N.W.T. inmate numbers are the lowest they've been in 20 years

The number of inmates in custody in the Northwest Territories is the lowest it's been in more than 20 years, with some correctional institutions sitting nearly empty. 

More than half the beds in the territory's largest facility, the North Slave Correctional Complex (NSCC), are unoccupied. There are currently only 60 inmates and the complex can house 148.

The two-year-old female wing at the Fort Smith Correctional Centre currently only has only one inmate. Built in 2019 at the cost of $23.6 million, it can house 24 women.

Like elsewhere in the country, the drastic decrease started at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Corrections institutions began releasing "low-risk" offenders nearing the end of their sentences and courts widened the range of accused individuals who were granted bail.

"Our facility is considered a facility [for a] vulnerable population … so having an outbreak in the facility would be quite detrimental and would be a big risk," said NSCC warden Greg Paul.

In March 2020, on the cusp of the pandemic, 37,000 people were incarcerated in Canada. Just three months later, in June 2020, that number had dropped to 32,000.

As pandemic restrictions began to lift within the last 12 months, most jurisdictions in the country began to see their inmate numbers creep closer to what they were pre-pandemic.

But not the N.W.T.

In March 2020, 148 people over the age of 18 were incarcerated in the territory. That number dropped to 109 in June 2020 thanks to COVID-19 precautions. 

There are now only 78 people behind bars in the N.W.T. The vast majority of them are on what's known as "remand." That means they were charged with a crime, denied bail and are awaiting trial.

Paul said those on remand make up roughly 80 per cent of inmates.

Those working in the N.W.T. courts say while the decrease in inmate numbers may have started with COVID-19 measures, the more lasting impact is due largely to two recent Supreme Court rulings.

The first is a 2020 case called R. v. Zora.

In 2015, Chaycen Zora was charged with drug possession in British Columbia and was released on bail with a number of conditions. He was placed under house arrest and had to answer the door when the police came to check on him.