Province Adding Fifty New Beds at Thorold Facility Through Modular Build
Photo Caption: Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West, is joined at the Niagara Detention Centre in Thorold by Hon. Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General; Silvia Gualtieri, Parliamentary Assistant to the Solicitor General; Janet Laverty, Ministry Employee Relations Committee Co-chair, Ontario Public Service Employees Union; Paul Bergman, Executive Vice-President, Bird Construction; Jim Bradley, Chair of the Regional Municipality of Niagara, and Terry Ugulini, Mayor of the City of Thorold, along with frontline correctional workers and members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
NEWS
July 17, 2025
THOROLD – As part of its plan to protect Ontario and keep communities safe, the Ontario government is investing more than $180 million to increase capacity at correctional facilities across the province, including the Niagara Detention Centre in Thorold. The expansion in Thorold will lead to fifty new local beds, providing frontline staff the space they need to do their jobs safely.
"This significant investment in public safety - including the plans to increase correctional capacity at the Niagara Detention Centre in Thorold - is another example of how our government is protecting communities and protecting Ontario," said Sam Oosterhoff, MPP for Niagara West.
"This expansion will help improve public safety in Niagara and provide frontline correctional staff with a safe, secure and modern workplace."
"Our government is taking decisive action to protect Ontario and keep dangerous and repeat offenders off our streets," said Hon. Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General.
"By expanding correctional facilities and bringing new beds online faster, we are strengthening our ability to hold criminals accountable and ensure that inmates serve their sentences in secure, modern spaces."
Bird Construction has been awarded the contract to design and build the innovative modular expansion in Thorold, with construction scheduled to begin in 2026. In addition to new beds, the expanded facility will offer enhanced rehabilitation programs, including literacy, job skills and technology training.
"Ontario is modernizing its procurement processes and using innovative construction methods to help speed up the delivery of essential infrastructure," said Hon. Kinga Surma, Minister of Infrastructure.
"By expanding the Niagara Detention Centre, our government is enhancing the safety, capacity and sustainability of the province's correctional system. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, we are delivering on our more than $200 billion plan to build the infrastructure our province needs to support strong and safe communities, keep workers on the job and drive economic growth."
In addition to the new beds at the Niagara Detention Centre, the province-wide investment includes expanded space at the Cecil Facer Youth Centre in Sudbury and Vanier Centre for Women in Milton.
Quick Facts:
- Since 2024, 110 additional beds have been added to adult correctional facilities across the province, with 665 more to be added by the end of 2026.
- The modular build facilities are delivered through Infrastructure Ontario which aims to deliver projects more efficiently using accelerated procurement processes and modular construction methods.
- Similar infrastructure expansion projects at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre and Kenora Jail were completed in Fall 2022.
- By 2028, the Cecil Facer Youth Centre in Sudbury will be repurposed into an adult correctional facility to provide additional capacity and programming in northern Ontario.
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