Human rights-based data collection for inmates in restrictive confinement

The Ministry of the Solicitor General is committed to publicly releasing annual data on the Open Data Catalogue regarding its use of restrictive confinement for all inmates in Ontario’s adult correctional system, excluding those on lockdown.

The ministry defines restrictive confinement as any type of confinement that is more restrictive than the general population, but less restrictive than segregation. Under this definition, the ministry is reporting any case where an inmate 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 mealtimes and overnight.

The ministry is reporting on a one-year period between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, which aligns with the government’s fiscal year.

Data releases include the following:

• the duration of time each inmate spent in restrictive confinement, including total days over the last year
• the number of inmates who had a suicide alert or suicide watch alert

Demographic information entered through the ministry’s Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS) is largely self-reported and may change over time. OTIS displays the most recent details for an inmate and maintains a record of information previously entered in the system.

The data posted is disaggregated based on:

• inmates with mental health alerts
• gender
• facility/institution
• region
• race
• age
• religion or spiritual affiliation

Disclosure on data collection method

To collect the information required, a report was generated through OTIS to identify any inmates 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 inmates 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.

Since an inmate’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 number of placements or continuous days in restrictive confinement at the inmate level cannot be tracked due to data collection limitations. The ministry recognizes the importance of tracking restrictive confinement at the inmate level and continues to explore alternative strategies 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.

The report generated for this release captured the most recent demographic information that was on file for inmates who were held in a unit that was locked down for 17 hours or more.

OTIS records inmates’ gender as either “male” or “female”. Additional gender identities are recorded in a “transgender alert”. Where an inmate has a transgender alert, the gender field in OTIS will reflect the inmate’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). Data is also collected on Indigenous identity, ethnic origin, race and religion in order to align with the ARDS under the Anti-Racism Act, 2017 (ARA).

The identification of inmates with mental health concerns 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.

Serious mental illness alerts are also included in the list of mental health alerts in OTIS. The identification of an inmate requiring a serious mental illness alert is made when one of the following occurs:

• a regulated health professional who is qualified to make diagnoses within their clinical scope considers the inmate to be experiencing at least one disorder as identified in Ontario Regulation (O. Reg.) 778
• an institutional staff member has determined that an inmate is experiencing at least one of a list of symptoms outlined in O. Reg. 778

All mental health alerts, including serious mental Illness alerts, are required to be verified by mental health professionals. Healthcare staff are required to assess inmates 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, 2023 and March 31, 2024

Inmates with an intermittent sentence have been included in the data. As a result, the total population and number of inmates who were housed in a unit that was locked down for 17 hours or more per day includes cases where an inmate 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 19,641 (50%) unique inmates who spent at least one day in a unit that was regularly locked down for 17 hours or more per day between April 1, 2023 and March 31, 2024, out of a total of 39,258 inmates in custody. Of the 19,641 inmates included in the review, 1,924 self-identified as female and 17,717 self-identified as male. These numbers include 173 inmates who self-identified as transgender during this period. Transgender inmates are captured in the dataset based on their gender identity.

An inmate’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 inmate was held in a unit that was locked down for 17 hours or more per day.

Population breakdown in restrictive confinement

Duration of time spent in restrictive confinement

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 366 days. The median, or mid-point, number of days aggregately spent in restrictive confinement was eight 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 healthcare professionals and may be referred to a psychiatrist or physician. Additionally, inmates are also reassessed for mental healthcare 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 inmate’s stay in custody.

Of the 19,641 inmates included in the review, 5,398 (27.5%) had a mental health alert on file for at least one placement. Thirty-five per cent of females and 27% 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, 2023 and March 31, 2024.

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 19,641 inmates covered in the review, 3,616 (18%) had a suicide risk alert recorded in their file. Twenty-three per cent of females in restrictive confinement and 18% 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, 2023 and March 31, 2024.

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, 1,697 (9%) were on suicide watch while in restrictive confinement. Eight per cent of females in restrictive confinement and 9% 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, 2023, and March 31, 2024.

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. 

Demographics

Demographic factors were extracted as they were recorded in OTIS for each day that an inmate was held in a unit that was scheduled to be locked down for 17 hours or more.

In cases where an inmate reported more than one race or religious affiliation, these inmates have been included in the categories of “more than one reported race category” or “more than one reported religious or spiritual affiliation”.

Age

The average age amongst all inmates at the start of the reporting period was 36 years old.

Race

Of the 19,641 inmates covered in the review, 8,567 (43.5%) self-identified as white, 2,226 (11.3%) self-identified as Black, and 2,163 (11.0%) self-identified as Indigenous. There were 474 (2.4%) inmates who self-identified as South Asian, 467 (2.4%) as Middle Eastern, 242 (1.2%) as East Asian, 230 (1.2%) as Latino and 266 (1.4%) as another race category. A total of 1,090 (5.5%) inmates reported more than one race. There were 3,936 (20%) inmates who did not report this information, or it was unknown. 

Religion or spiritual affiliation

There were 7,342 inmates (37.4%) covered in the review who did not report a religion or spirituality, or it was unknown, while 5,061 (26%) stated they had no religious or spiritual affiliation, and 3,109 (16%) self-identified as being Christian. There were 815 (4.1%) inmates who self-identified as having Indigenous spirituality and 846 (4.3%) self-identified as Muslim.  Of the remaining inmates, self-identified religions included 187 (1%) Sikh, 101 (0.5%) Hindu, 71 (0.4%) Jewish, and 57 (0.3%) Buddhist. There were 607 inmates (3.1%) who reported “another religious or spiritual affiliation”. A total of 1,445 (7.4%) inmates reported more than one religious or spiritual affiliation.