Correctional Service of 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 ...
. Retrieved on August 6, 2016 See English version /ref>) is a Canadian federal prison for men located with
Archambault Institution
Archambault Institution (french: Établissement Archambault) is a prison of the Correctional Service Canada in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec. Its minimum security unit opened in 1968 and its medium security unit opened in 1969; the capacities re ...
at the
Correctional Service of 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 ...
(CSC) complex at
Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Quebec
Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada, 40 km northwest of the city of Montreal in the Thérèse-De Blainville Regional County Municipality, in the region of Laurentides. Its population was 14,990 during the census ...
, a short distance from Mirabel International Airport.
The Special Handling Unit (SHU; french: link=no, Unité spéciale de détention or USD), within the centre, is Canada's highest security ( supermax) prison. As of 2008, there were 90 prisoners at the SHU. In English it is nicknamed "the SHU" (pronounced 'shoe'), and in French it is the "USD".
The six-wing radial-shaped facility is surrounded by three rows of fencing, which is in turn surrounded by farms.
Inmates are always handcuffed in the presence of officers. When escorting inmates, officers are unarmed to prevent inadvertently placing a weapon in the vicinity of the prisoner. Escorting officers do carry
pepper spray
Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...
. Weapons and other equipment are carried by officers manning the elevated
catwalk
A fashion show ( French ''défilé de mode'') is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the Spring/Summer and Fa ...
. Inmates must progress through programs in the SHU before being transferred back to the general population of other maximum security prisons; however, some inmates are considered to be too high-risk to be eligible for this and are detained in the SHU for longer periods.
Notable inmates of the Special Handling Unit
Current inmates
Men:
*
Shareef Abdelhaleem
A database engineer, Friscolanti, Michael, Maclean's, "It Comes Down to These Four", June 9, 2008 Muhammad Shareef Abdelhaleem is one of 17 people initially arrested in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He is alleged to have plotted coordinated ...
(conspirator of the
2006 Ontario terrorism plot
The 2006 Ontario terrorism case refers to the plotting of a series of attacks against targets in Southern Ontario, Canada, and the June 2, 2006 counter-terrorism raids in and around the Greater Toronto Area that resulted in the arrest of 14 adu ...
)
Former inmates
Men:
*
Allan Legere
Allan Joseph Legere (born February 13, 1948), also known as the Monster of the Miramichi, is a Canadian rapist, arsonist, and serial killer.
Early life
Allan Joseph Legere was born in Chatham Head, New Brunswick.
First murder
On the evening of ...
Guy Paul Morin
Guy Paul Morin is a Canadian who was wrongly convicted of the October 1984 rape and murder of his nine-year-old next-door neighbour, Christine Jessop of Queensville, north of Toronto, Ontario. DNA testing led to a subsequent overturning of th ...
(murder, 1992–1995; exonerated and released)
*
Clifford Olson
Clifford Robert Olson Jr. (January 1, 1940 – September 30, 2011) was a convicted Canadian serial killer who confessed to murdering 11 children and teenagers between the ages of 9 and 18 in the early 1980s.
Murders
Christine Weller, 12, from ...
(serial killer, 1982–2011; died of cancer on September 30, 2011)
*
Ali Dirie
Mohammed Ali Dirie was one of 17 people connected to arrests on June 2 and June 3, 2006, in the 2006 Toronto terrorism arrests. He was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in prison. He was released in October 2011, left Canada in 2012, and re ...
(terrorism, 2009–2011; died in Syrian civil war)
*
Luka Magnotta
In May 2012, Jun Lin (December 30, 1978 – May 24/25, 2012), a university student, was fatally stabbed and dismembered in Montreal, Canada, by Luka Rocco Magnotta, who then mailed Lin's hands and feet to elementary schools and federal political ...
(murder; transferred to Port-Cartier Institution, QC)
*
Maurice Boucher
Maurice Boucher (21 June 1953 – 10 July 2022) was a Canadian gangster, convicted murderer, reputed drug trafficker, and outlaw biker—once president of the Hells Angels' Quebec Nomads chapter. Boucher led Montreal's Hells Angels against the ...
(murder, 2002–2022; died of cancer on July 10, 2022)
Women:
*
Karla Homolka
Karla Leanne Homolka (born May 4, 1970), also known as Karla Leanne Teale, Leanne Teale, and Leanne Bordelais, is a Canadian serial killer who acted as an accomplice to her husband, Paul Bernardo, taking active part in the actual rapes and murde ...
(serial killer, imprisoned 1993–2005, released after 12-year sentence); she was held at the Regional Reception Centre since March 2001 after being transferred from the
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
''. May 24, 2003. Retrieved on August 6, 2016. "Homolka, who has been at tie regional reception centre in the Ste. Anne des Plaines federal prison complex since March, 2001, ..
See also
*
ADX Florence
The United States Penitentiary, Florence Administrative Maximum Facility (USP Florence ADMAX), commonly known as ADX Florence, is an American federal prison in Fremont County near Florence, Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Pris ...
, an equivalent prison for men run by the
Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Justice that is responsible for the care, custody, and control of incarcerated individuals who have committed federal crimes; that i ...
(BOP) in the United States
*
Federal Medical Center, Carswell
The Federal Medical Center, Carswell (FMC Carswell) is a United States federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, Incarceration of women in the United States, for female inmates of all security levels, primarily with special medical and mental health ne ...
, a U.S. BOP prison which includes a unit housing women who have the highest security classifications
* Supermax prison, for an international overview of supermax prisons
Le Journal de Montréal
''Le Journal de Montréal'' is a daily French-language tabloid newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Quebec and is also the largest French-language daily newspaper in North America. ...