The East Coast Prison Justice Society’s Visiting Committee released its third annual report on Tuesday revealing that between September 1, 2022, and August 31, 2023, over 70 per cent of incarcerated individuals in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia’s jails were being held in pre-trial custody, marking an increase from approximately 66 per cent in the previous year.

The report‘s findings also indicate that the majority of people incarcerated in Nova Scotia’s jails have not been convicted of a crime and are still presumed innocent under the law, a situation which puts considerable strain on the provincial correctional system and may have far-reaching consequences for those detained. Additionally, the report also outlined several other concerns related to the conditions in Nova Scotia’s jails including difficulty in getting healthcare access grants approved, the use of lockdowns to deal with staff shortages, unhygienic conditions in jails as well as poor access to cultural and spiritual programs.

Nova Scotia Justice Minister Barbara Adams acknowledged the staffing challenges in the correctional system in response to the report, and claimed that conditions are improving, highlighting the significant changes made in the hiring process.

The high rate of pre-trial detention highlighted in the report raises significant legal concerns with respect to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 11(e) of which provides the guarantee of the right not to be denied bail without just cause.

Additionally, in the cases of R v. Antic [2017] and R v. Myers [2019] the Supreme Court of Canada had emphasized that pre-trial release should be the norm, and that detention should be the exception. The court also concluded that detention can only be ordered when justified under section 515(10) of the Criminal Code. Moreover, section 525 of the Criminal Code requires a judicial review of an accused’s detention if the trial has not begun within 90 days.

This comes in the wake of the ruling last year by a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge who found it unlawful to lockdown inmates in provincial jails because of staff shortages. Additionally, a downtown Toronto court judge head as part of an agreed statement of facts last month that a teen girl was strip searched six times in custody. This also comes in the wake of the British Columbia Rights Commissioner’s report last month highlighting systemic inequalities in the province.