Tammy Holmes, director of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, said work was done to identify ligature points, which is why each room has rounded corners. Staff can also turn on night lights using buttons outside the cells, allowing them to do nightly checks without pointing a flashlight into the rooms. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)

PHOTOS: Saskatoon Correctional Centre expansion gives inmates more support, space

By Marija Robinson Sep 18, 2025 | 6:46 AM

Five years after the expansion of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre was first announced, the project is now complete.

The $135-million upgrade added 312 beds for male offenders, along with an upgraded kitchen, more video suites for virtual court attendance and a new medical unit that will give inmates better access to physicians, dentists and optometrists.

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Tammy Holmes, director of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, said the most crucial thing the expansion provides is additional space.

“We have allocated programming space that we just do not have in our current building due to the dated facility,” she explained.

Tammy Holmes smiles at the camera wearing her uniform, a black button up top and black pants

Tammy Holmes, director of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, said the increased programming space will allow for more “meaningful, one-to-one work” with inmates. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)

With inmates’ needs changing over the years, jails now require more support for addiction, poverty and homelessness, and Holmes said the expansion means the centre can offer additional programming to help address these risk factors. Almost as soon as they’re admitted, she said offenders will have access to programs that teach them skills like how to find housing addiction support.

According to Holmes, the building was modeled off the Regina Correctional Centre and the Edmonton Remand Centre, and lessons learned in those centres were used to improve security, safety and access to services.

(Marija Robinson/980 CJME)

The extra space, and the flexibility it provides, will also help to reduce the number of misconduct incidents, Holmes said, which can be an issue in crowded facilities.

Alleviating overcrowding

The expansion is designed help to alleviate some of the capacity pressure within Saskatchewan’s custody system.

According to Scott Harron, assistant deputy minister of corrections, policing and public safety, the number of people in custody in Saskatchewan increases by roughly three to 10 per cent each year. Currently, there are 2,460 adult inmates in the province, but just four years ago that number was closer to 2,200.

A pastel pink door with the words Unit 3 above

The four units in the expansion all have different colours assigned to them, making it easier for staff members to determine which unit they’re looking at on the security cameras. (Marija Robinson/650 CKOM)

The growing number of inmates means facilities like Pine Grove Correctional Centre in Prince Albert have been bursting at the seams.

“We had about 170 per cent capacity at Pine Grove last summer. We took pretty immediate action there,” Harron explained.

The expansion features a new medical unit designed to give inmates better access to physicians, dentists and optometrists. (Marija Robinson/980 CJME)

“We had 270 (inmates) at this time last year. Now, it’s about 200, which has made it a lot more manageable.”

Harron said in that case, inmates were moved to the Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford and White Birch Remand Centre in Regina.

While Pine Grove is a jail for women and consequently won’t see the capacity benefits from the expansion of the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, Tim McLeod, Saskatchewan’s minister for corrections, policing and public safety, noted that a new women’s unit is being developed at the Regina Correctional Centre.