THUNDER BAY — The Ontario government has selected Ellis Don to build and maintain a new 345-bed multi-purpose correctional complex in Thunder Bay.
Infrastructure Ontario is now working to finalize contract details with the company.
The start and completion dates for the project are expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The contract cost has not yet been announced but a government estimate last year said it will range between $500 million and $1 billion.
The new facility will replace both the nearly-century-old district jail and the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre on Highway 61.
Ellis Don will design, build, finance and maintain it.
The district jail on McDougall Street is frequently crowded well beyond its designed capacity.
After touring the facility in 2019, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé called conditions in the jail the "most disturbing thing" he'd seen in his four years of service.
Dubé cited instances of four inmates being placed in cells meant for two people.
Plans to replace the district jail were first announced by the government of former Premier Kathleen Wynne in 2017.
It's been four years since a request for qualifications from interested contractors was issued.
The shortlist of two successful applicants wasn't released until three years later, in March 2021.
— TBNewswatch
