Article contentCanadian correctional institutions saw an “unprecedented” drop in their inmate populations as governments across Canada took steps to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 6,000 fewer inmates in Canadian institutions between February and April, says the latestreport from Statistics Canada, with most of the decline from provincial and territorial jails. The provincial inmate population decreased by 25 per cent, while the federal inmate population declined by just one per cent during the same time period. Try refreshing your browser, or Canada's correctional institutions released thousands of inmates in the early days of COVID-19 Back to videoOverall, there was a 16 per cent drop in the inmate population in Canadian correctional institutions during the early days of the pandemic. “Typically, correctional population average daily counts tend to be stable over time, with slight variations occurring over longer periods.”Scot Wortley, a criminology professor at the University of Toronto, said people need to recognize Canada does not have a large number of inmates.

Source: National Post August 14, 2020 11:07 UTC