OVERALL CARCERAL DEPOPULATION FIGURES
REPORTED DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
REPORTED DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Provincial-territorial prison population decline = 4,960
Federal migrant detention population decline = 206
Total adult prisoner population decline = 5,504
Note: I have requested that the Correctional Service Canada (CSC) and its provincial-territorial counterparts publicly release their respective prison population counts for the 1st and 15th of every month as this would provide an accurate and uniform data set through which to examine carceral depopulation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such disclosures should be a regular occurrence in 'normal' times as well. The figures below have been compiled from media reports published over the past month and a half. Recent average daily counts for some jurisdictions, which would allow for a determination of the percentage of prison population decline that has occurred during the pandemic, were not reported in some cases. Where such figures are not available, one can still gain a sense of the significance of jurisdictional prison population reductions by looking at resources such as the average daily prisoner counts for 2017-2018 published by Statistics Canada (e.g. the provinces and territories held an average of 24,355 prisoners on any given day in 2017-2018 and if these numbers remained relatively stable until recently, it is estimated that more than 1 in 5 provincial-territorial prisoners have been released during the pandemic). It is also important to note that the declines in prison populations reported may not necessarily be linked to COVID-19 prevention measures (for example, see the recent analysis of the CSC case by journalist Justin Ling, as well as recent figures and comments from the Office of the Correctional Investigator of Canada).
Newfoundland and Labrador (NL)
Prisoners as of mid-March 2020 = no search results
Prisoners as of 3 May 2020 = no search results
Prison count reduction reported = down 65 prisoners / percentage unknown
Source: 3 May 2020 - National Post
Prince Edward Island (PEI)
Prisoners as of mid-March 2020 = no search results
Prisoners as of 7 April 2020 = no search results
Prison count reduction reported = down 53 prisoners / percentage unknown
Source: 9 April 2020 - CBC News
Nova Scotia (NS)
Prisoners as of 18 March 2020 = 452
Prisoners as of 21 April 2020 = 251
Prison count reduction reported = down 201 prisoners / 44.5%
Source: 22 April 2020 - CBC News
New Brunswick (NB)
No search results
Quebec (QC)
Prisoners as of 9 March 2020 = 4,369
Prisoners as of 9 April 2020 = 3,759
Prison count reduction reported = down 610 prisoners / 14%
Source: 16 April 2020 - La Presse
Ontario (ON)
Prisoners as of mid-March 2020 = 8,344
Prisoners as of 1 May 2020 = 5,623
Prison count reduction reported = down 2,721 prisoners / 32.6%
Source: 1 May 2020 - Vice
Manitoba (MB)
Prisoners as of 3 February 2020 = 2,260
Prisoners as of 9 April 2020 = 1,642
Prison count reduction reported = down 618 prisoners / 27.3%
Source: 7 May 2020 - CBC News
Saskatchewan (SK)
Prisoners as of 15 March 2020 = 2,062
Prisoners as of 14 April 2020 = 1,527
Prison count reduction reported = down 535 prisoners / 25.9%
Source: 17 April 2020 - Saskatoon Star Phoenix
Alberta (AB)
Prisoners as of mid-March 2020 = no search results
Prisoners as of 24 April 2020 = no search results
Prison count reduction reported = down 32 prisoners / percentage unknown
Source: 24 April 2020 - Edmonton Journal
British Columbia (BC)
Prisoners as of 1 March 2020 = no search results
Prisoners as of 2 April 2020 = no search results
Prisoner count reduction reported = down 95 prisoners / percentage unknown
Source: 2 April 2020 - CTV News
Nunavut (NU)
Prisoners as of mid-March 2020 = no search results
Prisoners as of 9 April 2020 = no search results
Prisoner count reduction reported = down 23 prisoners / percentage unknown
Source: 9 April 2020 - Nunavut News
Northwest Territories (NWT)
Prisoners as of mid-March 2020 = no search results
Prisoners as of 7 April 2020 = no search results
Prisoner count reduction reported = down 7 prisoners / percentage unknown
Source: 7 April 2020 - Justice / CBC News
Yukon (YK)
No search results
Federal - Correctional Service Canada
Prisoners as of 1 March 2020 = 13,955
Prisoners as of 26 April 2020 = 13,617
Prisoner count reduction reported = down 338 prisoners / 2.4%
Source: 5 May 2020 - Justin Ling
Federal - Canadian Border Services Agency
Migrant detainees as of 17 March 2020 = 353
Migrant detainees as of 19 April 2020 = 147
Migrant detainee count reduction = down 206 prisoners / 58.4%
Source: 25 April 2020 - Global News
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