TORONTO - Nearly 270 people have died in Canadian provincial jails over the past five years. Two-thirds of them were legally innocent. The high number of deaths among prisoners awaiting trial, compiled by Reuters from data provided by provincial governments, is the result of some of the world's toughest bail practices that have led to overcrowding in jails, according to lawyers, prison officers and prisoner rights advocates. While the growing population of prisoners awaiting trial has been well documented, the disproportionate death toll in provincial jails has not.

.@Reuters analysis shows people are more likely to die in Canada's provincial jails if they are legally innocent: https://t.co/jZ42dqF07Opic.twitter.com/8smPlswLPg — Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 3, 2017

Canadians are dying in prisons here in Canada on a regular basis and it gets very little attention. Provincial governments declined to identify the dead, citing privacy concerns. Interviews, inquest documents and news reports, however, show the deceased prisoners awaiting trial ranged from young parents who had breached bail conditions to people with chronic mental illness jailed for uttering threats; from accused murderers to addicts jailed for theft or drug-related charges. Reuters examined deaths in provincial jails from January 2012 through July 2017 for seven of 10 Canadian provinces. Of the remaining three, one had no deaths and the other two did not provide data broken down by custodial status. The review found that 174 people died in provincial jails while awaiting trial, compared to 80 who died while serving sentences. These figures are high even when one takes into account the disproportionate number of pre-trial detainees in jails: People awaiting trial comprised 56 per cent of all inmates in these provinces over that time period, but 65 per cent of the dead. "Canadians are dying in prisons here in Canada on a regular basis and it gets very little attention," said lawyer Kevin Egan, who represents several inmates suing Ontario's provincial government over conditions in their jails.

Handout . / Reuters Toronto South Detention Centre pictured in this handout photo obtained by Reuters May 2, 2017.

All the provinces Reuters spoke with said inmate and officer safety are their top priority and that they take all in-custody deaths seriously. The office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's justice minister declined to comment, noting that the jails were the responsibility of the provincial governments. Prisoners awaiting trial accounted for 59 per cent of the total number of inmates in provincial jails in 2015, up from 27 per cent in 1995, according to Statistics Canada. By comparison, people who have not been convicted make up about 20 per cent of inmates in state and local institutions in the United States, according to the U.S. advocacy group, the Prison Policy Initiative. 'We're not just covering our butts' High-profile crimes committed by people on bail and politicians' "tough-on-crime" rhetoric have created a risk-averse climate among prosecutors, said Simon Fraser University criminologist Nicole Myers. But the president of the Canadian Association of Crown Counsel, which represents prosecutors, disputes that. "We're not just covering our butts when we're considering bail," Rick Woodburn said. "Each time a Crown attorney releases somebody, it's on them. It's on them when (the accused goes) back out and they commit another crime. It's the No. 1 thing that weighs on a Crown attorney's mind," he said. The governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia told Reuters they were reviewing their penal systems in an effort to reduce the number of people locked up while awaiting trial. Several said they were also trying to improve jail procedures to ensure better care of prisoners.

Handout . / Reuters Winnipeg Remand Centre, a pre-trial detention centre pictured in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in this handout photo obtained by Reuters May 10, 2017.

Manitoba, which launched a review after a spate of deaths at a pre-trial detention center last year, is the only province investigating deaths among prisoners awaiting trial. In neighboring Saskatchewan, each in-custody death is reviewed on a case-by-case basis, Justice Ministry spokesman Noel Busse wrote in an email. "At this time, the Ministry has not done an in-depth analysis of why there are more deaths in remand custody than there are in sentenced custody," he said Seventy-five per cent of deaths in custody in Saskatchewan over the past five years have involved prisoners awaiting trial, the Reuters review shows. 'He was at risk' When Adam Reed, 30, arrived at Ontario's North Bay jail in November 2012, charged with assault and violating his bail conditions, the intake officer noted that Reed said he had recently attempted suicide, an inquest into Reed's death later heard. A nurse evaluated Reed and did not deem him a suicide risk, according to inquest documents. She told the inquest she had not received the intake officer's notes. Only hours after being arrested, Reed was found hanging from his cell door. Reed, who was an alcoholic, had said if he ever went back to jail he would take his life, his godmother Suzanne Lajambe told Reuters. "So we were aware he was at risk. You always believe that when they suffer from addiction they're better off and safer in custody than on their own. We believed that. Until that happened." In response to the inquest, the jail implemented a new suicide screening procedure, a spokesman for Ontario Corrections Minister Marie-France Lalonde said.

Toronto Star via Getty Images Yasir Naqvi, Ontario's minister of community safety and correctional services, speaks at a news conference at Queen's Park, October 28, 2015.

Almost as many people died in Ontario jails in the first half of this year (13) as died in all of last year (14), provincial data shows. All but two were prisoners awaiting trial. Ontario Attorney-General Yasir Naqvi told Reuters he wanted to end the "churn" of people cycling in and out of the penal system. "People, especially those who are low-risk and vulnerable, can be released under supervision as opposed to being remanded," he said. Causes of death Reuters traced the causes of death for 148 of the 174 cases through inquests, government data interviews and news reports. Of those: 50 were suicides

34 were by natural causes, which includes illnesses and health conditions

Nine were drug- or alcohol-related

Four were homicides

Four were accidental

One followed an altercation with prison officers

46 were designated "undetermined" by provincial governments, which means an investigation is ongoing or an inquest is pending Several factors have created the conditions for the high body count, lawyers, former inmates and former corrections officers say.

Handout / Reuters Suspects picked up on minor charges are also sometimes housed alongside those with a history of violence.