In the News
April 17, 2024
Being a correctional officer is a dangerous job on most days, but has been getting worse, according to the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, which represents guards in federal prisons across the country.
April 17, 2024
B.C. prisons are facing a wave of violence unseen by even veteran correctional officers, spurred by drone drops of drugs and weapons, and the union representing guards says it’s worsening a mental health crisis among its members.
April 17, 2024
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers says prisons have become “overwhelmed” by a surge in drone drops of weapons and drugs, driving a wave of violence in correctional facilities.
March 5, 2024
« Razor blades taped to a tin can, slicing a correctional officer’s hand. Rene Howe says it happened last week at a federal prison in the Maritimes – an incident, he says, that has become the norm.»
February 6, 2024
Site has been used zero times since opening at the end of November
December 15, 2023
Correctional officers in medium and maximum prisons in B.C. are fighting an uphill battle, stretched thin trying to combat daily drone deliveries of drugs, weapons and cellphones, according to their union.
November 9, 2023
Violence and drug overdoses are on the rise at the medium-security Mountain Institution, says the union
November 2, 2023
The union representing federal prison guards is renewing its call to scrap the needle exchange program in Canada’s correctional centres.
November 3, 2023
A second inmate has suddenly passed away at an Agassiz, B.C. prison just a week after the last, sparking renewed calls for the removal of a needle program.
November 3, 2023
Two people have died from overdoses in a week at the Mountain Institution in Agassiz, B.C.
October 30, 2023
'It's just an expansion of the status quo,' says correctional officers' union
October 3, 2023
It might seem counterintuitive to learn that a site where inmates can use illegal drugs under medical supervision will be open soon inside Collins Bay Institution.
September 11, 2023
Advocate says the program isn't condoning drug use, it's 'anti-overdose'
July 11, 2023
Eighty per cent of Correctional Service Canada workers deal with work-related stress due to pay and compensation-related issues
June 22, 2023
Correctional Service Canada says it has 'counter-drone' measures, but won't provide details
May 6, 2023
According to John Randle of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, 75 per cent of all contraband seizures are the result of drone drops.
April 25, 2023
The family of a Mission corrections officer fought his federal employer for compensation after he contracted COVID at work
March 9, 2022
Officers across Canada have started covering their badges with tape while working inside the prisons to send a message of discontent to their employer, Correctional Service Canada (CSC). UCCO regional president Rene Howe said it didn’t become an issue until the officers wore the tape in public while escorting prisoners for medical appointments and other duties.
March 3, 2022
Fraser Valley corrections officers who have been victims of workplace harassment say they’re better off staying silent than speaking out against an abusive boss.
August 11, 2021
“These radars will facilitate more efficient detection of drones overflying the penitentiaries, which would be a step in the right direction,” Frédérick Lebeau, president of UCCO-SACC–CSN for the region of Quebec, said in a press release issued by the union.
August 5, 2021
«Ces radars vont permettre une détection plus efficace des drones survolant les pénitenciers, ce qui est un pas dans la bonne direction», de préciser Frédérick Lebeau, président de la région du Québec pour UCCO-SACC–CSN
June 22, 2021
« Durant la COVID, il n’y avait pas de visiteurs autorisés, mais on faisait quand même des saisies », a expliqué Frédérick Lebeau, président de la région du Québec au Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada-CSN. « Il faut que ça vienne de quelque part », a-t-il ajouté.
June 14, 2021
«C'est un enjeu de sécurité publique. Des pénitenciers en milieu urbain, il y en a beaucoup. On ne veut pas qu'il arrive d'incidents malheureux. Si on se fait livrer une arme à feu en établissement et qu'on est victime d'une évasion, ça peut être la sécurité du public qui est en danger»
June 13, 2021
«On a quand même une augmentation qui est là, c’est de plus en plus la mode que les détenus s’en servent pour l’introduction de stupéfiants et de contrebande», a souligné Yan Garneau, agent correctionnel au pénitencier de Donnacona. Armes blanches, cellulaires, stupéfiants, les objets livrés aux détenus sont nombreux, mais les outils pour les stopper ne le sont pas, croit Frédérick Lebeau, porte-parole du syndicat pour la région de Québec.
June 13, 2021
Les détenus ont trouvé comment enlever les fenêtres de leur mastic et enlever toute la structure de la fenêtre. On a des livraisons qui se font directement à la cellule. Même Uber Eats n’est pas capable de faire ça, lance Frédérick Lebeau.
