Lockdown rooms could become a feature of Ontario’s youth custody facilities. Proposed amendments to the provincial Child, Youth and Family Services Act would give the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services the authority to prescribe standards for locked rooms and the circumstances under which young offenders could be confined within them.

Authority for this new detention option is included in the omnibus Bill 119, introduced in the Ontario legislative assembly earlier this week, which contains amendments to 16 different provincial statutes. Currently, the Act allows only for young offenders who are in a secure treatment program for mental health disorders to be held in a locked room that’s separate from the larger population of the facility. A government backgrounder, released with the tabling on the Bill, suggests that’s inadequate to “manage high-risk safety incidents” that may arise.

Canada’s federal Youth Criminal Justice Act stipulates that any detention within a locked rooms must be explicitly authorized and in adherence with human rights laws. The proposed changes to Ontario’s law would specify that such authority rests with “a person in charge” of a secure custody facility (i.e. not a group home) and can be applied only in prescribed circumstances and via prescribed procedures.

Those triggering circumstances and required procedures would be specified in future regulations once the bill is adopted. However, the Ontario government backgrounder offers an example scenario.

“There may be need for staff to temporarily place youth in secured areas (rooms with lockable doors) during a facility-wide weapons search,” it states. “The changes would help ensure front-line staff in secure youth justice facilities have the appropriate tools and resources to keep everyone safe.”

The public can submit comments on the proposed legislation via Ontario’s regulatory registry until June 24, 2026.