Human rights-based data collection for inmates in restrictive confinement
The ministry is committed to publicly releasing data annually regarding its use of restrictive confinement for all individuals in Ontario’s adult correctional system, excluding those on lockdown, and to include the following in the report:
- the duration of time each inmate spent in restrictive confinement, including continuous and total days over the last year
- the reason the inmate was placed in restrictive confinement
- the number of inmates who had a suicide alert or suicide watch alert
Furthermore, the ministry has disaggregated the data based on:
- individuals with mental health disabilities (including risk of suicide or self-harm) whether identified through mental health alerts, mental health screening and reassessment, or by being reported and confirmed
- gender
- facility/institution
- region
The data has also been disaggregated on additional data related to race, age and religion or spiritual affiliation.
The ministry defines restrictive confinement as any type of confinement that is more restrictive than the general population but less restrictive than segregation. As a result, the ministry is reporting any case where an individual was held in a unit regularly scheduled to be locked down for 17 hours or more per day. This timeframe is considered more restrictive than that of the general population based on an assessment of provincewide lockdown times. Regularly scheduled lockdowns are daily routine times where movement out of a cell is restricted, such as during meal times and overnight.
The ministry is reporting on a one-year period between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021. This time period aligns with the government’s fiscal year.
Disclosure on data collection method
To collect the information required, a report was generated through the ministry’s Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) to identify any individuals who were held in a unit that was regularly locked down for 17 hours or more per day. OTIS is an electronic database used to track individuals under the supervision of the ministry and includes demographic, institutional housing and placement history. Information is entered into OTIS manually and, due to technological limitations, may be recorded through other means and transferred into OTIS later.
As an individual’s housing location may change daily, data on restrictive confinement was extracted for each day within the reporting period, rather than one single extraction, to provide more accurate data. Currently, the reason and number of placements or continuous days in restrictive confinement by individual cannot be tracked due to the data collection method. The ministry recognizes the challenges in accurately tracking inmates within restrictive confinement and is currently developing a new tool to track inmate movement in and out of cell.
The data captured in this report excludes any cases where an inmate was held in a unit that was regularly locked down for 17 hours or more but was considered to meet segregation conditions based on the information recorded in the inmate’s file.
Demographic information entered in OTIS is largely self-reported and therefore is subject to change over time. OTIS displays the most recent details for an inmate and maintains a record of information previously entered into the system. The report generated for this release captured demographic information that was on file for each day that an individual was held in a unit that was locked down for 17 hours or more.
OTIS records inmates’ gender as either "male" or "female". Additional expressions of gender are recorded in a "transgender alert". Where an inmate has a transgender alert, the gender field in OTIS will reflect the individual’s preferred gender identity and may change over time.
The information on race and religion or spiritual affiliation extracted from OTIS is aligned with the Anti-Racism Data Standards (ARDS). On August 16, 2020, the ministry implemented changes to the collection of data on Indigenous identity, ethnic origin, race and religion in order to align with the ARDS under the Anti-Racism Act (ARA), 2017. For the purposes of this review, in cases where race-related data had not yet been updated on an inmate’s file, historical information on the inmate’s file prior to August 16, 2020 was used, if available. The implementation of ARDS protocols for data collection part way through the reporting cycle may have resulted in missing or incomplete data and therefore data on race, religion and Indigenous identity should be interpreted with caution for this data release.
The identification of inmates with mental health conditions is based on the presence of a mental health alert that is recorded in OTIS. Mental health alerts do not indicate a confirmed mental health diagnosis. However, they signal the presence of potential mental health concerns so assessments for appropriate health care supports can be provided.
All mental health alerts are required to be verified by mental health professionals. Health care staff are required to assess individuals and verify mental health alerts in OTIS within 48 hours of the alert being entered. To capture the potential presence of a mental health concern, the data for this release includes both verified and unverified mental health alerts present on the inmate’s file for each day where they were held in a unit that was locked down for 17 hours or more.
Review of all inmates in restrictive confinement between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021
Inmates with an intermittent sentence have been included in the data. As a result, the total population numbers and the numbers of individuals who were housed in a unit that was locked down for 17 hours or more per day include cases where an individual was flagged as having an intermittent sentence. An intermittent sentence is a custodial sentence that is served during specific recurring days and times, rather than all at once.
There were 9,636 (34.5%) unique individuals who spent at least one day in a unit that was regularly locked down for 17 hours or more per day between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021, out of a total of 27,903 inmates in custody.
An individual’s custodial location information may change over time. As the data on restrictive confinement was generated for each day within the reporting period, the location reflects information on file for the most recent day where an individual was held in a unit that was locked down for 17 hours or more per day.
