Quebec City mosque shooter asks court for transfer to medium-security prison

Alexandre Bissonnette arrives at the courthouse in Quebec City on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. (Mathieu Belanger — POOL/The Canadian Press)

MONTREAL — Quebec City mosque shooter Alexandre Bissonnette has asked to be transferred from a maximum- to a medium-security prison.

Bissonnette cited concerns over his safety and his mental health in a request filed by his lawyer at the Montreal courthouse in April.

Bissonnette is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder for gunning down men as they prayed in a Quebec City mosque in January 2017.

Lawyer Sylvie Bordelais says Bissonnette is imprisoned at the Port-Cartier maximum-security prison on Quebec’s North Shore, despite several assessments that concluded he could be housed in a medium-security facility instead.

The court document says Bissonnette’s mental health is fragile and that it’s worsened by being far from his family and with violent inmates who might want to kill him.

His lawyer argues that his treatment amounts to cruel and unusual punishment and is asking the Quebec Superior Court to review the conditions of her client’s imprisonment.

On its website, Correctional Service Canada says maximum-security prisons are designed to detain the most dangerous convicts, where their “movement, association and privileges are very restricted.” In medium-security prisons, inmates’ privileges are “moderately restricted,” and they are places that prepare convicts for a minimum security institution.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 1, 2026.

Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press