June 13, 2021
«Il y a un enjeu majeur, un problème de livraison à l’intérieur de nos pénitenciers. C’est trop facile. Il faut que ça devienne plus difficile», dénonce Frédérick Lebeau, président du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada pour la région de Québec.
June 4, 2021
« Le moral est vraiment bas. Comme dans la population, il y a une fatigue COVID qui s’installe et qui est exacerbée par l’écosystème explosif dans lequel vit. Il y a des agents qui ont travaillé très fort depuis le début. À Laval, on a perdu presque les trois quarts de nos employés tellement c’était difficile », lâche le président québécois du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada (SACC-CSN), Frédérick Lebeau.
May 18, 2021
Le nombre d’heures que les détenus passent en dehors de leurs cellules a été considérablement réduit, explique le président régional du Syndicat des agents correctionnels canadiens pour les Prairies, James Bloomfield. Il ajoute que certaines activités comme regarder la télévision sont désormais limitées aux cellules, mais que les pratiques peuvent néanmoins différer d’un établissement à l’autre, selon l’état de la situation.
May 14, 2021
James Bloomfield with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said he had hoped guards would be vaccinated at the same time as inmates, just as staff in long-term care homes were vaccinated along with residents.
May 4, 2021
Jeff Wilkins, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said his members in the federal system “are threatened with violence, or in fact assaulted verbally or physically,” every day.
March 15, 2021
Et pour illustrer le risque engendré par ce transfert, le président du conseil syndical de la région du Québec, Frédérick Lebeau, a raconté que la veille de son opération de changement de sexe, Jamie Boulachanis était escortée de six agents armés, ainsi que de policiers. « Le lendemain, puisqu’elle était devenue une femme, les agents étaient moins nombreux et non armés. »
March 12, 2021
"It starts to get tense when you're locked-down for close to a year now in different forms and this takes that to another level," James Bloomfield with the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers said. "The true reality is that it is very tense." But Bloomfield says he believes living standards are still being tended to. "We will do our best to maintain that level of care for everybody in the facility. That does not drop, but what does drop is the level of movement ability."
March 8, 2021
However, Robert Finucan said there has been an issue with a small group of inmates who are "very problematic." "They take a lot of time and energy to deal with them. We've been asking, as a union, for a … unit where the problematic women from this sector can go and be managed better," said Finucan.
March 8, 2021
The sentiment was echoed by Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, who said the union condemns any form of harassment or assault by its members.
February 5, 2021
"They've left out the frontline portion of corrections, which is the correctional officers in this. We are within these facilities every day, working frontline every day and working 24-7 with positive cases all over the place," Bloomfield told CTV News.
January 30, 2021
Derek Chin, President of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers for the Pacific Region says ongoing visits undermine efforts to keep COVID-19 out of the prison. “We’ve been questioning a lot of the decisions made on continuing on with visits when the B.C. health orders are applicable for all of the province. And we still struggle to find out the rationale for why the visits are still occurring, and why it’s only happening on the Island,” he says.
January 21, 2021
”It’s completely foolish,” said national president Jeff Wilkins. “We have (Saskatchewan Penitentiary), for example, which has seen quite an extensive outbreak. Our members are getting burnt out.”
January 20, 2021
“It feels like we’ve been singled out in the dark with no information, waiting to find out when we are getting access to the vaccine and told sorry about not being close to your family, that’s just not gonna happen,” DeBack said.
January 13, 2021
Ryan DeBack, regional vice-president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said staff originally received the order on Dec. 22 and it’s been extended until Jan. 19. Some members haven’t seen their children in almost a month, he said.
January 12, 2021
“Our main support networks are our family, and our friends and our community and we’ve been told since Dec. 22 … we’re not even allowed to have contact with our families,” Ryan DeBack, Vice President, Prairies Region.
January 8, 2021
Mario Guillemette, du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada, soutient que ce sont ses membres qui devraient être immunisés en premier et le plus rapidement possible. Il estime que ce procédé aurait pour effet d’empêcher les éclosions de COVID-19 dans les prisons canadiennes.
January 7, 2021
"We have many members across this country working in very precarious institutions that have been identified as pandemic sites," said Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers. "We're going to run into some serious issues."
January 7, 2021
“We need the vaccine for our members so we can get more people back in the workplace, but our members are very tired right now,” said Rob Finucan, Ontario regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
January 6, 2021
Starting Friday, hundreds of federal inmates will begin to receive COVID-19 vaccines as part of a pilot project, according to the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO).
