“In Canada, you should be able to wake up, get in your car, drive to work, come home, and sleep soundly at night.” With that message, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the federal government’s plan to tighten bail rules for violent and repeat offenders, saying communities need stronger protections.
But a veteran Ontario correctional officer says the province’s overcrowded jails are in no position to absorb more people held before trial, including London’s Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre, which has faced years of overcrowding complaints and has repeatedly housed more inmates than it was designed for.
Chad Oldfield, a correctional officer for 22 years and the OPSEU chair for corrections, said institutions across the province are now operating at “about 130 to 150 per cent capacity,” conditions he described as the worst of his career.
Oldfield said overcrowding has put strain on every aspect of daily operations, from delivering meals and medication to arranging medical appointments, yard access and programming. He said rising inmate numbers have contributed to record levels of violence, with internal ministry statistics indicating more inmate-on-inmate assaults than ever before and roughly three assaults on staff each day. “The institutions right now are essentially powder kegs ready to explode,” he said.
He said the union has been pressing the Ministry of the Solicitor General for an interim strategy to address the surge in inmate numbers, but no detailed plan has been provided. While the province has announced small infrastructure expansions and a new facility scheduled to open next year, Oldfield said such projects will not ease immediate pressure. “We know the day it opens it’ll be at its capacity or over,” he said.
Oldfield said the only viable short-term solution is hiring more staff to stabilize conditions and maintain safety for both inmates and officers. Longer term, he said Ontario needs a comprehensive plan to increase capacity and staffing to prevent repeated overcrowding, rather than relying on piecemeal additions that are overwhelmed as soon as they open.
“We need solutions now,” he said. “Announcements for infrastructure builds take a long time, and we’re years away.”
