Fifty-Three New Correctional Officers Graduate

Province Hiring More Frontline Workers to Help Keep Correctional Facilities Safe

The Voice of Canada News:

Ontario’s Government for the People is improving the province’s adult correctional system by hiring 53 new correctional officer graduates.

“Correctional officers are essential partners in Ontario’s justice system and perform a great service that contributes to community safety across the province,” said Sylvia Jones, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. “I would like to congratulate every person graduating this week for their hard work and commitment.”

The officers will be assigned across Ontario to 15 different institutions. Of the 53 new correctional officers, nine come from communities across Northern Ontario and will be deployed to institutions in Northern Ontario.

“Correctional officers from the North, trained in the North and serving at institutions in the North are uniquely qualified to help inmates in the North rebuild their lives and reduce the risk of re-offending,” said Jones.

Graduates successfully completed the Correctional Officer Training and Assessment (COTA) program – a comprehensive eight-week program that includes mental health training, Indigenous cultural training, inmate management techniques and ongoing training and job coaching following deployment.

QUICK FACTS

The new correctional officers will be deployed to: Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre, Central East Correctional Centre, Central North Correctional Centre, Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre, Kenora Jail, Maplehurst Correctional Complex, Monteith Correctional Complex, Niagara Detention Centre, Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre, Quinte Detention Centre, Thunder Bay Correctional Centre, Thunder Bay Jail, Toronto East Detention Centre, Toronto South Detention Centre, and Vanier Centre for Women.

There are 25 adult correctional facilities in Ontario.

The average number of adults in custody across the province in 2017-18 was 7,474 per day.