Open for signatureElectronice-7785 · Parliament 45

Correctional officers' mental-health care

Sign on the House of Commons website

Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to recognize operational stress injuries in federal correctional officers and create a federal system ensuring timely, priority, specialized mental-health assessment, treatment and long-term multidisciplinary care including suicide prevention.

Why we would sign this petition

  • Gives correctional officers timely access to specialized, priority mental-health assessment and treatment tailored to their workplace, improving recovery prospects after traumatic exposures.
  • Mandates multidisciplinary, long-term care and suicide-prevention interventions, which can reduce chronic psychological harm and support sustained return-to-work.
  • Official recognition of operational stress injuries can reduce stigma, prompt early intervention and help allocate dedicated federal resources where needed.

Why we wouldn’t sign this petition

  • Creating a federal system and guaranteeing open-ended, long-term care may be costly and require substantial funding and workforce increases.
  • Implementing uniform, priority services nationwide could clash with provincial responsibilities or existing employer-run programs, complicating coordination.
  • The petition doesn’t specify measurable eligibility or oversight mechanisms, risking inconsistent access or unintended program gaps without clear implementation details.

The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.

Official petition

Petition to the Government of Canada Federal correctional officers play an essential role in public safety and in the course of their duties are regularly exposed to assault, threats, death, suicide, emergency interventions and other potentially traumatic events; Repeated or cumulative exposure to these events can lead to operational stress injuries and have significant and lasting consequences on their mental health; These injuries require early intervention as well as timely access to specialized professionals who understand the realities and risks specific to the corrections environment; and Specialized and ongoing support promotes recovery and helps prevent severe psychological distress and suicide. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Officially recognize the risks of operational stress injuries associated with the duties of federal correctional officers; 2. Establish a federal system to ensure that federal correctional officers suffering from operational stress injuries have timely, priority access to specialized operational mental health assessments, treatments and monitoring that are tailored to the corrections environment; and 3. Ensure access to specialized, multidisciplinary support and continuity of care for as long as the condition requires, including suicide prevention measures and interventions in situations of psychological distress.

Government response

No government response is available yet.