Most Ontario jails over capacity
Overcrowding has led to cramped quarters, assaults on guards, lawyers say
Ontario’s jails have seen a dramatic increase in the number of inmates over the past year with the majority of the facilities well over capacity, new data obtained by The Canadian Press shows.
Meanwhile, an overwhelming number of inmates held — 81 per cent, the government said — are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent.
The data, obtained through freedom-of-information laws, shows the average inmate count and institutional capacity over the past 10 years for the province’s jails. Those institutions hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day.
As of Sept. 30, 2023, there was an average of 8,889 people in provincial jails, well over the 7,848-person capacity. Overall, the jails were operating at 113 per cent capacity at that time.
Most of Ontario’s institutions were over capacity in 2023, the data shows.
Maplehurst Correction Complex in Milton was the most overcrowded last year, with an average inmate population of 1,188 but official capacity for 887 — meaning it was operating at 134 per cent capacity in 2023.
Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre in London was a close second at 133 per cent capacity, with an average 471 inmates while having operational capacity for 353.
South West Detention Centre in Windsor was operating at 129 per cent capacity, with 337 inmates but space for only 262 people.
Criminal lawyers and corrections officers say the overcrowding in jails has led to several problems, including cramped living conditions for inmates and an increase in assaults on correctional officers.
Correctional officers are increasingly assaulted, he said, and operational stress injuries and post-traumatic stress for the guards is on the rise.
“We’ve also lost a number of staff who have died by suicide over the last year,” he said.
“You’ve got climbing inmate counts and then you’ve got staffing shortages, it’s just a recipe for disaster.”
Correctional officers are third among occupations with approved work-related stress injury claims registered with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board between 2016 and 2022, WSIB data shows. Only police officers and paramedics have more stress injury claims.
Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, who is responsible for Ontario’s jail system, did not answer repeated questions about jail population numbers or the province’s plans to deal with overcrowded institutions.
Instead, he spoke about hiring 1,000 more correctional officers and touring jails.
“Public safety is a priority, will always be a priority and we have a right to live safely in our communities,” Kerzner said.
The Criminal Lawyers Association has argued the rise in inmates is due to Crown attorneys opposing more bail, specifically for alleged gun crimes and other serious, violent offences. That means inmates stay behind bars as defence and prosecution prepare for bail hearings, thereby increasing the jail populations, said Boris Bytensky, president of the lawyers’ association.
“The positions that Crowns are taking on bail matters are becoming more and more conservative,” Bytensky said.