By Kezia Royer-Burkett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The concerns about conditions at Maplehurst Correctional Complex are not new. Families and lawyers have been raising concerns about conditions inside the Milton facility for years, and those concerns are now being examined as part of an Ombudsman Ontario investigation that has been ongoing for more than a year after it was launched in June 2025.
The Ombudsman’s office has confirmed that the investigation remains ongoing but said it cannot comment on the matter while the investigation is underway.
“The investigation is still in progress, and we do not comment on ongoing investigations. We are also not able to comment on individual complaints or confirm whether or not specific complaints have been received, for reasons of confidentiality,” the Ombudsman’s office said.
The scale of complaints involving Ontario’s correctional system is outlined in the Ombudsman’s annual report. In 2025, the office received 5,960 complaints and inquiries about Ontario correctional facilities. The most common concerns included overcrowding, lockdowns, access to health care, and the use of force by correctional officers and crisis response teams. The report also states that approximately 80% of people in provincial jails are awaiting trial and have not been convicted.
For families who have loved ones inside Maplehurst, the ongoing investigation has become a source of frustration, particularly as they continue to describe what they say are serious conditions inside the facility while waiting for answers.
One family member reported that an inmate had been in custody for 17 days but had only been out of their cell for six of those days, spending the remaining time on lockdown. Another family member reported that an inmate had been in custody for 102 days and had allegedly spent 92 of those days on lockdown.
Other allegations provided to Burlington Local-News.ca include an inmate being punched in the face and suffering a broken cheekbone but not receiving medical treatment. Another report described an inmate being forced to remain overnight in a cell with another inmate experiencing a severe mental health crisis. According to the family member, the inmate in crisis was urinating, defecating, and vomiting inside the cell.
There are also allegations that an inmate had a tooth knocked out by a correctional officer and that inmates have experienced physical and verbal abuse from correctional officers. More recently, the same family member raised concerns about an inmate who they said suffered a seizure without receiving medical intervention. The family member said the inmate is a 34-year-old diabetic who suffered an orbital bone injury and had still not been taken to the hospital.
Burlington Local-News.ca has not independently verified these allegations. Several family members and inmates have expressed concerns about being identified publicly, citing fears of potential retaliation from correctional officers or staff at Maplehurst. The Ministry of the Solicitor General, however, disputes at least some of the claims, including allegations concerning prolonged lockdowns.
For Alison Craig, a founding partner of Posner Craig Stein who represents clients held at Maplehurst, the larger issue is not simply what happens to people while they are incarcerated. She said there needs to be greater consideration of what happens to those individuals after they leave correctional facilities and return to their communities.
“The majority of the public sort of thinks, ‘Well, they’re just a bunch of criminals in there, so who really cares if they deserve it?’ One, most of the people at Maplehurst are presumed innocent and awaiting trial.”
Craig said that even people who are eventually convicted will ultimately return to the community.
“These are people that regardless are going to be released into the community at some point,” she said.
Craig said she has represented clients who developed serious mental health consequences as a result of their experiences at Maplehurst.
“I’ve had several clients with diagnoses [of] post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being in a jail,” she said.
Craig believes those experiences can make rehabilitation more difficult and potentially increase the challenges facing people after their release.
“That’s only going to add to their level of risk and ability to effectively rehabilitate,” she stated.
“So regardless of what you think of criminals, they’re going to be back in your community,” Craig said. “And so they should be given the treatment and treated with the respect that one would hope will prevent them from reoffending.”
During the interview, Craig also questioned how quickly the system can respond when an inmate’s circumstances are deteriorating, particularly when complaints are directed toward an investigative body whose work can take considerable time.
“They’re saying, ‘Oh, if you have any complaints, you can take it to the Ombudsman,’” Craig said. “But you can be dead…by the time they’re done with the investigation.”
The Ministry of the Solicitor General, however, has defended the government’s approach to corrections and pointed to significant investments being made across Ontario over the next ten years.
“Our government is taking action and making record investments to expand and modernize corrections infrastructure across the province,” the ministry said.
The ministry said that includes a $3 billion investment intended to add more than 2,500 permanent jail beds in new and expanded facilities over the next decade.
“Our $3 billion investment is on top of the 700 new correctional staff we are adding across the system, including correctional officers, nurses, and critical support workers,” the ministry said.
When asked specifically about reports of prolonged lockdowns at Maplehurst, the ministry disputed the suggestion.
The ministry said, “…the suggestion that some inmates at Maplehurst Correctional Complex have been held in lockdown for weeks at a time is inaccurate.”
That response conflicts with accounts Burlington Local-News.ca has received from family members of people in custody, who have raised concerns about how much time their loved ones are allegedly spending inside their cells.
Craig’s law firm is also involved in a class action lawsuit connected to Maplehurst, adding another legal avenue through which concerns about the facility are being challenged.
As the Ombudsman investigation continues, Craig said she believes the response needs to go beyond reports and recommendations that may not result in meaningful change. When asked what she would tell the Ombudsman as the investigation continues, Craig did not mince words.
“Come down hard,” she said. “Issuing reports with a slap on the hand isn’t working. There needs to be much more extreme action taken.”
For the families waiting outside Maplehurst, the Ombudsman investigation represents the possibility of answers to questions they have been asking for years. But until the investigation is complete and its findings are released, families continue to rely on phone calls, visits, and information from their loved ones to understand what is happening inside the facility.
The investigation may ultimately provide a clearer picture of conditions inside Maplehurst, but for the people currently in custody and the families waiting for them, the need for answers remains immediate.
