Lockdown at Joyceville Institution due to ‘workplace health and safety issue’

A lockdown has been put in place at Joyceville Institution, a medium-security correctional facility just east of Kingston on Highway 15.

According to the Correctional Service of Canada, the lockdown was put in place on Wednesday, Mar. 4, 2020 “to resolve a workplace health and safety issue.”

“I can say that the issue is in relation to the Canada Labour Code, and that there are no injuries or health concerns to report,” said Kyle Lawlor, Acting Regional Communications Manager for CSC, when asked to expand on what the issue is. “CSC has contacted Employment and Social Development Canada to review the issue.”

CSC said it is “working to resolve the situation as soon as possible” in a press release on Thursday, Mar. 5, 2020. Visits to the Institution have been suspended, and normal operations will resume as soon as it is considered safe to do so.

Kingstonist will continue to look into this situation and provide updates if/when more information becomes available.