TORONTO — Ontario Premier Doug Ford said rapid population growth has put pressure on the province’s correctional system, warning that Ontario lacks enough prison infrastructure to keep up with the increase.Speaking Monday in Brockville at an announcement about new correctional facilities, Ford said Ontario has added roughly two million people over the past eight years, a surge he argued has outpaced investments in jails and other justice infrastructure.“That’s a massive increase in population in a short amount of time,” Ford said. “But the infrastructure, including our correctional infrastructure, hasn’t kept up with that growth.”The premier made the comments while outlining plans to move forward with a new Brockville Correctional Centre and an expansion of the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre. The province said the project will add beds to the correctional system and create hundreds of jobs once completed.Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said the expansion is part of a broader strategy to increase capacity in provincial jails and address what the government describes as overcrowding and safety concerns.Kerzner said the province has committed about $3 billion to building new correctional facilities, upgrading existing institutions and reopening some jails previously closed by earlier governments..According to the province, Ontario is aiming to add more than 1,000 new beds to the correctional system through projects already underway. Those include new facilities, modular units and reopened spaces at existing institutions.Ford said expanding jail capacity is necessary to ensure offenders are not released early because of space constraints.“We’re investing in our jails to make sure that not having enough space is never an excuse to grant offenders an early release,” he said.The Brockville project is expected to add 20 beds beyond what was previously announced, bringing the planned capacity of the facility to about 295 beds. The government says the expansion could lead to more than 400 additional correctional service jobs.Ford also used the event to criticize Canada’s bail system, calling for reforms from the federal government and arguing that repeat offenders are too often released.“We need to make sure dangerous offenders are kept behind bars,” he said.Construction timelines for the Brockville facility have not yet been finalized. Provincial officials said the project will proceed through a request-for-qualifications and request-for-proposals process before construction begins.
