Correctional services

The Protecteur du citoyen is Québec’s correctional ombudsman. We handle complaints about:

• The 18 provincial correctional facilities;
• Courthouse holding cells;
• The Commission québécoise des libérations conditionnelles.

Are your rights or those of a detainee you know being breached? File a complaint with the Protecteur du citoyen.

COMPLAINT FORM

Examples of situations for which we can intervene

• Placed in isolation without valid reason;
• Deprived of family visits in the lounge or by mobile application (videoconference);
• Denied daily yard time;
• Denied access to a change of clothing;
• Repeated strip searches;
• Handcuffed without a valid reason when going from Point A to Point B within the correctional facility;
• Placed in isolation due to suicide risk, without being reassessed;
• Incarcerated in an unsanitary cell;
• Difficulty obtaining the assistance needed for presenting a discharge plan;
• Deprived of activities in the living area due to prolonged confinement;
• Lack of access - despite repeated requests - to the internal complaint form and procedure.

Does one of these situations apply to you? Contact our team.

We understand detention environments.
We handle complaints independently and have extensive local knowledge. We visit correctional facilities regularly. This means that we are particularly attentive to detainees’ living conditions.
In 2023-2024, we visited six correctional facilities: Montréal, Rivière-des-Prairies, Amos, Hull, Saint-Jérôme and Trois-Rivières.