inmate and the current president of the Canadian Prisoners’ Labour Confederation, is advocating for the rights of prisoners to unionize and receive fair wages. He says that while he was incarcerated, his correctional plan stipulated that he engage in employment services provided by CORCAN. A correctional plan outlines how an offender’s risks and needs will be managed while in custody. Each plan is individualized and designed to support their reintegration into society upon release. APTN asked the CSC how many offenders are required to work in prison as part of their correctional plan but no answer was provided. According to the CSC website, $97.1 million was generated through inmate labour in the 2024-2025 fiscal year. “You’ll do 10 years in prison and get out and you have nothing,” Ewert said. “You’d be starting from scratch, and that’s something the public should be concerned about.” Jeff Ewert is a former inmate who is advocating for prisoner worker rights. Photo: Brittany Guyot/APTN. Ewert said it’s crucial for inmates to have a safety net when they’re released, warning that without support, many will return to crime. Federal inmates earn between $5.25 and $6.90 a day, wages that have not changed in more than four decades. Ewert spent more than four decades in prison and said he wants to ensure that future inmates have access to labour protections and skills that will help them after release. The CSC has long defended its prison work programs as tools for rehabilitation and reintegration. “We can register offenders as apprentices under the Dairy Herdsperson Program with the Ministry of Skills and Trades,” said Detlef Fischer, who oversees the farm program at Joyceville. “We find a lot of the guys just have a great sense of pride and purpose to be part of the operation.” But CSC does not track post-release employment outcomes for program participants, Fischer confirmed. “When the offenders are released and past their warrant dates, we don’t have a right to really track that,” he said. Indigenous people make up less than five per cent of Canada’s population but more than 30 per cent of its prison population. At the Joyceville Institution, Isaiah, a Potawatomi inmate working on the prison farm, described the work as personally meaningful. “It connects me with the Creator,” he said, with CSC staff a few feet away. “You get a lot of time to yourself as you’re working around here.” Advocates say the overrepresentation of Indigenous inmates in programs involving agricultural or manual labour raises questions about how the system reflects Canada’s colonial past. When asked how much money Indigenous inmates generate for the CSC, no response was provided. Zinger said the pay scale for prison work has not been adjusted since 1981, despite the rising cost of living. He called the policy “out of step” with modern correctional practices and human rights standards. “The fact that we require prisoners to continue to function with these kinds of inappropriate inmate pay is a real problem,” Zinger said. Ivan Zinger says if CSC was forced to hire outside work to run the farms, it would cost millions of dollars. Photo: Brittany Guyot/APTN. CORCAN operates within Correctional Service Canada’s $3.2-billion annual budget. Its prison industries supply goods and services to other federal agencies, including the RCMP, Department of National Defence and Canada Revenue Agency. Critics argue that while the system generates economic value, it does little to prepare inmates for employment after release. For Ewert, the real impact of incarceration is not just the time spent inside but what lingers after release. He said his push for prison labour unionization is about dignity and recognition. “We can’t earn a livelihood,” Ewert said. “We’re excluded as employees under the law, so we don’t even get to make the case for our rights.” From office furniture to government uniforms and now the milk on Canadians’ breakfast tables, prison labour continues to feed a system hidden in plain sight. Neufeld said the program raises uncomfortable questions about how the CSC benefits from low-paid inmate labour. “People do come out of prisons,” he said. “They will be your neighbours, your family, your friends. The quality of people coming out matters.” Zinger said that if rehabilitation is the goal, transparency and fair compensation must follow. “If tomorrow prisoners stopped doing the work they do, CSC would have to hire from outside,” he said. “It would cost hundreds of millions to replace that labour.” Continue Reading