Canada’s federal prison system saw a sharp spike in escapes last year, with Correctional Service data showing the number of prison breaks more than doubled in 2025 compared to the year before.Blacklock's Reporter says a wardens’ report shows 19 inmates escaped from federal custody in 2025, up from nine the previous year and just five in 2022. Officials offered no explanation for the surge, noting only that escape incidents increased across the system.“There were 19 escapes,” said the report, Escapes From Federal Custody, which tracks incidents at penitentiaries nationwide. Seven of those occurred at healing lodges, unchanged from the year before, while the remaining 12 took place at other federal institutions.Most escapes happened at Prairie-region prisons and typically involved inmates who had been transferred to minimum-security facilities within the previous six months. Despite the increase, Correctional Service said the majority of escapees were quickly caught. “Most offenders, 89%, were recaptured within one day,” the report said..Officials described most incidents as walkaways from minimum-security institutions rather than violent breakouts. Motivations varied and included personal stressors such as bad news from outside prison, family conflicts, institutional disputes, mental health issues or anxiety related to an upcoming release date.Historical data suggests the pattern is not entirely new. Federal research covering 2012 to 2017 found most prison escapes occurred on Sunday evenings during summer months, with escapees usually apprehended within 48 hours. In many cases, inmates were found nearby, at the homes of friends or relatives, or even returned voluntarily to the institution.Correctional Service research has consistently shown that most escapees are younger offenders, often under 35, serving their first federal sentence. .A 2020 Public Safety Canada study found younger inmates were more prone to impulsive behaviour and institutional trouble.“The human brain is not fully developed in its capacity for cognitive functioning and emotional regulation until well into young adulthood,” said the department’s Profile Of Young Adult Offenders. The report noted younger inmates were more likely to have gang ties, limited job skills, early drug use and peer groups heavily involved in crime.They were also more likely to support goal-oriented violence and disregard others’ property, though less likely to deny their crimes outright, the study found.Irving Kulik, executive director of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, previously said a high proportion of young offenders are also poorly educated. “They tend to be less educated,” Kulik said in an earlier interview. “The majority don’t have Grade 10.”
