The province has taken another step toward building a controversial prison in Eastern Ontario.

Last week it announced plans to spend as much as $22 million to expand the Water Pollution Control Plant in Kemptville, just outside Ottawa. The plant expansion will support construction of the Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex, and the province says it intends to enter a cost-share agreement with the Municipality of North Grenville for the work.

“This expansion is critical to helping build the jail in Kemptville,” said Solicitor General Michael Kerzner. “Today, we’re one step closer to getting the Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex done, while also improving water services for rural families and businesses.”

The jail project was first announced in 2020, and was floated as a solution to deal with overcrowding in Ottawa’s Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. The project has been earmarked for construction on a 72-hectare site once used by the former Kemptville Agricultural College. At the time, the cost of the project was pegged at $200 million, and completion was targeted for 2027.

Since then, however, the project stalled. The province has committed to “fully pay for the necessary infrastructure, including servicing the land for water and sewer, and any related road upgrades that would be required.”

Jail opponents say the project shouldn’t be built on prime agricultural land and argue that Kemptville will be left on the hook to pay the additional costs of policing and infrastructure.

None of that appears to have deterred the province, which intends to build two jails in the region: the Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex in Kemptville and the Brockville Correctional Complex. The St. Lawrence Valley Correctional and Treatment Centre will also be expanded to accommodate a women’s treatment unit and the Quinte Detention Centre will be expanded to add inmate programming and female capacity.

“I’m pleased that our government is delivering on its commitment to help build the infrastructure North Grenville requires to meet the needs of this fast-growing community, including the Correctional Complex,” said Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark.

The Eastern Ontario Correctional Complex will require a daily water flow rate of 250 cubic metres.