In the Edmonton Institution for Women (EIFW), there is a graphics shop that employs several women. Again, what otherwise might look like a very good vocational training and job placement opportunity, is in actuality not sufficient either. In fact, women who have worked in the graphic shop and have subsequently attempted to obtain employment in the community, have found that their skills are outdated, that the equipment they were using was considered rather ancient in the business, and they were therefore not considered for job opportunities involving graphic artistry, for which they were led to believe they were trained.

At the Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVI), federally sentenced women in Ontario were promised that they would be able to learn several types of marketable skills, including expertise in archiving, restoring antiques, et cetera. There was supposed to be an arrangement made with the Dune Heritage Village historical site, that is next door to the prison, so that the women could not only gain skills and expertise in the area of restoration and archiving, but they would also be able to access the Heritage Village for work release and other employment opportunities. The reality has been that these opportunities have been entirely non-existent. The only non-traditional (i.e. not cleaning or grounds keeping) work that has been made available to any of the women at GVI, is one job opportunity that was made available for one lifer, who had previous experience and training in construction and labour work. That particular lifer was permitted to work on the work crew that constructed the maximum-security units at the Grand Valley Institution.

At the Etablissement Joliette, there were similarly very laudable plans for the development of vocational training opportunities for women. Prior to the opening of Joliette, it was anticipated that CORCAN would open a computer reclamation worksite at Joliette Institution. Unfortunately, CORCAN determined that more men could benefit from the program, and so the entire project was moved to a men’s prison down the road. The alternative that was established for the women was to fold the box corners that were used to protect the furniture made by men at another neighbouring prison. That “industry” has since been removed and replaced by a sewing industry, whereby the women make men’s underwear.

There has also been a call centre at Joliette Institution, but similarly to the experience that women faced when such an experiment was undertaken at the Prison for Women in Kingston, this work is extremely demoralizing, especially for those women whose selfesteem is already low. In addition, Joliette Institution provides opportunities for women to process and package food items which are distributed to their fellow prisoners. The reality is however, that even in Joliette Institution, where arguably the greatest number of work opportunities exist for women prisoners, none provide them with marketable skills that will allow them to obtain a living wage in order to support themselves and/or their children in the community.

In Nova Institution, aside from the dog-training program, there are very few work or training opportunities for women. Again, while the women who participate in the dog program very much enjoy it, none have obtained employment as a result of this program.