Welcome to the Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) 2016 Blueprint 2020 progress report. In it we have highlighted what we are doing to create respectful workplaces, improve our recruitment and onboarding processes, and renew the public service.
The initiatives featured in this report were gathered from sites across the country and are happening at the grassroots level. They show how Blueprint 2020 has been integrated within CSC, at all levels, to become a part of our everyday work.
As with previous reports, we have chosen to publish our report via Let's Talk Express, CSC’s e-magazine that promotes our good news stories and highlights the most important part of this organization – the employees. I’ve said it before and I will say it many times again – CSC is all about people. It’s about people helping others become better people. It’s about people who sacrifice time with their families and friends to keep offenders and communities safe. It’s about people who share an indescribable bond only those who work in this field can understand. And it’s about people who come to work every day despite how difficult and trying, both physically and mentally, it can be.
That’s why we want to recognize those people, appreciate what they do for the organization and for public safety as a whole, and demonstrate how they are making a difference within their own workplaces. That’s what every edition of Let’s Talk Express, and this report, set out to do.
From wellness events such as BBQs and fundraising initiatives, to celebrations for employees who have overcome difficult personal and professional struggles. From teams of employees coming together to create a tool that will help their colleagues and families with mental health concerns, to employees mentoring students and their fellow colleagues. These stories and many more are featured in this report and I am proud of how they speak to the innovation taking place within our organization and the efforts being made to improve CSC and the public service as a whole.
As we get further into the process of achieving the Blueprint 2020 vision, I am confident that CSC is approaching it in the best way. Rather than focusing only on high-level and large-scale projects, we are also encouraging staff to do what they want and need to do to influence change at their sites. We look forward to showing you what they come up with next!
Happy reading.
Don Head
Commissioner