January 6, 2021
A union representing federal prison guards says vaccinating them against COVID-19 should be a priority, given their front-line role in correctional institutions. Members should be inoculated at their workplaces as quickly as possible, said Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
January 6, 2021
«C’est nous, les vecteurs», fait valoir Mario Guillemette, qui représente les agents correctionnels au Québec. Le Service correctionnel canadien a pour mandat de protéger les détenus tout comme ses employés, selon M. Guillemette, et l’employeur «remplirait ses deux objectifs» s’il vaccinait d’abord ses agents.
January 6, 2021
Mario Guillemette, du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada, soutient quant à lui que ses membres devraient être considérés comme des travailleurs de première ligne.
January 6, 2021
Le syndicat des agents correctionnels ne s’insurge pas contre la vaccination de ces détenus, mais demande que ses membres soient aussi considérés comme des candidats prioritaires au vaccin.
January 6, 2021
Selon le président du syndicat, Mario Guillemette, le fait de vacciner les agents correctionnels en priorité aurait pour effet d’empêcher les éclosions de COVID-19 dans les prisons, où l’on a recensé 1146 cas et trois morts parmi les détenus sur une population carcérale totale d’environ 13 000 personnes.
January 6, 2021
Lors de la première vague, Mario Guilmette rappelle que trois pénitenciers du Québec ont été aux prises avec une éclosion; Port-Cartier, Joliette et le Centre fédéral de formation à Laval. «On ne veut pas revivre ça», assure-t-il. «On veut être vacciné», réitère M. Guillemette.
January 1, 2021
"When it comes into the facility at that point, we are just trying to rapid test as fast as possible," said Bloomfield. "We do have all that within the facility, so we can get the results back in half an hour, and we isolate and test everybody."
December 24, 2020
James Bloomfield, the prairie region president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said that one of the main reasons case numbers have climbed so quickly is that staff are now doing rapid, asymptomatic testing within the prison population. "Instead of waiting three or four days, and not knowing who is or who isn't positive, we end up being able to pick out all of the asymptomatic out of an entire population fairly quickly — within a couple of days — depending on how fast we test both populations," he said.
December 23, 2020
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers regional president James Bloomfield said the focus now is ensuring the rest of the facility can remain free from the virus. “It’s a reality of how this system works with the amount of movement from provincial to federal (facilities) and the number of people involved,” he said.
December 22, 2020
James Bloomfield, the prairie region president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said there are upwards of 70 staff and inmates who have tested positive.
December 22, 2020
While some inmates believe staff don’t care and would rather the institution lockdown, Bloomfield says that’s not the case. “Everybody is doing their best and I don’t believe there is malice,” Bloomfield said. “No matter how many bad mistakes have been made along the way. In this situation, we, fortunately, haven’t had any big mistakes. We’ve got everything under control the best we can right now. We don’t have other options here.”
December 21, 2020
James Bloomfield, president of the Prairies region for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers told paNOW stress is already really high among staff who are dealing with testing and strict containment procedures minimizing movement. “The stress is through the roof and it’s really starting to wear on everybody. The only relief you’ve got is your family when you go home and they get told they can’t even do that,” Bloomfield said.
December 20, 2020
James Bloomfield, the prairie region president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said there are roughly 64 cases in inmates and one in a staff member. He notes one of the main reasons cases have climbed so quickly is because staff are now doing rapid, asymptomatic testing within the prison population. Now, with test results coming back within 30 minutes, he says it's been a big help.
November 27, 2020
“CSC said they are following public health guidelines, they’re saying they can manage the risk, but we think it’s too serious a risk,” Rob Finucan, Ontario president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said in an interview on Friday.
November 19, 2020
The union that represents prison guards at Mission Institution in B.C.'s Fraser Valley says it fears a second COVID-19 outbreak at the facility will be mismanaged by the Correctional Service of Canada.
November 19, 2020
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers “denounces” the decision not to hire an outside firm to immediately deep clean the facility in which a spring outbreak spread to 120 prisoners, and killed one.
October 28, 2020
The union representing federal prison staff says the Correctional Service of Canada needs to expand its number of specialized units for difficult prisoners to ensure it meets legal and safety obligations to staff and inmates.
October 1, 2020
Chin said guards at Mission Institution had staffing issues prior to the outbreak, but problems have been compounded by work related injuries, certain ailments among immunocompromised staff, summer leaves and “tired,” overworked members.