Population breakdown in restrictive confinement
| Location | Females | Males | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maplehurst Correctional Complex | 1 | 2,922 | 2,923 |
| Niagara Detention Centre | 0 | 250 | 250 |
| Ontario Correctional Institute | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| Central Region | 1 | 3,178 | 3,179 |
| Central East Correctional Centre | 94 | 692 | 786 |
| Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre | 25 | 1,662 | 1,687 |
| Quinte Detention Centre | 193 | 686 | 879 |
| Eastern Region | 312 | 3,040 | 3,352 |
| Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre | 0 | 33 | 33 |
| Northern Region | 0 | 33 | 33 |
| Toronto South Detention Centre | 8 | 1,740 | 1,748 |
| Toronto Region | 8 | 1,740 | 1,748 |
| Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre | 52 | 424 | 476 |
| Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre - Regional Intermittent Centre | 0 | 52 | 52 |
| Sarnia Jail | 21 | 36 | 57 |
| South West Detention Centre | 63 | 676 | 739 |
| Western Region | 136 | 1,188 | 1,324 |
| Total number of inmates | 457 | 9,179 | 9,636 |
Duration of time spent in restrictive confinement
| Location | Maximum number of aggregate days in restrictive confinement for females | Median days for females | Mode days for females | Maximum number of aggregate days in restrictive confinement for males | Median days for males | Mode days for males | Median days overall | Mode days overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maplehurst Correctional Complex | 1 | 1 | 0 | 233 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Niagara Detention Centre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Ontario Correctional Institute | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Central Region | 1 | 1 | 0 | 233 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Central East Correctional Centre | 94 | 10 | 15 | 244 | 7.5 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre | 206 | 5 | 4 | 365 | 19 | 15 | 19 | 15 |
| Quinte Detention Centre | 188 | 15 | 1 | 365 | 14 | 1 | 14 | 1 |
| Eastern Region | 206 | 12 | 15 | 365 | 16 | 1 | 15 | 1 |
| Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Northern Region | 0 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| Toronto South Detention Centre | 131 | 21 | 21 | 326 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Toronto Region | 131 | 21 | 21 | 326 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
| Elgin Middlesex Correctional Centre | 58 | 3.5 | 1 | 92 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre - Regional Intermittent Centre | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Sarnia Jail | 8 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| South West Detention Centre | 58 | 9 | 1 | 141 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 |
| Western Region | 58 | 5 | 1 | 141 | 9 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
| Overall | 206 | 10 | 1 | 365 | 13 | 1 | 13 | 1 |
Across all regions, the aggregate length of time for restrictive confinement placements for all inmates ranged from a minimum of one day to a maximum of 365 days. The median, or mid-point, number of days aggregately spent in restrictive confinement was seven days. The most frequent, or mode, aggregate placement length was one day for all inmates.
Mental health alerts
A mental health alert is recorded in an inmate’s file by facility staff including correctional, medical and clinical staff, if the inmate:
- discloses a history of mental illness
- is showing signs of, or has disclosed thoughts about self-harm or suicide
- is demonstrating behaviour that may suggest a mental illness
The ministry’s policy requires an initial mental health screening to be completed within 48 hours of an inmate being admitted to an institution. All active mental health alerts are required to be verified by mental health professionals within 48 hours of the alert being entered into OTIS. If an inmate screens positive for a possible mental health condition, they are further assessed by health care professionals and may be referred to a psychiatrist or physician. Additionally, inmates are also reassessed for mental health care needs at least once every six months of continuous custody. Mental health professionals are required to add mental health alerts, verify new and existing mental health alerts and expire inactive alerts as appropriate throughout an individual’s stay in custody.
Of the 9,636 inmates included in the review, 2,841 (29.5%) had a mental health alert on file for at least one placement. Thirty-eight per cent of females and 29% of males in restrictive confinement had a mental health alert. The data includes all inmates who had a mental health alert present at any point between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
| Gender | No alert | Mental health alert | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Females | 285 | 172 | 457 |
| Males | 6,510 | 2,669 | 9,179 |
| Total | 6,795 | 2,841 | 9,636 |
Further breakdown of this information by region, institution and gender, is available in the addendum.
Suicide risk alerts
A suicide risk alert is recorded in an inmate’s file when they require enhanced supervision or if they are at risk of posing harm to themselves. Suicide risk alerts are broken down into the following categories:
- enhanced supervision
- previous suicide attempt(s)
- suicide watch
Of the 9,636 inmates covered in the review, 1,412 (15%) had a suicide risk alert recorded in their file. Twenty-one per cent of females in restrictive confinement and 14% of males in restrictive confinement had suicide risk alerts. The data includes all inmates who had a suicide risk alert present at any point between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
| Gender | No alert | Suicide risk alert | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Females | 363 | 94 | 457 |
| Males | 7,861 | 1,318 | 9,179 |
| Total | 8,244 | 1,412 | 9,636 |
A suicide watch is a type of suicide risk alert and indicates when an inmate requires increased supervision due to a high risk of suicide or self-harm. Of the inmates included in the review, 498 (5%) were on suicide watch while in restrictive confinement. Eight per cent of females in restrictive confinement and 5% of males in restrictive confinement had suicide watch alerts. The data includes all inmates who had a suicide watch alert present at any point between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
Ministry policy requires that an assessment, monitoring and documenting process including frequent in-person checks occur at least once every 10 minutes. Between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., correctional staff are required to interact verbally with the inmate on an hourly basis.
| Gender | No alert | Suicide risk alert | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Females | 420 | 37 | 457 |
| Males | 8,718 | 461 | 9,179 |
| Total | 9,138 | 498 | 9,636 |
Demographics
Demographic factors were extracted as they were recorded in OTIS for each day that an individual was held in a unit that was scheduled to be locked down for 17 hours or more. An individual’s demographic information may change over time because this information is self-reported. As a result, demographic information in the following tables specific to unique individuals reflects the information on file for the most recent day during the reporting period where an individual was held in a unit that was regularly scheduled to be locked down for 17 hours or more.
