This is a listing of reported incidents in past and present youth detention centers in Canada by province and territory including abuse allegations, Sexual assault, suicides and deaths, strip searches, segregation practices, lawsuits, Riots, escapes, use of restraints, and more.
Between 2009 and 2012 internal videos captured at least ten uses of a full-body restraint known as âÂÂthe Wrapâ at Paul Dojack Youth Centre and Kilburn Hall Youth Centre. Five incidents involved the same youth, named Matthew Michel. One video from August 2010 from Paul Dojack showed 15 year-old Michel restrained for more than three hours while he begged for death. In another moment in the video, the staff shook him by one of the straps to ensure he could not fall asleep, saying "If I'm not sleeping, you aren't sleeping." In another case a video of an excessive force incident was erased after 30 days, preventing a full investigation.
On July 30, 2015, Kilburn Hall Youth Centre 17-year-old Timothy Unger was taken from the centre to the hospital after complaining of feeling unwell and was pronounced dead early the next morning. Foul play was not suspected. A public inquest opened in November 2017 after earlier postponements.
On July 27, 2013 four males aged 14 to 17 took place in a riot at the Prince Albert Youth Residence. They were charged with assault with a weapon, assault of a peace officer, and taking part in a riot.
between the 1960s and the mid-1980s Karl Toft was a guard at the New Brunswick Training School. He was convicted of 34 sex crimes against inmates but he has admitted to raping over 200 boys in a 35-year period, he served 10 years in prison. Other guards have been alleged to have also raped boys at Kingsclear.
In late 2024 two staff members at the Manitoba Youth Centre faced charges involving sexual offences against youth in custody.
In November 2024, a 51-year-old counsellor was charged with sexual assault, sexual exploitation and obtaining sexual services from a person under 18. police alleged he formed a relationship with a female inmate between 2022 and 2023 and provided extra canteen items in exchange for the sexual assault. The next month a 26-year-old female corrections officer was charged with sexual assault and sexual exploitation after an investigation. She was released on bail.
It is alleged that a former First Nations chief and band administrator, who previously worked as a counsellor at the Agassiz Youth Centre sexually abused teenage boys in the 1960s and 1970s.
Youth in Manitoba detention centres experienced extended solitary confinement that sometimes went on for weeks especially during COVID-19.
Kyle Young was a 16-year-old who died on January 22, 2004, after falling five stories down an elevator shaft in the young offenders section of a courthouse while in custody. Young was handcuffed and in leg shackles and was being escorted by two guards when he reportedly squirmed and threatened the guards, leading to a struggle near the elevator doors. A guard testified that he held Young by the neck against the elevator door corner, but the door suddenly opened, causing Young to fall to his death. Nobody was charged in relation to his death.
The Nova Scotia Youth Centre sexual abuse class action was launched against the attorney general of Nova Scotia on behalf of youth who lived at the facility between June 20, 1988, and 31 December 2017. The claim alleges that officials knew or should have known about repeated sexual misconduct by a staff member but failed to act, allowing the abuse to continue for decades.
Former swim instructor Donald Douglas Williams, faces 66 sex related charges for offences alleged to have occurred at the Nova Scotia Youth Centre between 1989 and 2015. The counts comprise three of sexual assault causing bodily harm, 28 of sexual assault, 32 of sexual exploitation, one of sexual interference, one of invitation to sexual touching, and one of assault. The Operation Headwind investigation interviewed more than 450 survivors and witnesses and examined over 9,800 documents. Police have spoken with more than 70 male complainants and estimate the total number of victims could reach 200. He is released on bail.
In July 2016, a riot happened inside of the Burnaby Youth Custody Centre. It lasted 6 hours. There was damaged property, including smashed windows and microwaves, broken sprinkler heads which flooded parts of the unit, and fires.
According to a British Columbia Supreme Court ruling, a boy was 14 years old in the late 1970s when he was sentenced to probation for a breaking and entering offence. As a probation condition, he was required to tour the Oakalla prison, where the court found he was sexually assaulted after a corrections officer directed him into a cell with five inmates.
Minors were sexually abused in Oakalla Prison by Roderic David MacDougall. although it is not a youth detention centre, in British Columbia the youth system often only covered those up to age 15. Roderic David MacDougall was an officer at Oakalla from 1976 to 1990. He was accused of sexually assaulting over 200 inmates across multiple facilities, with many incidents involving coercion and extortion of young prisoners. Reports started in 1980, but he continued working until resigning in 1997. In 2000, MacDougall was convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault and indecent assault. He served 3 years and 7 months in prison. His sentence drew some criticism in the public for being lenient. Civil claims have alleged provincial negligence.
None reported as of March 2026.
None reported as of March 2026.
None reported as of March 2026.