Female inmates at Tanguay detention centre to be transferred to co-ed jail

Inmates at Quebec's largest women's jail will soon be moving to a new home, one that holds both male and female inmates.

The Tanguay detention centre in Ahuntsic, which holds 80 per cent of Quebec's female detainees, is no longer suitable for daily operations, the province's public security ministry said in a statement.

The jail is 50 years old.

The inmates will be transferred to the Leclerc detention centre in Laval, which will become a mixed-population facility next year.

Corrections officials say the rising number of female inmates is one of the big reasons behind the move.

"Over a five year period, there has been an 11 to 12 per cent increase in detention rates for men. For women, that increase is 24 per cent. It's a trend, and we don't see that trend ending right now," said Marc Lyrette, deputy director of the correctional system.

The Leclerc detention centre will be modified to create separate male and female wings. It will hold 248 women and 84 men after renovations.

The men will never come into contact with the women, Lyrette said.

Many male inmates will be transferred to other provincial detention centres across Quebec.

Aging facility a growing problem

Lyrette said the Tanguay detention centre is also showing its age.

"Maintenance has been weak though the years. That's why we have water-infiltration problems in the basement. It's quite inadequate right now," he said.

This will be the second mixed-gender jail in Quebec. The Quebec City detention centre also has separate wings for men and women.

The future of the Tanguay jail building has not yet been decided, The ministry said it's analyzing how much work it would take to modernize the facility.

The Tanguay jail housed 25 male inmates for a period in 2010, as a temporary solution to overcrowding in Quebec's mens' prisons.

Tanguay jail in numbers

1964: Year of construction
220: Inmate capacity
248: Number of inmates
125: Number of employees
100: Number of peace officers
5: Number of job losses
 

Leclerc jail in numbers

60s: Period of construction
250: Number of spots to be set aside for women
84: Number of spots for men
700: Number of extra spots if necessary
2014: Year that Quebec acquired the building from the federal government