43201 Correctional service officers

What this occupation covers

Correctional service officers guard offenders and detainees and maintain order in correctional institutions and other places of detention. Primary workers develop women offender's correctional plan and work with other service officers in the correctional team. They are employed by federal, provincial and municipal governments. Correctional service officers who are supervisors are included in this unit group.

Official main duties

The NOC profile lists 9 main duties for this code.

• Observe conduct and behaviour of offenders and detainees to prevent disturbances and escapes
• Supervise offenders during work assignments, meals and recreation periods
• Patrol assigned area and report any problems to supervisor
• Conduct security checks and scanning of visitors, inmates and their cells, working areas and recreational activity areas
• Observe behaviour of offenders and prepare reports
• Escort detainees in transit and during temporary leaves
• Prepare admission, program, release, transfer and other reports
• May supervise and coordinate work of other correctional service officers
• May develop offenders' correctional plan and facilitate their participation in reintegration programs in collaboration with psychologists, behavioral counsellors, parole officers and others.

Do not copy these lines into your reference letter. The letter has to describe what you actually did, in your employer’s words. DUTYPROOF flags wording lifted from the NOC as something to review, and an officer reading a letter that mirrors the NOC reads it the same way.

What DUTYPROOF screens for

This is DUTYPROOF’s screening threshold, not IRCC’s decision. For this NOC, screening requires at least 2 of its 9 official duties to be evidenced in your own words, plus the required letter elements. IRCC asks that you performed the actions in the occupation’s lead statement and a substantial number of its main duties — so treat the duty coverage as the number that matters, not the badge.

Codes this one is confused with

The NOC profile names these itself. Choosing the wrong code of a look-alike pair is the most common way genuine work experience fails to establish eligibility.

• 42201 Social and community service workers
• 40030 Managers in social, community and correctional services
• 41311 Probation and parole officers
• 41300 Social workers

Excluded from this code

• Detention home worker (See 42201 Social and community service workers)
• Managers in social, community and correctional services (See 40030 Managers in social, community and correctional services)
• Probation and parole officers (See 41311 Probation and parole officers)
• Social workers (See 41300 Social workers)

Job titles filed under this code

A title on this list does not by itself put your experience in this code — the duties in your letter decide that.

convict guard · correctional facility guard · correctional institution guard · correctional institution head matron · correctional officer · correctional officers supervisor · correctional service officer · correctional services unit supervisor · corrections officer · detention attendant · detention guard · escort - correctional services · head correctional officer · head matron - correctional service · institution guard - correctional service · jail guard · jailer · matron - correctional service · penal institution guard · penitentiary guard · primary worker - correctional service · primary worker/kimisinaw - correctional service · prison guard · prison officer

Employment requirements

• Completion of secondary school is required.
• Post-secondary education in correctional services, police studies or criminology is required in New Brunswick, Quebec, Alberta and Prince Edward Island.
• Correctional officer recruits must successfully complete the Correctional Service of Canada training course to be employed by federal institutions.
• Correctional officer recruits are usually required to complete a basic training course to be employed by provincial/territorial institutions.
• Physical agility, strength and fitness requirements must be met.
• Correctional service supervisors require experience as a correctional service officer.
• First aid certification and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training are usually required.