Province spending $10M on upgrades at the Sudbury Jail

The Sudbury Jail, which is currently undergoing $10 million in renovations, was "vastly overcrowded and understaffed" at the time of Justine Docherty's death in November 2020, a lawsuit alleges. (File)

The Sudbury Jail is getting a $10 million facelift.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General confirmed Tuesday that upgrades include lighting, doors, infrastructure, security systems and a new canopy roof enclosures for increased yard access.

The John Howard Society works with inmates in Sudbury. Its board of directors recently toured the jail.

"There is a lot of mental health (challenges), there is a lot of addiction and there is still a lot of suffering," said Sara-Jane Berghammer, the CEO of the John Howard Society of Sudbury.

“There have been a number of improvements that we noticed when we visited the jail. Specifically to staffing. It's really nice to see other professionals at the jail. Addictions workers and specifically mental health nurses.”

The province said 38 new correctional officers have been hired at the Sudbury jail since July 2020.

Berghammer said staffing is really at the core of running the jail properly and shortages in the past have led to lockdowns.

"They would be on lockdown most of the time and then when folks are on lockdown they lose their privileges and that is no fault of their own,” she said.

“So staffing is really important in order to provide people with some programming and different types of services to improve the conditions in the jail.”

The Ministry of the Solicitor General said the renovations at the Sudbury jail are part of a $500 million modernization of provincial jails across Ontario.