Access to information is something most Canadians take for granted. While the majority of us rely on the internet, email and printed materials to learn and plan for the future, incarcerated people are cut off from these essential resources.

People in Canadian prisons are barred from using the internet or email, and printed materials are limited and hard to come by. Most prisons have a library, but hours of operation can be sporadic, the selection of material is often minimal, and access can be heavily restricted due to rolling lockdowns and bureaucratic obstacles. This lack of access to information creates significant barriers that extend far beyond an individual’s time in prison.

We have become deeply aware of this issue through our involvement in an all-volunteer group called Write On: Supporting Prisoners Through Correspondence. Our work involves responding to hundreds of letters from incarcerated people across Canada who write to us to ask us for information they cannot access inside. We have, since 2019, responded to more than 1,100 letters. Many people who write us tell us that they have no other means to access the information they are requesting.

At Write On, we try to help fill in this information gap. As one person who wrote to us stated: we are their Google. What has stood out for us is that those who write us often ask for information that could better their lives: legal information to help them work on their cases, reading materials to expand their minds, health and wellness information to improve their mental and physical wellbeing, services and resources in the community to help them integrate when they leave prison, information on rules and policies of the prison they are in, and information on educational programs and career paths they wish to pursue so that they can become independent once freed. And sometimes, they simply ask for material that can help them pass the time: pictures to colour, crossword puzzles, instructions for card games, and so on.

Whether urgent or mundane, these requests underscore the basic human need for knowledge, creative outlets and connection. They also reflect incarcerated peoples’ agency, even under conditions of isolation and confinement.

It is troubling that people in prison have to rely on us, a small group of volunteers with no funding or official status, for their basic information needs. This dependence points to a broader systemic information blackout in prisons that is often justified by far-reaching claims about ‘security’ tied to the possession of information.

Furthermore, a significant yet often overlooked consequence of the internet ban is that it almost entirely cuts off peoples’ access to post-secondary education. In theory, people inside are not barred from taking correspondence courses, which could lead to a degree (if they pay for them themselves). However, with very few exceptions, these courses are now offered exclusively online.

Without internet access, earning a post-secondary degree becomes virtually impossible. This lack of access not only denies incarcerated people proven tools that could help them become self-sufficient once released, but it also withholds a resource that is shown to significantly reduce the risk of reoffending. According to Public Safety Canada, education has been proven to decrease recidivism by as much as 75 percent, especially for those who take post-secondary courses.

The need is clear. The Office of the Correctional Investigator’s 2018-2019 Annual Report noted that 52 percent of the prison population has less than a grade 10 education, and more than 60 percent were underemployed or unemployed at the time of their arrest. A system that denies access to resources and education reproduces cycles of disadvantage, inequity and recidivism. At minimum, breaking these cycles requires providing the necessary tools to be successful after release—and this includes access to information and education.

Being able to use the internet is also crucial for ensuring that people inside are comfortable with technology in a rapidly changing world. The online world has become so ubiquitous in our lives that many people leaving prison, especially those who served long sentences, are ill-prepared to operate in the world we live in now; one where a certain degree of technical know-how is a requirement to function. Everything from booking a medical appointment to applying for jobs requires digital literacy. Without it, incarcerated people are set up to fail.

The Corrections and Conditional Release Act governs the operation of Correctional Service Canada. As a whole, the act emphasizes rehabilitation and reintegration. If prisons are to be rehabilitating people and preparing them for the outside world, then the internet and information blackout exposes a critical disconnect between policy and action, and directly undermines this mandate.

In response to some legal and public pressure, a few federal prisons have recently launched pilot programs that offer certain selected incarcerated people with limited internet access. But access is tightly controlled and restricted to only a few specific educational programs, leaving the majority of people inside barred from access. Supporting incarcerated people and moving beyond retributive justice requires recognizing information access in prisons not as optional, but as essential.

According to the Canadian Federation of Library Associations, access to information is a basic human right. We agree—information access is not a luxury. Having this access, as a small step toward transformative change and a world in which prisons are obsolete, will not only improve the lives and prospects of people inside prisons, but will, in the long-term, benefit us all.

Naomi Berlyne is the founder of Write On: Supporting Prisoners Through Correspondence. Stephanie Latty is an organizing committee member of Write On and an assistant professor in the Department of Criminology at Toronto Metropolitan University.