1950s: The Brannan Lake Industrial School and Wilingdon Industrial School

The Brannan Lake Industrial School for Boys opened in Nanaimo in 1954 and the Willingdon Industrial School for Girls opened in 1959 in Burnaby.

These training schools, which were administered by child welfare authorities, received youth who were committed by the juvenile courts under the Juvenile Delinquents Act for both criminal offences and “status offences” such as incorrigibility and sexual immorality. Both became over crowded with Brannan Lake School for Boys (Nanaimo) holding as many as 300 boys and Willingdon School for Girls, more than 100 girls.