Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) is seldom used, finds report
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety offers a broad suite of mental health resources for correctional workers but lacks the data, guidance and reporting needed to know how well those supports are working, the provincial auditor finds.
The report concludes the Ministry “adequately raises awareness” of mental illness symptoms, disorders and available supports through internal web resources, email campaigns, mandatory training and on-site Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) staff and committees. New recruits receive mandatory mental health training, while existing staff began receiving The Working Minds First Responders Training in September 2021. Supervisors get extra training on identifying and supporting workers with mental health issues.
Despite this, survey results show limited confidence among frontline staff.
In the 2024 Saskatchewan Safety Survey, only about 35% of respondents at the five adult secure-custody facilities agreed there was “adequate awareness and knowledge of psychological health issues,” while roughly 15% neither agreed nor disagreed. Two facilities improved from the prior year on this awareness question; three did not.
The survey, used across 14 provincial agencies, gave the Ministry a psychological safety score of 3.08 in 2024, up from 2.52 in 2018, based on a 35% response rate from approximately 3,000 employees. But among the five adult facilities, based on 358 responses, scores ranged from 2.16 to 3.18, with four facilities below the Ministry’s 3.0 target.
The auditor says the generic survey “may not sufficiently consider the unique working environment” of correctional officers and notes questions that combine two concepts, such as knowledge and awareness, can distort results.
On the resourcing side, the OH&S unit has four consultants covering five facilities, supported by OH&S committees and Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) teams. CISM team sizes ranged from five to 14 members in 2024–25, scaled to facility size. Two Return-to-Work Specialists serve all five facilities. Workers also have 24/7 Employee Family Assistance Program access, up to $2,000 per year in mental health benefits, and PSPNET online therapy.
However, CISM is not consistently triggered or tracked. In 2024–25, the Ministry reported CISM was offered 84 times and used in 50 cases, with all workers declining in 34 instances; one hospital did not track offers at all. In 2024–25, correctional officers used 151,689 sick leave hours (113.9 hours per officer) and worked 352,675 overtime hours (264.8 per officer), part of a three-year pattern of high sick leave and overtime.
Better reporting needed
The provincial auditor says Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Corrections, Policing and Public Safety needs stronger, more structured reporting to senior leadership on how effective its mental health supports are for correctional workers.
The report warns that costs tied to mental health issues are “significant,” pointing to higher sick leave, overtime and Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) claims. The Ministry pays “approximately $3 million per year in WCB premiums,” and in 2024–25 correctional officers used “over 150,000 sick leave hours, and worked over 350,000 overtime hours costing approximately $30 million.” The auditor notes these costs could decline “if the Ministry continues to address mental health issues for its correctional workers.”
Some internal reporting is already required, such as quarterly injury data to Occupational Health and Safety Committees and expected annual Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) reports to facility directors. However, “annual reporting did not occur in 2024–25,” and there are “no set policies for reporting to senior management on the effectiveness of mental health supports.”
Current reporting to senior leaders is described as “ad hoc and informal.” The auditor says that once key mental health data are comprehensively analysed, the Ministry should provide “formal, periodic reporting (e.g., annually)” so senior management can spot issues, judge whether objectives are met and decide “whether timely corrective action needs to occur.”
