IQALUIT - Baffin Correctional Centre is severely overcrowded, so much so that inmates are being forced to sleep in the gymnasium.

The facility is designed to hold 66 inmates. On the night of March 14, there were 93 prisoners housed in the building, meaning that 27 people spent the night in the gym last week.

The inside of a jail cell at Baffin Correctional Centre. Nunavut's director of corrections says long remands are contributing to jail overcrowding. - NNSL file photo

"Our count is as high as it has ever been. We don't have a choice about how many people we receive," said Alan Hartley, Nunavut's director of corrections.

People being held on remand - awaiting a court date - account for a lot of the overflow. There were 42 remand inmates at BCC last week, and 57 sentenced inmates. Ten of the sentenced inmates were housed at the Uttaqivik community residential centre, Iqaluit's halfway house.

"One problem is how long remands are being held, and the whole country is facing this problem," said Hartley.

It is not uncommon to see names on the court dockets that have been on remand for longer than a year.

With 27 people sleeping in the gym, security becomes a concern for the BCC guards.

"It does create an extra dynamic, and we make adjustments. Whenever we open the gym (for inmates to sleep) there is an extra guard on," said Hartley.

With too many bodies in place, even basic things like meals become a problem. Like an overcrowded high school, BCC has inmates going to lunch in shifts.

"You don't want too many offenders in one place. As soon as you change that (the lunch schedule), you have to change other things too. It is a challenge," said Hartley.

A new territorial jail is scheduled to open in Rankin Inlet, it ‘s the light at the end of the tunnel for Hartley.

"It (the Rankin jail) will not only keep offenders closer to their home town, but it will relieve the numbers we are holding in BCC," said Hartley.

He is pleased with the performance of his staff under challenging circumstances.

"I sent out a congratulatory e-mail to our staff this morning. Staff are helping out the best they can," said Hartley.

Last July, BCC started housing women inmates in a separate area.

When there is a female inmate in custody, there is always a woman standing guard, creating another scheduling challenge.

"Because of the need for an additional staff member, they (the woman guards) are working more than they would like to. In addition to our need for (Nunavut Land Claim) beneficiary staff, who can speak the language and know the culture, we need female Inuit people," said Hartley.

There are five staff members on the floor at BCC during normal operations. When the gym is opened for sleeping, they add an extra guard.

When women are present, a woman guard is placed on the floor as well, making a total of seven staff members responsible for security, compared to as many as 93 inmates.

"We have shifted some inmates to the south and to the west. The higher risk offenders, we send to the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre, but they are as full as anybody. Offenders from the western Arctic can be sent to Yellowknife," said Hartley.