St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre – Kingston, ON

Specialized Mental Health and Corrections Facility

The St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre is a unique hybrid facility located at 25 Heakes Lane in Kingston. It is operated provincially by the Ministry of the Solicitor General but possesses the designation of a Schedule 1 hospital under the Mental Health Act. This secure treatment centre provides specialized assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation services for adult male offenders who have been sentenced to provincial incarceration (less than two years) and are suffering from significant mental illness. The facility represents a partnership with the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, combining correctional security standards with clinical psychiatric care to address the complex needs of this specific offender population.

Treatment and Rehabilitation

Unlike a standard jail, the primary focus here is therapeutic. The centre houses a multi-disciplinary team of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and correctional officers who work together to stabilize patients. Inmates are referred here from other provincial detention centres if they display acute mental health symptoms that cannot be managed in a regular correctional setting. The goal is to improve the offender’s mental health status to a point where they can either return to a general population facility or be safely reintegrated into the community upon their release. Programs include medication management, cognitive behavioural therapy, and life skills training.

Security and Visiting Protocols

Despite its hospital designation, the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre maintains high-security protocols to ensure the safety of staff, patients, and the public. It is a secure environment with controlled movement, perimeter security, and strict contraband policies. Visitation is permitted but is tightly regulated; all visits must be pre-arranged, and visitors are subject to security screening. The facility also plays a role in the forensic mental health system, occasionally assessing individuals to determine fitness to stand trial or criminal responsibility, although its main mandate remains the treatment of sentenced provincial offenders.

• Mental Health Treatment: Specialized psychiatric care for sentenced male offenders.
• Secure Environment: Hospital-level care within a maximum-security perimeter.
• Inter-Agency Partnership: Collaboration between Corrections Ontario and Royal Ottawa Health Care Group.