| Location | Trent Hills, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Security class | Medium security |
| Capacity | 670 |
| Opened | 1967 |
| Managed by | Corrections Canada |
The Warkworth Institution is a medium-security prison facility located in the municipality of Trent Hills, Ontario, between the communities of Meyersburg and Warkworth. The prison is the largest federal correctional institution in Canada with a population of approximately 580 housed in five units. It is a male-only facility and generally one-third of the inmates are imprisoned for a sexually-related offence.
Construction of Warkworth Institution started on March 26, 1965 on 208 acres (0.84 km2) of land that had been purchased by the Department of Justice. In 1967, the institution began operation entirely with staff and no inmate population. In September 1967, ten block was opened and the first six inmates arrived from Joyceville Institution. The official opening took place on October 14, 1967. At the end of the 1968 fiscal year, the facility housed 92 inmates.
In 1971, the Living Unit concept was introduced.
A riot broke out at approximately 9:00pm on July 21, 2009, during which prisoners took control of the prison infirmary. Subsequently one inmate died of a drug overdose in his cell.[1]
Warkworth is a sister institution to Springhill, NS; Cowansville, PQ; and Drumheller, AB.