August 20, 2020
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers confirmed at the time the officer's throat had been slashed with an edged weapon.
June 23, 2020
“For us employees, we are always accountable for our actions and decisions. Managers should be held at the same standard, if not higher because they’re the final decision-makers,” said Derek Chin, regional pacific president for the union.
June 19, 2020
Wilkins said he agrees that as communities begin to reopen, so too should federal prisons. He said the union is part of a 'Shaping the New Normal' advisory group that is working on a safe reopening strategy.
June 7, 2020
M. Wilkins rapporte qu’au début de la pandémie, Service correctionnel Canada a dissuadé les agents de porter de l’équipement de protection. Maintenant, ils s’exposent à des sanctions s’ils ne portent pas ce même équipement.
May 10, 2020
When some staff brought their own masks to work, they say they were prevented from wearing them. Staff reported management was worried the masks could scare inmates, said Derek Chin, regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
May 5, 2020
Dix agents correctionnels ont également été infectés. « Ces temps-ci, on travaille beaucoup sur l’anxiété de nos membres », témoigne Frédérick Lebeau, président régional pour le Québec du Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada (UCCO-SACC-CSN).
April 30, 2020
“I don’t think Mission’s management had a handle on when it began … [They] downplayed the officers’ concerns,” Chin said. “When they got the first inmate’s positive [test], they started contacting staff – three to four days later – to do tracing about who they could’ve been in contact with.”
April 25, 2020
"There's no quarantine unit -- there's infected people in every single living unit," Wilkins said. "It's gotten to the point where we're not even being told who has the virus and who doesn't, so it's not a good situation."
April 25, 2020
The union leader does make a distinction between solitary confinement and medical isolation. "It's not a punishment. It's not a penalty," Wilkins said. "This is for everybody's safety."
April 24, 2020
The union representing federal correctional officers is asking they all be tested for COVID-19, regardless if they show symptoms, to verify if they’re infected “or more importantly if they’re not,” said Jeff Wilkins, national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
April 23, 2020
In a statement Thursday, the union representing guards said the prison system had been unprepared for the emerging pandemic and slow to react. “A reactive and slow response only endangers staff, inmates and the general public,” said Jeff Wilkins, president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers.
April 23, 2020
Wilkins says the outbreak there shows a lack of planning. "There should have been planning done to have areas of the institution that were readily available to quarantine a significant number of inmates away from another."
April 22, 2020
Jeff Wilkins of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers is telling a House of Commons committee that broader testing would identify employees who do not have the virus, ensuring they can continue to work. Wilkins says correctional officers have been sent home for 14 days after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.
April 13, 2020
The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO) says more safety measures, like masks and restricting movement, need to be in place as possible to ensure the safety of 155 correctional officers and the inmate population at Mission Institution, which has a capacity for 216 inmates.
February 5, 2020
The union is asking Albertans to contact government representatives about the issue. "Officers need to be supported," said Bloomfield. "We keep everybody else safe, we're asking for the community to help keep us safe now.
February 4, 2020
What this “Program” does is allow for every Offender at Warkworth (near 570) to apply for a hypodermic needle to be stored in his cell to use illegal drugs like heroin, various opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil, prescription medications, and other substances such as industrial cleaners.
February 4, 2020
Bloomfield, though, pointed to an alternative program in place at the Drumheller Institution, which he argued is safer and more effective in limiting overdoses. Like supervised consumption sites, such as the one at Calgary’s Sheldon M. Chumir Centre, the Drumheller program allows inmates to inject drugs under the supervision of trained nurses in a designated location within the prison’s health-care unit.
February 3, 2020
So once people have been called out for their crimes, and put behind bars to signal society’s objection to their behaviour, and to send a message to others, the agency’s answer is to ensure inmates can safely continue with their worrisome drug use. It doesn’t make sense.
February 3, 2020
“The overall risk to the inmate is [also] dramatically increased in comparison to the harm reduction methods being employed in overdose prevention sites (OPS), an alternative that CSC has gone with before,” says James Bloomfield, Prairies regional president. “The risk to all staff and inmates is only increased when needles intended for injecting illegal drugs are in the cells.”
January 31, 2020
“It’s a much more controlled program and safer for everybody involved,” Bloomfield said of the program, which has been around more than six months. “It’s been well-accepted by the inmate populations and it keeps the danger of having that needle and that inmate curling up in a corner out of the cells.” Bloomfield said he “can’t understand why” the federal government isn’t on board with the alternative model.
