As Ontario commits to building more jails, data shows violence inside them is rising

As the province doubled down on its “tough on crime” measures and calls for federal bail reform this week, rates of violence across Ontario jails — both inmate-on-inmate and inmate-on-staff assaults — are rising, according to an analysis of data shared with CBC News by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU). 

Latest numbers from 2025 show that for every 100 inmates, around 11 staff were assaulted. That’s up from around nine in 2024. Nine staff were also assaulted in 2019 before the pandemic.

The data for 2025 also shows that for every 100 inmates, 67 were assaulted by another inmate, which is up from around 60 in 2023 and 66 in 2019.

The numbers back up the experiences faced by staff on the job, said Adam Cygler, who represents correctional workers with OPSEU and is a member of the employee relations committee for corrections in Ontario. 

“Things are getting more violent largely because of capacity issues and bed space issues,” he said.

“We’ve got a significant increase in the number of inmates being housed in provincial correctional facilities in the same space with the same number of staff,” Cygler said.

An Ontario ombudsman report last June found that correctional institutions faced “chronic staff shortages,” with some “operating at over 150 per cent of their capacity.”

CBC News calculated the rate of assault based on numbers provided by OPSEU and an average of monthly jail population numbers obtained from the Ministry of the Solicitor General through a freedom of information request. CBC averaged the monthly population numbers for each year except 2025. The average jail population for that year was calculated based on the first six months available.

The issues that Cygler points out — capacity and staffing — are not new.

In his 2024-25 report, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé warned about the “growing crisis in Ontario jails.” His report identified five areas of concern: 

Dubé’s report also mentioned that most people held in Ontario jails are waiting for a trial, meaning they’re legally presumed innocent. 

“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,” the report said. 

A CBC News investigation previously found that more than 80 per cent of all people in Ontario jails were awaiting trial. 

On Monday, Premier Doug Ford and Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner announced plans for a new jail in Brockville. Ford said the development is part of the government’s plan to add 1,436 new correctional beds across the province by 2032.