Commissioner's update for correctional employees: January 6, 2025

Happy New Year to each and every one of you. I hope you took advantage of the holiday season to rest and spend quality time with your loved ones.

Thank you to those who continued to work during the holidays to maintain our operations. A true sign of dedication.

Helping less fortunate families

Atlantic Institution has again provided supports to less fortunate families in their community for this past holiday season. AI supported 15 families, which included 38 kids from 6 different schools locally. All families have been provided with clothing and presents to place under the tree and full turkey dinners. Thank you to all the staff who participated.

Health Centre of Excellence

Our organization wrapped up 2024 with a major milestone. In December, the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs, joined us in Dorchester, New Brunswick to announce the results of the Request for Qualifications stage of the Health Centre of Excellence facility. I was honoured to attend this event. 

This new facility will provide a wide range of health care services for CSC’s complex and diverse offender profile. It will also allow our staff to work more effectively in a modern and secure environment.

I encourage you to read more about this project:

• Major milestone reached in Correctional Service of Canada’s Health Centre of Excellence - Canada.ca

National Ribbon Skirt Day

January 4 was National Ribbon Skirt Day, an opportunity to raise awareness of and celebrate Indigenous culture, traditions, histories and contributions to our country.

For centuries, ribbon skirts have been worn in ceremonies or at special events. They are an important part of Indigenous women’s identity and heritage, representing a person’s unique diversity and strength. They are worn with pride, including at marches across the country in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Ribbon Skirt Day commemorates the experience of 11-year-old Isabella Kulak who was shamed for wearing her ribbon skirt to school in 2020. The incident sparked a wave of support from thousands of people around the world and inspired Manitoba Senator, Mary Jane McCallum, and Jenica Atwin, Member of Parliament for Fredericton, to advocate for this day.

This is an important reminder of the need to combat discrimination and racism.                                      

Indigenous employees who wish to speak with someone can call the Hope for Wellness Help Line. Counsellors are available any time, night or day, seven days a week.

CSC's Departmental Results Report

The Departmental Results Report for 2023 to 2024 has now been tabled.

Celebrating our progress is crucial and I wanted to take the opportunity to acknowledge some positive results related to women offenders. 

Over the years, we have seen a shift in the women offender population. Women, and especially Indigenous women, are the fastest growing population in corrections with increasingly diverse and complex needs. I recognize that this has put some pressures on our population management and interventions. Despite the increase in population and its changing profile, we are seeing good results for women:

• 96.2% of women offenders have not been readmitted to federal custody within five years after the end of their sentence
• the median number of days spent in SIUs was 6
• 82.1% of women offenders completed vocational training prior to first release

Thank you to all the staff who continue to help change the lives of offenders in our care and custody while keeping Canadians safe.