What is the Difference Between Federal Penitentiaries (and Inmates) and Provincial Prisons (and Prisoners)?
The “two-year rule” refers to the federal-provincial jurisdictional split between sentences of two years or more and sentences less than two years. Sentences of two years or more are served in federal penitentiaries. Sentences of less than two years are served in provincial prisons. The federal Prisons and Reformatories Act, certain provisions of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act and relevant supporting provincial legislation apply in these provincial cases.
