Ontario’s new, state-of-the-art forensic facility will allow for continuing education, future programmatic growth, and for the recruitment and retention of highly specialized staff, contributing to the advancement and evolution of forensic science and medicine.

As part of a long-term strategy to renew public infrastructure, the Province of Ontario is moving forward into the final design development stage to create a new state-of-the-art forensic facility, the Forensic Services and Coroner’s Complex (FSCC). In order to capitalize on economies of scale, the new facility will co-locate a full service crime lab and a medico-legal death investigation service. The Centre of Forensic Sciences (CFS), the Office of the Chief Coroner (OCC), and the Ontario Forensic Pathology Service (OFPS) will occupy the facility.All contribute to the public safety network within Ontario’s Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services (MCSCS) and support the provincial criminal justice system. Currently, these services are provided in two adjacent, aging facilities in Toronto,Ontario, that were built in the early 1970s. The FSCC will be located in Toronto on an existing provincial government campus which is now being developed for full utilization. Construction of the five story, approximate 550,000 gsf facility is scheduled to commence in mid 2010. The site will also be home to several other multiministry buildings.

Statistics and the Region
Located in east-central Canada, the province of Ontario is populated with over 13,000,000 people across an area of 1,000,000 km² (415,000 mi²), or about 50% larger in area than Texas. Approximately 5.5 million residents live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Coroners in Ontario are licensed medical doctors and conduct approximately 20,000 death investigations annually for the OCC. About one third of the investigations occur within the GTA. Legislation described in the Coroners Act, RSO 2009, provides the framework and authority to investigate deaths under defined circumstances. Coroners are also responsible for conducting public inquests to advance public safety with the aim of preventing similar deaths. These public forums have resulted in positive changes to provincial legislation, policy, and procedures, as well as contributing to advances in product development. Out of the 20,000 investigations, OFPS pathologists perform approximately 7,000 medico-legal autopsies throughout Ontario, including 1,500 conducted at the Provincial Forensic Pathology Unit (PFPU) in Toronto. The head office for the OCC and OFPS (including the PFPU) are currently located in the Toronto facility. Cases from Toronto requiring autopsy are brought to the PFPU, along with homicides and other criminally suspicious cases from the GTA. High profile cases from across Ontario are often processed at this location. As a service to the Department of National Defense and the Canadian Forces, autopsies are performed at the PFPU on Canadian military personnel that are killed abroad while serving on active duty.

The CFS, Ontario’s provincial crime lab, is accredited by the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB). This full service crime lab provides independent, scientific expertise and testing in biology, chemistry, firearms and tool marks, toxicology, questioned documents, photo analysis, electronics, and digital evidence in cases involving injury or death in unusual circumstances, and in crimes against persons or property. The CFS also provides forensic science services to the OCC and OFPS. The central laboratory is situated in Toronto, with a smaller Northern Regional Lab located in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.