Post #271
700 words; 3 minutes to read
Editor’s note: I asked one of our terrific student volunteers to review the recent report by Ontario’s ombudsman on the state of provincial jails. She was so incensed by what was in the report that she wrote the following commentary. The Ombudsman’s press release with a link to the full report is available for free here. The Ombudsman made similar findings in his 202o report, available here. The Ontario Provincial Auditor also had harsh criticism of the Ontario correctional system in 2020 as well. The Ontario government has apparently taken no action on any of these reports, nor on recent media stories about mistreatment of prisoners at Maplehurst jail nor on the results of several coroner’s inquests into deaths in Ontario jails.
By: Hanisha Brar, Mount Royal University graduate.
Jails are not supposed to be torture chambers. Yet that is exactly what parts of Ontario’s correctional system have become.
According to the 2024 to 2025 Annual Report from Ontario’s Ombudsman, complaints about provincial jails have reached an unprecedented high. In the past year alone, 6,870 complaints were filed about conditions in custody. That is a 55 percent increase over the previous year, and the highest number recorded in three decades.
Let that sink in.
These are not just numbers. These are people. Most of them have not been convicted of a crime. They are legally presumed innocent and simply awaiting trial. Still, they are being held in overcrowded institutions, locked down for days at a time, denied timely medical care, forced to endure unsanitary conditions, and stripped of even the most basic human dignity.
The report describes correctional facilities operating at more than 150 percent of their intended capacity. This means three or more individuals confined to spaces built for two, with limited access to phones, showers, or fresh air. At Maplehurst Correctional Complex, nearly 200 inmates were reportedly strip-searched, zip-tied, and left sitting in their underwear for hours with no access to hygiene or communication.
This is not just mismanagement. It is abuse.
Ombudsman Paul Dubé captured the gravity of the situation when he stated: “These failures go far beyond poor service. They raise serious questions about basic human rights.”
Effects on court cases
What is even more concerning is the broader legal impact. The report notes that some judges in Ontario have reduced sentences or stayed charges entirely in response to the degrading treatment inmates have received. This is not simply a procedural issue. It is an erosion of legal integrity and public trust.
These are not just justice system failures. These are moral failures.
When individuals are placed in environments where they lose control over what they eat, when they sleep, or whether they can speak to their loved ones, and are then denied medical care, hygiene, and protection from harm, we are not rehabilitating them. We are traumatizing them. We are sending people back into society with deeper wounds than they entered with. And then we wonder why the cycle repeats.
This issue is personal for many Ontarians. Behind every inmate is a family, a history, a community. Most people in custody are not hardened criminals. They are human beings. They are often poor, racialized, and coping with trauma, mental illness, or addiction. These are not problems that punishment can solve.
Correctional institutions should not be places where people lose their mental health, their sense of safety, or their humanity. The Ombudsman said it best: “When we fail to uphold the basic dignity of people in custody, we do more than inflict harm. We erode public trust and weaken the very foundations of our justice system.”
We cannot keep looking away. This report is not just a summary of complaints. It is a call to action.
We must demand real accountability. We must invest in mental health services, culturally responsive care, and harm reduction. We need independent oversight that does more than observe — it must intervene. And we must ensure that the word “rehabilitation” is backed by meaningful policy and practice.
If we truly believe in justice, we cannot ignore what is happening behind closed doors. No more silence. No more excuses.
Ontario can and must do better.
About this blog: The John Howard Canada blog is intended to support greater public understanding of criminal justice issues. Blog content does not necessarily represent the views of the John Howard Society of Canada. All blog material may be reproduced freely for any non-profit purpose as long as the source is acknowledged. We welcome comments (moderated). Contact: blogeditor@johnhoward.ca.
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