More beds for local correctional institute as Ontario Conservative government expands prison system
The Central East Correctional Centre (CECC) in Lindsay is adding 122 beds as part of a $3-billion provincial expansion.
Ontario plans to add 2,500 new jail beds over the next decade at a cost of $3 billion, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner announced Thursday. The expansion will include building new facilities, enlarging existing ones, and reopening shuttered jails in Walkerton and Brampton.
As part of what the province calls its “bed optimization project,” 255 beds are expected to come online by November 2026. Kerzner said the government will also hire 700 additional correctional officers to support the system.
The province has highlighted significant institutional challenges, including ongoing concerns over violence, joint coroner’s inquests into inmate deaths, and persistent staffing shortages impacting guards and inmates.
