OTTAWA — Canada's prison ombudsman says some older, long-serving inmates are being "warehoused" in prisons not equipped to handle end-of-life care.
The federal correctional investigator and the Canadian Human Rights Commission are calling on the Correctional Service of Canada to meet the unique needs and rights of older people behind bars, whose numbers are going up — along with government costs.
The two bodies say the country needs a national strategy to address the care and needs of people over 50 prison in federal custody.
In a new report Thursday, they say the corrections service should find ways to release older inmates who don't pose undue risk to public safety into the community, long-term-care facilities, or hospices to outsource their care.
Many aged inmates remain in prison well past their parole eligibility dates even though they have completed almost all of their correctional plans and pose little risk to the public, the report says.
Older inmates account for one-quarter of the inmate population in federal institutions, with their numbers increasing by 50 per cent over the last decade.