The Centre for Justice Exchange was founded by Dr. Vicki Chartrand in 2012 as the Prison Letters group at the University of Ottawa, along with student volunteer efforts. The initiative was initially developed to support people in and out of prison by providing information and resources through print-based correspondences. This work equally advantaged students who would learn about the prison and criminal justice system through their written exchanges with people in prison and carrying out research in responding to the letters.

In 2013, Prison Letters was moved to Bishop’s University and renamed the Centre for Justice Exchange. The name change was to reflect the evolution of the group and a broader conceptualization of justice as a collaborative exchange with the understanding that people involved in the criminal legal system also have significant resources, knowledge, and ideas to share in cultivating our vision of justices.