PRIMARY WORKER – KIMISINAW (Women’s Institutions and Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge) – Group & Level CX-02

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Job Profile

Primary Workers and Kimisinaws are vital to the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) fulfilling its mandate of enhancing public safety by actively encouraging and assisting women offenders to become law-abiding citizens, while exercising reasonable, safe, secure and humane control.

Primary Workers work on the front line of the correctional system and are the primary contact for women offenders. Kimisinaws perform the same role and duties within CSC’s Aboriginal Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge for women offenders.

This challenging position is fulfilling and rewarding. Primary Workers and Kimisinaws are the primary contact for offenders, and key members of the correctional team. While exercising control, Primary Workers also encourage offenders to participate in their correctional plans. By working closely with colleagues, offenders, volunteers, and visitors, Primary Workers and Kimisinaws mentor women offenders while also encouraging women offenders to participate in their reintegration programs.

Primary Workers and Kimisinaws are key members of an offender’s case management team, working with colleagues such as Psychologists, Behavioural Counsellors, Parole Officers, and others to develop offenders’ correctional plans.

Other Primary Worker and Kimisinaws duties include conducting routine rounds and offender counts, searching cells, offenders, visitors, vehicles, living units and surrounding areas, verifying safety equipment, drafting daily logs, submitting reports, and briefing visitors, volunteers and other criminal justice professionals entering the institution.

Work Environment

As a Primary Worker, you will be deployed either to one of CSC’s five multi-level security classification institutions for women offenders, or one of the two treatment centres that provide health care to offenders under CSC custody. Kimisinaws work at Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge for Aboriginal women offenders located in Maple Creek, Saskatchewan.

CSC has a presence from coast to coast -- from large urban centres with diverse populations, to remote communities across the North.

CSC operates under three levels of management: National, Regional and Institutional/Parole Offices. The National Headquarters in Ottawa performs overall planning and policy development for the Service, while each of the five regional offices implements CSC activities within the Pacific, Prairie, Ontario, Quebec, and Atlantic regions.

CSC institutions operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a result, Primary Workers and Kimisinaws work shifts on weekends and statutory holidays. You may also be required to work overtime.

Diversity

CSC is committed to building a skilled, diverse workforce that is reflective of Canadian society. We encourage all ethnicities, cultures, visible minorities, Aboriginal people, and people with disabilities to seek employment as a Primary Worker or Kimisinaw.

Career Development

CSC is a large government agency with a wide variety of occupations. Depending on your interest and skill set, career opportunities exist in a variety of positions in the organization, both within an institutional and community setting, as well as at regional or national headquarters.

About the selection process

CSC job opportunities are posted on www.jobs.gc.ca . Applicants are screened according to essential education and experience listed on the advertisement. Applicants must also provide pertinent documentation including driver's licence, citizenship, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), automated external defibrillator (AED), and First Aid certifications.

Applicants’ abilities, skills, and personal suitability will be assessed during an interview. Those qualifying will be invited to attend CSC's Correctional Training Program (CTP).

Before you apply

We strongly encourage you to complete this Self-Assessment Questionnaire which will give you a better idea of the role, requirements, skills and expectations related to a Primary Worker's or Kimisinaw’s position.

Pre-Employment Questionnaire

Candidates who are selected for further assessment will be required to complete and return the Pre-Employment Questionnaire. Prior to applying we strongly encourage you to review the questionnaire.

Training

Initial Primary Worker training takes place before a job offer is made and is conducted in classrooms, gymnasiums, and exercise fields. You must be in good physical condition to participate in self-defence and other physical aspects of Primary Worker training.

You will also receive the Women-Centered Training, developed for staff working in women’s institutions and at the Okimaw Ohci Healing Lodge.

CSC conducts training at its five Regional Correctional Staff Colleges, located at Memramcook, New Brunswick; Laval, Quebec; Kingston, Ontario; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and Abbotsford, British Columbia.

As a candidate for employment you will not be charged tuition, nor will you be provided with an allowance. However, you may be provided with meals and accommodation, depending upon the distance between your place of residence and the training facility.

The Correctional Training Program (CTP) includes four phases:

• Phase 1: On-line training, requiring four to eight weeks to complete.
• Phase 2: Workbook assignments, requiring approximately two to four weeks to complete.
• Phase 3: Staff college training that includes training in security policies and practices, chemical agents, women-centered knowledge, fire safety, self-defence, and arrest and control techniques. Conflict management and defusing crisis situations are also addressed. This phase of training lasts eight weeks.
• Phase 4: On the job training at a CSC institution will assess various skills. This phase lasts two weeks.

Ready to Apply?

Please visit www.jobs.gc.ca to learn about the job opportunities currently available at CSC and how to apply.