The federal government is shining a light on incarcerated people in Saskatchewan, with a focus on helping Indigenous offenders.
Correctional Service of Canada launched a facility called the Saskatoon Community Industry on Thursday.
“We’re just launching our five-year initiative that started last year with some enhancing of employment opportunities for skills training inside some of our institutions in the Prairie region,” said Kelly Hartle, with CSC.
The facility is the first of its kind in the Prairies.
With interactive stations, its purpose is to give offenders hands-on skills training, such as construction projects.
Hartle stressed the importance of giving offenders the tools to integrate back into society.
“They come here just like the regular job. Part of this is to help them build employability skills and to build some confidence,” she said.
Canada’s prison watchdog, Ivan Zinger, has argued in the past the work Canadian inmates usually do in prisons, isn’t preparing them for life on the outside.
CSC argued the construction industry is booming and there is a need for this kind of training.
The plan is to build a similar facility in Edmonton in 2019.
