News-July-19-2026
July 19, 2026 — Reporting on an Ontario class action alleged that the province's SAFER prisoner-risk algorithm disproportionately assigns Black prisoners to maximum-security conditions.[1][2]
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Ontario class action challenges AI prisoner-risk scoring
The Breach reported that Ontario has used the Security Assessment for Evaluating Risk, or SAFER, since early 2021 to assign prisoners a score from 0 to 100 using information including arrest, charge, and disciplinary records; the score affects minimum-, medium-, or maximum-security placement.[1] A class action filed by Koskie Minsky LLP in 2025 alleges that SAFER violates Black prisoners' equality rights under the Canadian Charter and that Ontario failed to adopt for Black prisoners mitigation measures used for Indigenous and women prisoners.[1][2] Government data analyzed by University of Toronto criminologist Scot Wortley showed that Black people were 5.4 percent of Ontario's population but nearly 27 percent of prisoners assigned to maximum security from 2022 through 2025.[1] Internal ministry training documents reviewed by The Breach acknowledged that risk assessments such as SAFER could contribute to overrepresentation of Indigenous and racialized prisoners in maximum security.[1] Mashable reported that Ontario's Ombudsman had received complaints about disproportionate effects on Black and Indigenous prisoners and that a ministry review of SAFER was ongoing.[2]