Library and Archives Canada
The Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Females (1880-1969) and Industrial Refuge for Girls (1880-1905) was the first all women’s prison in Canada. For nearly a century, this house of horrors saw over 20,000 women walk through its doors. Philanthropic groups, religious representatives, social work organizations, and public health organizations colluded with provincial and federal legal systems to remove from society, through incarceration, women and girls deemed “morally and socially” unacceptable. Above: The Andrew Mercer Reformatory in Toronto