Commissioner's update for offenders and their families: April 7, 2025

On April 7, we recognize World Health Day. This year’s theme is: “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures”. It emphasizes the health of mothers and children as the foundation of healthy families and communities, helping to ensure a hopeful future for all of us.

It’s a good reminder that taking care of yourself and making healthy choices can help with your successful reintegration into the community. Please reach out to Health Services if you have questions or concerns about your physical or mental health.

I also want to highlight the work that is being done by inmates involved in the CORCAN Firewood Initiative at Saskatchewan Penitentiary.

The initiative has been around since 2023. Since it started, the program has produced 128 cords of firewood. A cord is the unit in which firewood is measured – a well-stacked woodpile that is 4-feet high, 8-feet wide, and 4-feet deep. The firewood produced at Saskatchewan Penitentiary is then used in National Parks or in Indigenous ceremonies at institutions, and community sweat lodges across the prairies. This initiative is a unique way to earn certifications in skills like skid steering and forklift operation.

I encourage you to ask about what opportunities for employment training are available at your institution. The skills and experience you can gain can help you find employment upon your release.