Summer 2025 Correctional Service Canada National Consultation Team Newsletter
COMMUNITY REGION
As part of the Community Mental Health (CMH) priorities review, CMH will be piloting a couple discharge planner position in the coming months. Details for these positions are still forthcoming, but if your site has been identified for the project you should be hearing about updates soon. The discharge planners will report to the community and will become a part of our CMH teams.
In addition, an Advisory Committee Community Safety and Operations (ACCSO) meeting will be taking place at the end of June 2025, virtually. This meeting is an opportunity for community staff to discuss the realities of community corrections as it pertains to staff safety and reintegration. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Melissa to discuss any concerns that have risen at your site. During the last meeting in February 2025, concerns for occupational health and safety, specific to CMH members were discussed. The PIPSC team looks forward to continuing these discussions in June.
Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to Melissa or any other member of your National Consultation Team to discuss.
Melissa Wood, CSC NCT COMM Region Representative
PACIFIC / YUKON REGION
24/7 Healthcare operations have begun in Kent Max and FVI women’s April this year. Seems to be running smoothly. Have not heard any concerns yet from the staff. Of course, the removal of portfolios and M-F staff are concerning as they assimilate into the front-line rosters. We will see how the assessment this October goes and what our RDC, RD intentions will be.
A new mandatory training module recently launched at RTC/PI titled “Suicide and Self Injury Needs Classification, Assessment and Intervention Planning Training” a 98-page workbook. It appears that this training for all staff is the precursor of the removal of IMH teams at the RTC. Very concerning as CSC thinks a 2HR training and a workbook is sufficient to make all HC staff Mental Health specialist. This could also be linked to the pilot project being discussed to move from CD843 protocols to a more provincial standard framework
The 75HR cap on Compensation time has put a major strain on vacancy lines and filling shifts. Staff have not been picking up OT shifts as there is no incentive for them if they can’t comp the time. Hence, leaving members below their minimum numbers on their units as management tends not to fill these gaps. This is also creating unsafe environments for staff and their clientele.
National has promised Pharmacy they will provide and approve OT for their staff as they train and switch to a new medication project named KROLL. We will see how this unfolds
Discrimination is rampant across the region from staff and management, especially minority woman. OCIR has been involved in individual and group cases. They have set up meetings with all these individuals to move forward to resolutions. PIPSC ERO’s have also been working diligently with the members and OCIR as well. Unfortunately, certain management members continue to use bully and harassment techniques. This has led to staff leaving CSC due to unjust treatment.
Retainership and recruitment have been very difficult. With the work environment, negative culture and gap in pay from the province there is no incentive for individuals to join CSC
Palliative Program: Due to many negative incidents recently, management, frontline and physicians are working collaboratively to better the process of palliative care comparable to community standards
Stephan Deo, CSC NCT PAC/Yukon Region Representative
PRAIRIE REGION
The PIPSC Prairies Consultation Team has been busy meeting with members and management over the past few months. Consultation representatives traveled to several sites in Alberta in late February including Edmonton Institution, EIFW, Edmonton Parole, Bowden, Drumheller, and Calgary Parole. In June, Consultation representatives traveled to sites in the Winnipeg area including Stony Mountain Min/Med/Max and Winnipeg Parole. At all of the above sites, we made an effort to connect with PIPSC members and management, we discussed workplace issues, local consultation, and encouraged members to consider stewardship. Issues have been followed up since these meetings and will continue to be discussed until resolution.
Regional Labour/Management Consultation Committee meetings were held in March and June. A National Labour/Management Consultation Committee meeting was held in May.
Your current consultation team members include: Rob Scott - IT - Saskatoon, Rachel Boyko - Nurse - RPC, Michael (Todd) Ryan - IT - Edmonton, Alexandra Foran - Nurse - SaskPen, and Melissa Wood - Social Worker - Edmonton Area Parole.
If you have any issues that you would like to raise through regional consultation, please contact any member of the team.
Rob Scott, CSC NCT PRA Region representative
ONTARIO / NUNAVUT REGION
Since the last update, I have been in Kingston and Ottawa, meeting with members and management for both formal and informal consultation. I have spoken to many of you via phone, email and video. You have made your message clear to me and I have heard you. During our bi-lateral meetings, and our Management Committee meeting in Kingston and Ottawa, I delivered a consistent message, informed by engagement with you, our members in Ontario. Our membership has faced an unprecedented attack on our collective rights in the past few months. This conduct is inconsistent with the employer's voiced commitments to work-life balance, health and well-being. I have heard the impacts from many of you. The message has been directly delivered to management at NHQ and RHQ, in no uncertain terms. We must remain vigilant to demand better for all our members and enforce the rights afforded to us by our collective agreements. I know you are angry and tired; I hear that each time I visit a site or take a call from you. That said, the employer has been unwilling to reconsider many of these serious and deliberate practices and policies that have been imposed. They have continued to wantonly deny compressed work week requests and continued to engage in disrespectful, often aggressive ways. We deserve better.
I hope you will all join me in solidarity to take up our fight. We deserve better and it is time we made it clear to the employer, we cannot take any more. Respect our collective agreement. Respect our members. Prove that their commitments are more than words. I will continue to engage with you, including bringing management to sites to see and hear first-hand the human impact their choices have caused. I end with the timeless words of Ralph Chaplin, that I hope you will view as a call to action:
"Without our brain and muscle, not a single wheel can turn. We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn, That the union makes us strong."
In solidarity,
Adrian Smith, CSC NCT ONT/Nunavut Region Representative
QUEBEC REGION
Since April 4th, 2025, I have replaced Florcy Lavaud as the new president of regional consultation.
We had a regional consultation in May that we needed to cancel because of the shortchanges. But we keep our bilat together.
Since I took this new commitment, we are not facing many issues.
We discussed problems of communication that were not reaching all members. For example, the mental health sector was not receiving e-mails such as competition or other important messages. This issue was resolved.
Going forward, I will continue to address:
- We are discussing the sites with 24/7 nursing and all issues surrounding it.
- Professional licensing timeline pay back from our CA in a reasonable timeframe.
- Work Climate in Donnacona.
- Uniform (just been resolved) But need more clarification within the HUB.
- Challenges about the new system PSI and daily workload.
Eric Massey, CSC NCT QUE Region Representative
ATLANTIC REGION
We have been active in our Region holding RLMC every four months. And regular meetings with local managers. We continue to engage IT members; however, have not been successful in recruiting anyone as a steward.
Twenty-four-hour nursing coverage has started in two institutions with ongoing challenges in staffing. Many nurses are performing overtime throughout the summer to allow colleagues to have vacation. Management has been encouraged to focus not only on recruitment but retention as well.
Four new stewards in the region have helped increase communication and involvement. Our first Community steward, in a while, helps link in the community issues.
We continue to pursue provision of protective outerwear for Healthcare staff who must deliver services to units outside of their department many times a day in all weather conditions. CSC seems not interested in supporting this.
Grievances have been filed in relation to the Health Services directive on only allowing a two-week based compressed work week. Consultations regionally and nationally were not successful in changing this direction.
We have been involved in OICR Regionally to brainstorm ways to decrease bullying and harassment in the workplace and increase awareness of support available. Moving forward, we will continue to work towards a more collaborative approach with management, hoping to see some movement on issues.
Susan Beaton, CSC NCT ATL Region representative