National corrections training centre opening in Regina

A new facility in Regina gives corrections workers a taste of life on the job.
 
Housed at RCMP Depot division, the facility is where all new workers with Corrections Services Canada will come for training from across the country.
 
They will spend 12 weeks in and out of the classroom. The staff trainers can role-play scenarios like fights and lock downs in cells, gyms, kitchens and screening rooms all designed like actual prisons.
 
“Now we can actually have staff in a cell where the recruits can come in and do it like they would in the institution,” explained staff trainer Jennifer Brand. “It makes us feel better ending them to the institution where they are much better prepared.
 
The facility is not only designed like an actual prison but comes equipped with all the necessary tools to simulate as much as possible; the PA system plays fire alarms, the sounds of riots and a noisy eating area.
 
“How do you deal with a fight that has broken out during recreation? We used to do that scenario in the classroom with the tables pushed back now we do it in what looks like a prison gym.”

Centralized training

Prior to this new facility opening, recruits were trained by region and that sometimes created differences in how they would handle certain situations. As a staff trainer Brand says it makes life easier to know exactly what each new recruit will learn.
 
“So now we just have this one training facility for all across Canada, so being centralized we know we are teaching every recruit the exact same thing for across Canada.”
 
The facility officially open Jan. 4 and the first batch of recruits will begin training in April 2016.
 
It is expected roughly 300 recruits will come through the doors each year.