New database tracks more than 2,100 deaths in custody across Canada since 2000

Her Majesty's Penitentiary is pictured in St. John's, N.L., overlooking Quidi Vidi Lake on June 9, 2011. A new database from the Tracking (In)Justice project lists more than 2,100 deaths in custody across Canada over the past 24 years. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Daly)

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -

A new database from a project monitoring law enforcement and corrections in Canada lists more than 2,100 deaths in custody over the past 24 years.

Alexander McClelland, associate criminology professor at Carleton University and lead researcher with the Tracking (In)Justice project, says the database was compiled using media reports, provincial data and more than 20 freedom of information requests.

The searchable data set includes people who have died in custody in provincial jails and federal prisons, as well as correctional facilities for youth.

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McClelland and his team found that the average age of deaths in these institutions is 44, compared with an average Canadian life expectancy of 81 as of 2022, according to Statistics Canada.

He says the project compiled the information because it's far too difficult to find data about deaths in custody, particularly those in provincial correctional facilities.

The Office of the Correctional Investigator acts an independent oversight agency for the federal prison system, but there is rarely any independent oversight of provincial jails.

Data assembled by The Canadian Press show there were 91 deaths in provincial jails across the country in 2023.

The Tracking (In)Justice project also compiles figures about police-involved deaths in Canada.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 9, 2024.