Ontario is the only province where inmates are regularly locked down due to staff shortages, according to expert evidence in a pair of class-action lawsuits.
Former inmates of provincial correctional facilities and immigration detainees who were held there are suing the Ontario and federal governments, alleging that inmates are commonly held in their cells for "hours, days or even weeks" because there is not enough staff on hand to safely let them out.
The lawsuits covers a period up to 2017, but the most recent data from the province shows that 81 per cent of inmates in provincial jails are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent.