Alberta-run jails have the highest COVID-19 rate in the country

Seven per cent of all inmates who were inside Alberta provincially run correctional facilities since the start of the pandemic have tested positive for COVID-19. 

Figures released by Alberta Justice to CBC News reveal that between March 15, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2021, 2,033 of 28,787 youth and adult inmates have had COVID-19. The number correctional staff who have had the disease is 419.

According to information compiled since the start of the pandemic by a University of Ottawa criminology professor as part of the Criminalization and Punishment Education Project, Alberta ranks highest per capita of all the provinces and territories for inmate positivity rates. 

"Alberta has performed very, very badly in comparison to other jurisdictions," said Justin Piche. "It is quite concerning to see just how many cases have happened in these congregate settings."

Piche said other provinces have been much more forthcoming with proactive disclosure. The numbers provided to him by CBC were the most comprehensive that have come from Alberta to date. They were higher than the numbers he posted online two weeks ago. 

"As far as tracking COVID-19 cases among imprisoned people and staff within Alberta provincial jails, it's been like trying to roam through a transparency desert," Piche said.

Criminal defence lawyer Amanda Hart-Dowhun said she was disappointed but not surprised by the cumulative COVID cases in Alberta jails and remand centres. 

"This is a significant human rights issue and it's impacting disproportionately people in poverty, Indigenous people and other vulnerable populations," Hart-Dowhun said. 

The Peace River Correctional Centre is the only provincially-run correctional facility to record no COVID cases in either the staff or inmate populations.  

According to the Alberta Justice numbers, the Edmonton Remand Centre (ERC) has been the hardest-hit provincial correctional facility by far with 861 inmates and 153 staff testing positive up until the end of last year. Second on the list is the Calgary Remand Centre, with 489 positive inmate cases and 85 among staff. 

Criminal defence lawyer Matthew Wegener predicts a jump in ERC cases based upon his experience at the facility while visiting two clients on Sunday. 

"My first client was brought in and he immediately informed me he had COVID-19," Wegener said.

The client showed him a letter from Alberta Health Services indicating he'd tested positive two days earlier. Wegener was surprised staff allowed an in-person meeting.

"Usually in all my past experiences, if someone has COVID-19, they're in isolation and ERC is refusing to let us meet in person," he said.