Ferndale Institution


Ferndale Institution is the former name of the minimum-security federal correctional annex of Mission Institution, now referred as Mission Minimum Institution. Is located in Mission, British Columbia, in the central Fraser Valley, about 80 kilometres east of Vancouver. Ferndale opened in 1973 and can house up to 166 inmates, who live in residential-style units on a federal reserve shared with Mission Institution.
The current Warden is Shawn Huish.
Previous warden Ron Wiebe was the founder of the "Restorative Justice" project, which brought together offenders, victims and their families for reconciliation/mediation.

Inmates

Offenders housed at Ferndale are classified minimum security. Correctional Service Canada calls these Level II prisons.
Most offenders have "cascaded" down from maximum, or medium security.
To reach minimum security there are strict guidelines that must be met. The Security Reclassification Scale is used to determine suitability for minimum security.
Many Ferndale inmates are at pre-release status, meaning they are very close to reintegration into society. All required programming/expectations laid out in the offenders correctional plan, created on arrival in prison, must have been completed to reach this level. Institutional behavior must be stellar, and all drug tests negative. Other factors such as community support are also considered.
In 2008 a directive from Ottawa was given to involuntarily transfer out of Ferndale all inmates with the "Dangerous Offender" classification to higher security prisons See case of Morgan Cooper v. Warden Ferndale
Some non-violent offenders may be directly classified to minimum security without cascading.
There are also a small contingent of those serving life sentences who have served substantial portions of their parole eligibility terms, normally more than 15 years, and have good institutional records..

Escapes

Escapes, which the Correctional Service of Canada calls "Walk-Aways" since there is no fence or security barriers around a minimum-security federal facility in Canada, are listed chronologically:
The institution included a complete 9-hole golf course for most of its existence. The course was often played by community groups from the Mission, BC, area as well as inmates. It was also utilized in training inmates in landscaping, and horticulture vocations, and to foster positive recreational habits for inmates. The golf course was eventually removed due to public outrage.
For several years, Colin Thatcher, a former Saskatchewan politician convicted for murdering his wife in 1984, was housed at Ferndale institution. He was allowed to bring horses from his ranch in Saskatoon to the penitentiary reserve, but after public outrage this special privilege was discontinued.