Toronto West Detention Centre
The Toronto West Detention Centre was a maximum security remand facility located in Rexdale, a community located in the north-west corner of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The facility was known as the Metropolitan Toronto West Detention Centre until Rexdale, as part of the City of Etobicoke, became part of the newly amalgamated City of Toronto in 1998.
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| Location | 111 Disco Rd, Toronto, Ontario |
|---|---|
| Status | Closed |
| Security class | Maximum |
| Capacity | 631 |
| Opened | 1976 |
| Closed | December 2014 Demolished December 2016 |
| Managed by | Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services |
With a designed capacity for 631 prisoners,[1] the Toronto West Detention Centre housed adult males who had been remanded into custody while awaiting trial or sentencing, were serving short sentences, or were awaiting transfer to federal or provincial correctional facilities.[2] Over the years the Toronto West Detention Centre had at times also housed female and juvenile offenders. From October 1997 through January 1999 the facility underwent extensive retrofitting of its security systems using up-to-date technology.[3] The facility has also housed foreign nationals being detained on security certificates.
In January 2014 the Toronto South Detention Centre opened to replace the Toronto West Detention Centre and the Toronto Jail (Don Jail). The Toronto Jail was demolished and is now a vacant site situated beside the new hospital facility.
Demolition of the Toronto West Detention Centre commenced in December 2016 with a projected finish of February 2017. The 111 Disco road site is slated to become the home of the new Toronto Young Offender Facility.
Notable prisoners
- Karla Homolka, Canadian serial killer, co-accused with her then husband Paul Bernardo
- Abdullah Khadr, awaiting extradition, 2004-current.[4]
- Laurie Bembenek, also known as Bambi Bembenek.
- Karlheinz Schreiber, the German-Canadian businessman who is embroiled in a dispute with former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.;[5] later extradited to Germany
- Hassan Almrei, a Syrian national, who came to Canada in 1999 on a forged passport and was alleged to have been involved in an al Qaeda forgery ring.[6]
- Ernst Zündel, was held at Toronto West from 2003 until his 2005 deportation
References
- Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services - Detention Centres Archived 5 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services - Facilities Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services - Modernizing the System Archived 30 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- Toronto Star, $500,000 paid for capture of Khadr, 13 May 2008
- National Post, Karlheinz Schreiber free again on bail 17 April 2008
- CTV Television Network, Canada criticized for Hassan Almrei detention, 6 November 2005