Brookside School (Cobourg, Ont.)

• Brookside School (Cobourg, Ont.)

• Ontario Training School for Boys (Galt, Ont.)

• Ontario Training School for Boys (Bowmanville, Ont.)

• Galt Branch. Brookside Youth Centre.

Opened in 1946, the school was capable of holding 175 wards, 12 to 13 years of age. It was originally situated in Galt, Ontario and called the Ontario Training School for Boys, Galt Branch. For the first years of its existence, it was sometimes considered a branch of the Ontario Training School for Boys in Bowmanville (later known as Pine Ridge School). In 1951, the school exchanged facilities with the Ontario Training School for Girls (later known as Grand View School), which had formerly been located in Galt but had moved to Cobourg in 1942 for the duration of the war. Thus, the school moved to 390 King Street east in Cobourg, and became known as the Ontario Training School for Boys, Cobourg.

In 1967, with the phasing out of the use of the term 'training school', it was renamed the Brookside School, and became co-educational in 1973. On 1 April 1987, it was transferred from the custody of the Ministry of Community and Social Services and reopened as the Brookside Youth Centre under the Ministry of Correctional Services as a youth-only secure custody and detention centre. At the same time, the facility shifted from being a Phase One institution, dealing with young offenders between 12-15 years of age to Phase Two youth-only secure custody and detention centre dealing with 16-17 year-old offenders. In 2012, with the creation of new youth detention facilities, the facility was downgraded from 61 to 32 beds.

The Brookside School was opened as a training school for boys. Training schools are facilities for youth placed under the wardship of the Ontario government. The schools offer a variety of vocational and occupational training to their wards, as well as treatment services and recreational programs. Brookside became a school for both girls and boys in 1973. After 1978, the government's policy was to place youths in training schools only when they posed a danger to themselves or to others.

In 1987, the Brookside School became a correctional facility for young offenders aged 16-17 charged under the federal Young Offenders Act. These offenders fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Correctional Services, although the facility continued to take in young offenders aged 12 to 15 years old, who fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Community and Social Services.

RAD: Rules for Archival Description, 2nd edn (2008)

2026-11-16: migrated to AtoM

Ontario Government Telephone Directory, 1998. KWIK Index to Services, 1999. Ministry of Correctional Services Annual Report, 1987. Ministry of Correctional Services Annual Report, 1991.

Archivist(s):
McIlroy