Dignity and Mental Health in Jails Act, 2025
Sponsored by Collard, Lucille · First Reading Ordered for Second Reading
- Requires new or renovated correctional institutions to have at least 20 percent of inmate beds in mental health support units
- Prohibits cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment of inmates
- Bans overly rigorous physical restraints, excessive surveillance, sensory deprivation and disorientation of inmates
- Prohibits withholding food, exercise, human contact or medical care as punishment
- Requires superintendents to ensure treatment complies with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- Bans segregation, defined as highly restricted movement and association for 22 or more hours a day
- Creates an Independent Review Panel to review cases of inmates held in restrictive confinement