Could a recent ruling bring an end to routine strip searching in Canada?

20th June 2025Monika Lemke, PhD Candidate, York University

A recent court ruling on the routine use of in-custody strip searches of four teenage girls in youth detention found that the warrantless, standardless routine strip search of teenage prisoners is unreasonable, as is any law that authorizes it; Monika Lemke, PhD Candidate at Canada’s York University, believes the ruling importantly recognizes the goal of minimizing the use of strip searches in every context they are employed, and could have wider implications for Canadian policing generally.

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Could a recent ruling bring an end to routine strip searching in Canada?

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