Thank you for the question.
In terms of the numbers you presented, it's actually 99 out of 25,000 who went on to find jobs in the agriculture sector, so it's a relatively low number.
In terms of the CBC report you talked about, they actually put 5,000 hours of work into that 2,000-square-foot house. There were 19 offenders from the minimum security institution, Riverbend, which is adjacent to the Saskatchewan Penitentiary. It was a tremendous project all the way around in terms of providing offenders with the current-day skills they'll need to find jobs in the labour market. Several of those inmates have finished their sentences and actually have taken up jobs in the construction field as a result of the training they received.
We had a similar project out in Mountain Institution in British Columbia, where we were doing house framing. Again, it's another project that is giving inmates the kinds of skills that are going to allow them to find long-lasting jobs when they go out into the community.
Part of our focus right now as it relates to CORCAN is on making sure that our training and skills development reflect the need in the labour market so that offenders can find those kinds of jobs that pay a decent wage, allow them to support their families, and move on with their lives. We've had some very good projects in the last little while.
For example, in Saskatchewan as well, at the Saskatchewan Penitentiary, inmates have been involved in the welding program to fix those blades that do the plowing of the highways in Saskatchewan. One never thinks about those things running over the roads during all those winter months and getting worn down or about who fixes them. Well, there is a significant need in that province for that kind of skill, and we've started to do some work in Prince Albert.
The kinds of activities you talked about at Warkworth Institution are, again, relevant trades and skills that offenders need. We've also been involved in a project that has seen inmates refurbishing military vehicles, not the fighting vehicles or the combat vehicles, but the maintenance types of vehicles like the big cranes. DND has been very pleased with the work the offenders have done around those projects.
Again, these are the kinds of initiatives that we're looking for and that give offenders the skills they need to find the jobs that will help them stay out and not come back into conflict with the law.