Ombudsman calls for ‘urgent’ correctional reform after record number of complaints

TORONTO — Ontario’s ombudsman is urging the province to address a “growing crisis” in correctional facilities, pointing to a record number of complaints about facilities in the last year as well as deteriorating conditions.

Ombudsman Paul Dubé says in his 2024-25 annual report that there was a 55 per cent increase in complaints about correctional facilities, totalling a record 6,870.

Dubé says that while the sector has always been the top source of complaints, the nature and severity of what his office has heard and witnessed demand “urgent attention.”

Many of the issues go beyond inefficiencies, Dubé says, to the point of raising questions about basic human rights.

He says many of the complaints regarding corrections were about “severe, entrenched problems” such as overcrowding, frequent lockdowns and inadequate health care, as well as inmates with mental health issues being placed in segregation or Indigenous inmates not having access to a liaison officer.

The ombudsman says his office also recently launched an investigation into a two-day incident at the Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ont., in December 2023, when inmates were ordered to strip to their underwear and sit facing a wall with their wrists zip-tied.

“When we fail to uphold the basic dignity of people in custody, we do more than inflict harm – we erode public trust, degrade working conditions for staff, and weaken the very foundations of our justice system,” he wrote in the report.

Cases about youth facilities, which include complaints and inquiries, also more than doubled in the last year, jumping to 423 from 202 the previous year, the report says.

A record 3,908 complaints were also filed about municipalities, the report says, and many local officials have been receptive to best practices around fairness, transparency and accountability.

The ombudsman says his office received a total of 30,675 cases in the 2024-2025 fiscal year — a 30-year high.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 25, 2025.

Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press