It briefly describes the early use of private enterprise in the operation of prison industry, noting the reasons why the practice was generally abandoned in both Canada and the United States at the end of World War II. Two recent experiments in Ontario have involved the private sector in the direct operation of prison industry. In one project, a slaughterhouse on the grounds of the Guelph Correctional Center was taken over by a private firm. The final product sold on the open market was indistinguishable from the output of the firm's other plants. Inmates were hired and paid wages comparable to that in meat-packing plants in the private sector. Training for inmate employees was also provided. Another project took place at the Maplehurst Correctional Center, where inmate labor was used and daily operations were under the control of the private employer. Employed inmates earned $3 to $3.50 an hour putting bolts on muffler clamps. Benefits and potential problems of these experiments are noted. The paper suggests that a private employer may represent the only means through which the traditional difficulties of operating an industrial system within a correctional institution may be overcome. However, two major concerns remain: the forms of incentives needed to induce private employers to become established within a correctional setting and the types of controls to be introduced to lessen the probability that training will be subordinated to profit margins. Notes and 28 references are included.