Ontario will be adding 2,500 beds to its overcrowded jails over the next decade, costing taxpayers $3 billion, as announced by the province’s solicitor general on Thursday.
Michael Kerzner explained that the province will construct new jails, expand existing ones, and reopen some that were closed in Walkerton, Ont., and Brampton, Ont.
By November 2026, they plan to add 255 beds as part of their “bed optimization project” and recruit 700 new correctional officers, he noted.
“We’re building and we’re modernizing facilities so correctional staff have the space, tools and resources they need to do their job safely and effectively, while making sure we have the capacity now and well into the future to take to keep dangerous criminals off our streets and behind bars where they belong,” Kerzner said.
The province intends to use modular components for some jail construction while utilizing tensile structures for others in an effort to manage costs effectively.
This announcement fits within a larger strategy from the provincial government aiming to significantly boost jail capacity, initially reported by The Canadian Press last month. Internal documents reveal plans for nearly 6,000 additional jail beds by 2050-critics estimate this could cost at least $7 billion.
Recent data obtained via freedom-of-information laws indicates that average jail capacity across all institutions was at 127 percent for 2025.
The data shows there were around 11,058 inmates in provincial jails on average in 2025 while the average capacity was just 8,676 inmates.
Since 2020, jails have become increasingly crowded each year; back then, they were operating at only 80 percent capacity. This surge occurred despite efforts from institutions trying to balance public safety with measures aimed at controlling COVID-19 spread which caused significant issues in long-term care homes as well as jails and homeless shelters.
The average capacity throughout the jail system reached full capacity (100 percent) in 2022; it climbed further to112 percent in 2023 before hitting122 percent in 2024 according to available data.
WATCH | Overcrowding in Ontario jails:
Investigation finds Ontario jails overcrowded with big increase in women prisoners
A investigation revealed a notable38 percent rise in female incarceration since2019. This year has seen record levels of overcrowding alongside increasing remand populations during ongoing discussions about bail reform.
A spokesperson for Kerzner shared that as of April1st ,81percent of inmates currently housed were awaiting trial and presumed innocent.
Provincial institutions accommodate individuals who are accused but not released on bail along with those serving sentences shorter than two years. Inmates facing longer sentences are placed within the federal prison system.
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