By: Amy Matychuk
Case Commented On: Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies v Canada (Attorney General), 2026 FC 958 (CanLII)
On July 16, 2026, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) must keep records of temperatures in inmate-occupied areas at the Secure (Maximum) Unit of the Edmonton Institution for Women (EIFW) and must seek authorization to install air conditioning in those same areas. The decision was released in the middle of a hot and smoky summer, during which CSC has come under fire for extremely hot living conditions for federal prison inmates. While excessive hot and cold temperatures are certainly not a new issue for CSC facilities, the Federal Court’s specific order that EIFW must track temperatures in inmate living spaces in the EIFW Secure Unit represents an important development for prison justice advocates, who may now have access to information corroborating their clients’ longstanding claims about unliveable temperatures in federal prisons. Further, CSC can no longer rely on a blanket prohibition against installing air conditioning in inmate living areas, a small step toward more livable conditions for inmates.