Data obtained by The Canadian Press show most of Ontario’s jails are well over capacity, and 81 per cent of inmates held are awaiting trial and presumptively innocent.
The data obtained through freedom-of-information laws shows Ontario’s jails, including the Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre in south London have seen a dramatic increase in the number of inmates over the past year.
As of last September, there was an average of eight-thousand, 889 people in provincial jails — well over the seven-thousand, 848 person capacity.
Overall, the jails were operating at 113 per cent capacity at that time.
