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| John L. Hill |
That is about to be tested in a Federal Court action that is expected to be heard soon. Jessica Rose, a lawyer with PATH Legal in Dartmouth, N.S., will argue that a transgender inmate, 58-year-old Amanda Joy Cooper, should be transferred from Millhaven Institution to a women’s prison. That would align with Canada’s 2017 federal policy, which allows self-identified transgender women (male-born offenders) to be transferred to women’s prisons based solely on gender identity.
The Commissioner’s Directives are clear. If a prisoner self-identifies as belonging to a sexual group, placement in that group should follow. However, it is argued that such a policy prioritizes ideology over safety and common sense. While there is universal agreement that all individuals deserve dignity, it is contended that the state’s primary duty is to protect public safety, institutional security and vulnerable female inmates.
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In a Jan.19 opinion published in the Winnipeg Sun, Manitoba politician and businessperson Kevin Klein proposed alternatives, including specialized units, protective custody, single-occupancy placements and enhanced supervision, arguing that these options could balance dignity and safety without placing male-bodied offenders in women’s prisons. He concluded by calling for political leadership to revisit and revise the policy, framing the issue as one of evidence-based corrections and the state’s obligation to protect women in custody rather than a culture-war debate. The article contrasts federal policy with Manitoba’s provincial system, which it says continues to emphasize risk assessment and criminal history in placement decisions. It argues that federal practice prioritizes identity politics over correctional expertise and biological realities, setting a dangerous precedent in policymaking.
When the case is argued in the Federal Court, the transgender woman, Amanda Joy Cooper, will ask the court to uphold the policy set out in the Commissioner’s Directives. Cooper has been incarcerated since 2001 as a dangerous offender for multiple violent sexual offences against women. The court action seeks an order requiring the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to transfer her from a men’s prison to a women’s institution following gender-affirming surgery in 2024. Cooper claims her safety is at risk. She claims to have been assaulted by male prisoners and fears physical and sexual violence.
CSC opposes the transfer, arguing that Cooper poses a “very high risk” to women based on her criminal history, institutional behaviour and what officials describe as ongoing obsessive attachments to female staff. Records show she previously threatened female staff, spent years in a super-maximum unit and in 2018 sexually assaulted a female prison worker. Officials maintain that her surgery and hormone treatment have not reduced her risk of reoffending and that transferring her to a women’s prison, where inmates live in less restrictive, congregate settings, could endanger others and create fear.
Cooper’s lawyer argues that under a CSC directive, which states that an offender’s sex is determined by current genitalia, she should now be classified and housed as female. That would allow Cooper to apply for a transfer to a women’s prison, such as Kitchener, Ont.’s Grand Valley Institution. Cooper, who has legally and medically transitioned and whose records now list her sex as female, says she faces harassment and threats in a men’s maximum-security prison and is largely confined to isolation for her own protection. Her lawyer contends there is no legal basis to keep “a woman with a vagina” in a men’s prison.
According to a Feb.18 CBC News report, as of October 2025, 90 prisoners were identified as transgender women, including about a dozen who had undergone gender surgery. The report also notes that over an eight-year period ending in March 2026, CSC received 129 requests from inmates assigned male at birth to be placed in women’s institutions. Three dozen of those applications were approved, with the remainder denied or withdrawn.
The case, to be heard in the Federal Court, highlights the broader and contentious issue of housing transgender inmates. While federal policy permits transfers based on gender identity after case-by-case risk assessments, many requests are denied. Advocates and critics remain divided: some emphasize transgender inmates’ rights and safety, while others argue that risk assessments and the safety of female prisoners must take priority.
The judge assigned to hear the case will have to decide how to ensure that commonly accepted “rights” are maintained. Gender identity is a deeply personal experience. Recognition of a person’s lived gender is essential to dignity, autonomy and safety, as articulated in the Ontario Human Rights Code. Yet prison staff and other inmates deserve the right to work or to do their time in a relatively safe environment if rehabilitation is to occur. Policy sometimes conflicts with operational goals. The Federal Court’s decision will determine which has precedence.
John L. Hill practised and taught prison law until his retirement. He holds a JD from Queen’s and an LLM in constitutional law from Osgoode Hall. He is also the author of Pine Box Parole: Terry Fitzsimmons and the Quest to End Solitary Confinement (Durvile & UpRoute Books) and The Rest of the (True Crime) Story (AOS Publishing). Contact him at johnlornehill@hotmail.com.
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