 This association was volunteer operated and assisted prisoners re-entering society in finding housing, clothing and employment.The idea spread and in 1931 British Columbia saw a similar institution created by Reverend J. Dinnage Hobden under the name we now know it as, the John Howard Society named after John Howard who was a prison reformer living from 1726 until 1790.In 1946, the Citizens Service Association followed suit and became the John Howard Society of Ontario.