Abstract Life imprisonment has divergent meanings in various countries. With a focus on the issues related to life imprisonment in Canada, more specifically regarding the issue of the ‘hope to be released’ for the individuals serving a life sentence, the author assesses the legislation and some relevant, positive and negative, jurisprudential developments pertaining to life imprisonment in that context from a few countries, including Vietnam. The positive evolution that the Canadian jurisprudence witnessed in 2022 with respect to the eligibility for release of detainees serving a lifelong sentence could make Canada an interesting case study for Vietnam. This paper mainly relies on legal doctrinal research and comparative law by way of referring to the legislation and caselaw of a few different national jurisdictions for its analysis.