Programs

 CORCAN

About CORCAN

CORCAN is a key rehabilitation program of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC). It is mandated to provide employment training and employability skills to offenders in federal correctional institutions in support of the social policy of the Government of Canada.

By providing offenders with the employment experience and skills they need to become productive citizens when they return to the community, we play a key role in CSC's mandate to enhance public safety.

By contributing to institutional operation and maintenance, offenders also help to reduce the costs to the Government of their incarceration and rehabilitation.

CORCAN operates in 31 institutions across Canada. We have four business lines: textiles, manufacturing, construction, and services (such as printing and laundry). CORCAN shops operate in as businesslike a manner as possible given their institutional setting and training imperatives. Most shops are ISO-certified.

We strive for the most realistic work environment possible. We produce products and services to private sector norms and standards because we have discovered that the more realistic the work experience, the more effective the rehabilitation experience.

CORCAN also provides opportunities to observe offenders in a "real-world" work environment and assesses how well other programs like anger management and substance abuse are working.

Research carried out by the Service has shown that experience in the CORCAN work program leads to a reduction in recidivism.

CORCAN also operates 53 community employment centres across Canada where, each year, over 1,000 offenders are helped to find jobs in fields such as construction, food and beverage services, janitorial services, trucking, tourism, manufacturing, and warehousing services.

In addition, these employment centres deliver a variety of job counselling services, including career counselling, internet job search, resume and letter preparation and mock interview sessions to over 3,000 offenders who have been released from prison and are in the community.

CORCAN operations focus on products and services that are marketed primarily to the Correctional Service of Canada and other federal government departments.