CORCAN, an agency within the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC), employs federal inmates across the country in agriculture, manufacturing and services. Inmates produce office furniture, textiles, food and other goods for government departments and in some cases for public consumption.

“Very few actually gain skills that are transferable,” said Ivan Zinger, the Correctional Investigator of Canada, the federal government’s prison watchdog. “In my view, it even amounts to a human rights violation.”