The so-called "training school" was created primarily to rehabilitate working-class girls perceived to be destined for adult criminality.

While many of the girls had committed minor crimes, many were sent to the facility because they had been pronounced "unmanageable" under the Juvenile Delinquents Act for reasons such as truancy, drug or alcohol use, or "sexual immorality".

[1] Following the closure of the facility in 1976, many former residents came forward with accusations of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse by the staff.

The psychologist introduced the two women to each other and they subsequently made appearances on television, asking others who had been at Grandview to contact the police or the provincial government.

[2] In December 1992, in order to assist those who had come forward, a Victim Witness Program was established in Kitchener, Ontario.