During the first wave of the pandemic, thousands of inmates were released from federal and provincial facilities, and Justin Piche, an associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa, helped track those numbers as part of the Prison Pandemic Partnership, a research group examining how prisoners are impacted by COVID-19
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The number of people in both federal and provincial institutions dropped by about 19 per cent over the first wave, from 37,976 inmates in February 2020 to 30,580 people in June of the same year, according to data from Statistics Canada.
By December 2020, there were 31,981 people incarcerated across federal and provincial facilities, the numbers show, which is still about 16 per cent below pre-pandemic levels.
Piche’s data shows Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador led the country in inmate releases between February and June of 2020, with 40 and 39 per cent drops in jail populations respectively.
“Actions were taken early on, especially at the provincial level where there was a lot more bail releases that were happening, because it was seen as an urgent situation,” Piche said in a recent interview. “Since then … governments have taken their foot off the gas, and prisoners and prison staff have paid the price.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2022.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