January 26, 2020
We’re losing touch with what the Correctional Service is. It’s about corrections, it means correcting behaviour. But then you also have to look at victims rights as well. These guys have committed crimes to end up in here. It’s very clear the pendulum is swinging to far the other way.
January 23, 2020
"It is becoming a more challenging and dangerous work environment for correctional officers as there appears to be a correlation between an increase in perceived unrealistic correctional officer accountability and responsibility and a decrease in offender accountability and responsibility," Essex stated
January 21, 2020
Finucan said the officer suffered facial injuries, and has been off work since the attack while he receives medical attention.
January 21, 2020
“It is becoming a more challenging and dangerous work environment for Correctional Officers as there appears to be a correlation between an increase in perceived unrealistic Correctional Officer Accountability and Responsibility and a decrease in Offender Accountability and Responsibility.”
October 19, 2019
They say if the prison service wants to continue distributing needles, then the injection site, known as an overdose prevention service, should be the model
June 10, 2019
While the pilot program is being praised by medical and drug policy experts as a positive measure to curb rising overdoses behind bars, correctional officers are wary of being forced to acknowledge — and even accept — that illicit drugs are being consumed on their watch.
June 9, 2019
The message is clear: needles need to be removed from prison cells and the exisiting program must come to an end, said Wilkins.
June 9, 2019
Harm reduction facility in Drumheller, Alta. penitentiary could open as soon as end of this month
June 7, 2019
To help addicts in prison, the Trudeau government is supplying them with clean syringes — but the federal prison guards' union says that's a serious risk to its members.
June 1, 2019
But it’s not only advocates and inmates that are apprehensive of the proposed changes — it’s also the prison guards. Jason Godin is the national president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, which represents over 7,300 members working in federal institutions across the country. “Administrative segregation for us is always a last resort,” Godin says. “I’ve been in the service long enough to know, I’ve worked in segregation units, that’s the last thing we want to do.”
May 21, 2019
Internal workplace reports at Springhill Institution, Nova Institution for Women describe staff concerns
May 16, 2019
Jason Godin, the now former national president and founding member of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers representing more than 7,300 federal correctional officers across Canada, has passed the baton to a new leader.
May 10, 2019
An allegation that guards at Warkworth Institution recently encouraged inmates to take enough fentanyl to drop and earn "toe tag parole" was a "slap in the face," says the president of the union for correctional officers there.
May 9, 2019
The prairie regional president of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers who works at Stony Mountain, James Bloomfield, told CBC News inmates and their contacts are using drones to bring things like drugs, cell phones and weapons into prisons.
May 1, 2019
Union of Canadian Correctional Officers pushes for supervised consumption sites in prisons
April 29, 2019
The union representing correctional officers is raising concerns about the number of staff suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
April 24, 2019
A union representing prison officers is raising concerns about changes to segregation in Canadian prisons after five inmate homicides at Stony Mountain Institution in 16 months.
April 15, 2019
Correctional Officers marched outside Bill Casey's office in Truro
April 8, 2019
A former representative for prisoners at Stony Mountain Institution has been sentenced to 10.5 years for selling one of the most toxic opioids within prison walls.
April 6, 2019
Correctional officers at the Donnacona Institution, a federal penitentiary 30 kilometres west of Quebec City, are raising the alarm after witnessing a wave of fentanyl and carfentanyl overdoses.
April 6, 2019
A judge determined there’s not enough evidence to send two prison guards to trial in Hines's death
April 5, 2019
The family of a Cape Breton man who died while an inmate in a federal prison in New Brunswick is asking that the province’s Attorney General direct that two corrections officers be sent to trial.
April 5, 2019
A judge has dismissed charges against two correctional officers in the death of an inmate who was pepper-sprayed inside New Brunswick's Dorchester Penitentiary.
April 5, 2019
After hearing four days of evidence in the fall, Judge Ronald LeBlanc discharged Ross and Bourgoin on Friday, concluding the force they used was reasonable and necessary and did not rise to the level of a crime.
March 28, 2019
Canada’s prisoner service is considering opening overdose prevention sites as it expands a needle-exchange program that is now offered at a fifth institution for offenders who inject smuggled drugs.
March 23, 2019
John Lambiris knows how much important STARS air ambulance is
February 8, 2019