CORCAN offender programming

CORCAN supports offender rehabilitation by providing employment programming and job skills training opportunities throughout an offender’s sentence. These opportunities help offenders to address employment and education needs in their correctional plan.

Assessing offender needs

When an offender arrives at a federal institution, they undergo an intake assessment. During this process, Correctional Service Canada (CSC) assesses, among other areas, their employment and education needs. These needs are then incorporated into the offender's correctional plan.

This plan:

• follows the offender through their incarceration and into the community 

• is reassessed and updated as needed

CD 705-6: Correctional planning and criminal profile provides more information about correctional planning in CSC.

Employment reduces the risk of reoffending

Research shows that offenders who find jobs in the community are almost 3 times less likely to return to CSC’s custody.

CORCAN contributes to offender rehabilitation by providing correctional interventions to address employment and educations needs. This includes:

• offering vocational training, apprenticeships, employability skills and more through the Employment and Employability Program (EEP) 
• providing a work environment that mimics private sector standards and a “real world” setting
• a range of employment services including transitional employment to help offenders find and maintain a job once they are released

On-the-job training, vocational training, and apprenticeships are provided by CORCAN to offenders in 36 federal correctional institutions and 6 community industry locations. Training is offered by CORCAN-operated industries under 5 business lines:

• manufacturing
• textiles
• services
• construction
• agriculture

While working on these business lines, offenders can earn vocational certifications, certified apprenticeship hours and gain soft skills related to employment. Soft skills include:

• communication
• teamwork
• dependability
• efficiency
• time management
• organization
• a good work ethic

To support offenders who want to earn apprenticeship hours, CORCAN works with the provincial governing bodies responsible for apprenticeship training, regulation and certification in each province. If offenders participate in apprenticeships offered, they can register the hours they work with CORCAN towards a trade. This helps offenders get the skills and certifications they need to secure a job upon their release.

Products and services delivered through CORCAN on-the-job training sites generate revenues. CORCAN fully reinvests these revenues in its employment and employability program to:

• sustain
• expand, and
• upgrade interventions to offenders

CORCAN's goal is to strive to better the programs offered and reinvest in offender rehabilitation and reintegration through these programs.

To learn more about the CORCAN business lines, and what kind of products are produced and offered, please navigate to the Products and Services page. Your regional sales representative can also help with any product inquiries.