Psychiatry in the Canadian Correctional Service

Abstract

This paper traces the development of psychiatric services for offenders suffering from mental disorders within the Correctional Service of Canada from the 19th century to the present day. The major milestone in the development of these services was the report to the Solicitor General of Canada in 1972 entitled “The General Programme for the Development of Psychiatric Services in Federal Correctional Services in Canada (Chalke Report). The report resulted in the development of the regional psychiatric centres, which remain the cornerstone of psychiatric services within the Canadian federal correctional system. Based on the authors' own experiences working at Corrections Canada, the paper endeavours to explore the psychiatric services now being offered and the difficulties remaining.