The original prison, named the Vanier Institute for Women, was a CAD$4,000,000 facility in Brampton, Ontario,[8] that had opened on January 29, 1969.

[3] In 2019, the provincial government announced an initiative create a 5-bed hospital unit for inmates with severe mental illness, and required intensive medical care for the Vanier Centre for Women.

[12] In 2005, the Vanier Centre for Women went under investigation after a woman was kept past her original release and denied medication, the latter which caused her to have multiple seizures during her stay.

[14][15] In 2013, a woman began a hunger strike in protest of being placed within solitary confinement when she refused to wear a bra, which Vanier required in its dress code at the time.

[18] In March 2021, a correctional officer was charged with two counts of sexual assault and breach of trust at the Vanier Centre for Women.