William Head institution is a federal minimum-security facility for men in Metchosin, approximately 25 miles from Victoria. It opened in 1959, and can house 160 offenders.
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The average length of sentences is 40 months for about 20 per cent of inmates, with 27 per cent serving terms of 40 months or more. About 50 per cent of the inmates are serving life sentences. About 100 employees work at William Head, which has been referred to as Club Fed because of its history of housing white-collar criminals without much security. Inmates live in five units of eight groups/duplexes.
Some of the programs available to inmates include the Chaplaincy Support group, Community In-Reach, Restorative Justice, Freedom Project Canada Nonviolent Communication Citizen Escorts, In-House Personal Development Reintegration and Community mentoring. For more information on the programs, visit laren.ca.
The facility is also home to William Head on Stage, Canada’s longest-running prison theatre program. Inmates involved with WHoS Theatre put on a theatrical performance in the gymnasium in the fall that is open to members of the general public 19 years of age and older.
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– Information compiled from the Government of Canada’s website, Wikipedia, and the Laren Society.