Bowden Institution is a

medium security A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

prison operated by

Correctional Services Canada The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC; french: Service correctionnel du Canada), also known as Correctional Service Canada or Corrections Canada, is the Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration and rehabilitation of ...

. It was built on an ''"open campus"'' model. In an adjoining minimum security annex prisoners live in ordinary houses. The facility is located on Alberta's

Queen Elizabeth II Highway Alberta Provincial Highway No. 2, commonly referred to as Highway 2 or the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, is a major highway in Alberta that stretches from the Canada–United States border through Calgary and Edmonton to Grande Pra ...

, between the small towns of

Bowden, Alberta Bowden is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located in Red Deer County on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, approximately south of Red Deer. The community may take its name from Bowdon, Greater Manchester, in England. A provincial Alberta ...

and

Innisfail, Alberta Innisfail ( ) is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is located in the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, south of Red Deer, Alberta, Red Deer at the junction of Alberta Highway 2, Highway 2 and Alberta Highway 54, Highway 54. History The town's name ...

, approximately halfway between

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and Edmonton.

History

The institution was constructed on the site of the former

RCAF Station Bowden RCAF Station Bowden was a Second World War British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) station located near Bowden, Alberta, Canada. It was operated and administered by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). History World War II RCAF Station Bow ...

a World War II,

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

Facility. In 2006 there was a knifing at the institution. Guards threatened to strike, when the knife could not be found. Linda Slobodian, writing in the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The ...

'', wrote that the prison had once mainly held sex offenders, but the prison population had recently had a considerable contingent of violent gang members transferred there. In February 2014 former Guantanamo captive Omar Khadr was transferred to the institution from the

Millhaven maximum security facility Millhaven Institution (french: Établissement de Millhaven) is a maximum security prison located in Bath, Ontario. Approximately 500 inmates are incarcerated at Millhaven. Opened in 1971, Millhaven was originally built to replace Ontario's other ...

. {{cite news , url = http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/the-canadian-press/140211/former-guantanamo-inmate-omar-khadr-transferred-medium-secur , title = Former Guantanamo inmate Omar Khadr transferred to medium security in Alberta , publisher =

Global Post ''GlobalPost'' is an online US digital journalism company that focuses on international news founded on January 12, 2009, by Philip S. Balboni and Charles M. Sennott. Its stated mission is "to redefine international news for the digital age." ...

, date = 2014-02-11 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140212193935/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/the-canadian-press/140211/former-guantanamo-inmate-omar-khadr-transferred-medium-secur , archive-date = 2014-02-12 , url-status = live , quote = Bowden Institution is a medium-security prison with a minimum-security annex. At Bowden, unlike at Millhaven, Khadr would have access to programs which would help him apply for parole. In 2012/2013 an additional 96-man receiving unit was constructed inside the medium security unit and an additional five 10-man housing units were constructed at the minimum security annex. Currently the medium security unit houses 2 men per cell in the majority of the cells. The daily average population is currently over 700 inmates.

References

Correctional Service of Canada institutions Prisons in Alberta