Federal government admits two trans inmates charged with sexual assault after transfer to women’s prisons

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As of October 2025, there are 90 transgender women in federal prison — 73 housed in men’s prisons and 17 in women’s prisons. Of the 17, eight have had gender-affirming surgery.

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Lawyers funded by the JCCF brought the lawsuit on behalf of Canadian Women’s Sex-Based Rights (CAWSBAR), arguing that allowing transgender inmates to be housed in women’s prisons exposes female inmates to physical and psychological harm and violates their Charter rights.

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Ottawa denies that its policy violates female inmates’ Charter right to life, liberty, and security of the person, stating: “In each specific factual context, CD 100 has been implemented in good faith and consistent with the principles of fundamental justice, including not being arbitrary, overbroad, or grossly disproportionate.”

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Also in the filing, the federal government “wholly denies that any alleged harm to inmates housed in women’s institutions flowed from the implementation of CD 100” and maintains that its individualized assessment process provides an appropriate framework for managing risks.

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In a JCCF news release Tuesday, constitutional lawyer Chris Fleury said the government’s defence shows that female inmates have raised serious complaints about their experiences in women’s prisons, some of which resulted in sexual-assault charges.

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“Female inmates are being exposed to real risks and real harm,” he said. “This case is about protecting their safety, dignity, and constitutional rights.”

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In total, the government responded to allegations involving 13 gender diverse inmates who are alleged to have “taken and will continue to take advantage of CD 100.” For four of these inmates, there were no specific allegations provided, with the statement of defence reading: “rather, it is their mere presence in a women’s institution that is alleged to cause harm to cisgender women inmates.”

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In May 2026, the Federal Court rejected the government’s attempt to strike the lawsuit and granted CAWSBAR public interest standing, allowing the constitutional challenge to proceed. The federal government is now asking the court to dismiss the claim with costs.

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The case follows a separate Federal Court decision in July, which saw a transgender inmate lose a bid to be transferred to a women’s prison.

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Amanda Joy Cooper, 59, has been incarcerated since 2001 and is convicted of four sexual assaults, forcible confinement and other crimes against adult women and one girl, mostly in Montreal. All those crimes were committed long before Cooper’s 2020 diagnosis of gender dysphoria and 2024 surgery to construct female genitalia and breasts.

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Cooper was at the Atlantic Institution in New Brunswick before asking to be moved to a women’s prison, and instead was moved last October to Millhaven Institution in Ontario, a maximum-security prison for men.

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Justice Janet Fuhrer ruled that CSC had not acted unreasonably in refusing the transfer request.

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