I was surprised when I read that this was a consideration. I think that it was Professor Massicotte who raised this. I was surprised because during the 1992 referendum, inmates obtained the right to vote and for the first time we set up a voting system for inmates in federal penitentiaries and required that this be done in provincial prisons. The definition of a voter is not contained in the Referendum Act. It is stated in the Elections Act and the Chief Electoral Officer adapts the Elections Act when it comes to those clauses. I was a bit surprised by that. I might be wrong, but I recall that this was the first time that inmates were allowed to vote.
On October 26th, 2010. See this statement in context.