BC Corrections: Tailor Shop Program

It's hard to imagine a productive sewing shop in the middle of a high-security jail in British
Columbia. It's even harder to imagine this sewing shop filled with inmates busy at work making
tiny baby clothing for premature babies, or creating blankets used in Indigenous ceremonies as
gifts for Elders and First Nations Courts graduates. But that's just what they are doing in Surrey
Pretrial Services Centre's (SPSC) Tailor Shop.
Along with offering a structured work routine, the program offers opportunities to gain positive employment skills, gain confidence and do meaningful work - all with the goal of giving inmates a better chance of earning a living and being self-sufficient upon release.