Lockdowns at Northern Ontario jails are on the rise.

OPSEU says the spike is due to staff shortages but the government says it could be a number of problems.

The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services says they’ve hired 43 new employees for Northeastern Ontario’s five correctional facilities since 2013 and are looking to hire 300 more across the province.

STATEMENT FROM MINISTRY OF COMMUNITY SAFETY & CORRECTIONAL SERVICES

“The safety and security and both staff and inmates is our top priority. Lockdowns do occur at various correctional institutions across the province to ensure the safety and security of both staff and inmates. Lockdowns occur due to a variety of reasons, including staff shortages, which sometimes result from a combination of vacation leaves, sick leaves and other leaves taking place at the same time. Every effort is made to maintain the regular schedule of visits, programming and other services and when a lockdown is required, partial or individual unit lock downs are always preferred to a facility lockdown.

Northeastern Ontario is home to five provincial correctional institutions: Monteith Correctional Complex, Algoma Remand and Treatment Centre, Central North Correctional Centre, Sudbury Jail and North Bay Jail. Each of these institutions has its own unique purpose and staffing needs.  The ministry works with institutional staff to manage daily staffing demands to ensure the safety of staff and inmates and has taken steps to increase staffing levels in recent years. The Ministry has hired over 450 correctional officers since the Fall of 2013, including 43 at our five institutions in northeastern Ontario, and we will continue to work with our labour partners towards the hiring and training of 300 more new staff across the province. The Ministry continues to hire new staff for all of our institutions and will continue working with staff to address daily staffing demands in taking measures to ensure the safe and secure operation of our facilities.

OPSEU adds, lockdowns in Sudbury alone increase from 0 to 13 from 2009 to 2014.”