In cases where data on race and religion had not yet been re-collected as per the changes to data collection implemented on August 16, 2020, the most recent historical information available on the inmate’s file prior to August 16, 2020 was used, if available.
Age
| Age ranges and gender | Central Region | Eastern Region | Northern Region | Toronto Region | Western Region | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 24 years old | 626 | 606 | 7 | 381 | 221 | 1,841 |
| 25 to 49 years old | 2,251 | 2,416 | 22 | 1,199 | 1,008 | 6,896 |
| 50 years or older | 302 | 330 | 4 | 168 | 95 | 899 |
| Total number of inmates | 3,179 | 3,352 | 33 | 1,748 | 1,324 | 9,636 |
Of the 9,636 inmates included in the review, 457 self-identified as female and 9,179 self-identified as male. These numbers include 46 inmates who self-identified as transgender during this period. Trans inmates are captured in the dataset based on their gender identity. The average age amongst all inmates at the start of the reporting period was 34 years old.
Race
| Race | Central Region | Eastern Region | Northern Region | Toronto Region | Western Region | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 1,461 | 1,990 | 18 | 590 | 860 | 4,919 |
| Black | 546 | 439 | 0 | 566 | 131 | 1,682 |
| Indigenous | 207 | 290 | 9 | 96 | 124 | 726 |
| South Asian | 187 | 23 | 0 | 56 | 9 | 275 |
| Middle Eastern | 89 | 89 | 1 | 51 | 35 | 265 |
| East Asian | 96 | 39 | 0 | 47 | 5 | 187 |
| Latino | 64 | 33 | 0 | 46 | 21 | 164 |
| Another race category | 76 | 69 | 1 | 40 | 18 | 204 |
| Unknown or not reported | 536 | 428 | 4 | 270 | 139 | 1,377 |
| Total number of inmates | 3,262 | 3,400 | 33 | 1,762 | 1,342 | 9,799 |
Due to the August 16, 2020 changes to the collection of race and religion data in OTIS, individuals may report more than one religious or spiritual affiliation. As a result, the total reported race information number exceeds the number of inmates captured in the review. Of the 9,636 inmates covered in the review, 4,919 (51%) self-identified as white, 1,682 (17.5%) self-identified as Black, and 726 (7.5%) self-identified as Indigenous. There were 275 (2.9%) inmates who self-identified as South Asian, 265 (2.8%) as Middle Eastern, 187 (1.9 %) as East Asian, 164 (1.7%) identified Latino and 204 (2.1%) as another race category. There were 1,377 (14%) inmates who did not report this information or it was unknown.
Religion or spiritual affiliation
| Religion/spirituality | Central Region | Eastern Region | Northern Region | Toronto Region | Western Region | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christian | 648 | 681 | 8 | 381 | 281 | 1,999 |
| no religion | 748 | 853 | 6 | 221 | 300 | 2,128 |
| Muslim | 182 | 271 | 1 | 221 | 58 | 733 |
| Indigenous spirituality | 74 | 131 | 4 | 80 | 51 | 340 |
| Sikh | 100 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 122 |
| Jewish | 38 | 30 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 91 |
| Hindu | 40 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 55 |
| Another religious or spiritual affiliation | 155 | 82 | 1 | 101 | 37 | 376 |
| Unknown or not reported | 1,274 | 1,325 | 17 | 731 | 591 | 3,938 |
| Total number of inmates | 3,259 | 3,389 | 38 | 1,758 | 1,338 | 9,782 |
As a result of the August 16, 2020 changes to the collection of race and religion data in OTIS, individuals may report more than one religious or spiritual affiliation. As a result, the total reported information on religion number exceeds the number of inmates captured in the review. There were 3,938 inmates (41%) covered in the review who did not report a religion/spirituality, or it was unknown, while 1,999 (21%) self-identified as being Christian, and 2,128 (22%) stated they had no religious or spiritual affiliation. There were 733 (7.6%) inmates who self-identified as Muslim and 340 (3.5 %) self-identified as having Indigenous spirituality. Of the remaining inmates, self-identified religions included 122 (1.3%) Sikh, 91 (0.9%) Jewish and 55 (0.6%) Hindu. There were 376 inmates (3.9%) who reported “another religious or spiritual affiliation”.
Further demographic information including race and religion, as identified by the inmate, is available in the addendum.