Canada Border Services Agency has clarified that stunt actors may get punched, kicked or hit with batons during a training exercise for new recruits.
The agency posted bid documents online Monday looking for a company to supply actors for its training centre in Rigaud, Que., between Ottawa and Montreal.
The documents outline how the stunt actors will act out as many as 15 situations a day to help the agency assess the skills of new border agents and warn that people hired should expect to be handcuffed, thrown, held down using "pain compliance techniques," and hit by trainees' fists, feet or batons.
A spokesperson for the agency said the request for proposals (RFP), as the document is known, will be amended to let professional stunt actors know "there is a potential risk ... of physical contact that cannot be entirely mitigated."
“Note that the current request for proposal found on buyandsell.gc.ca will be amended to clarify that the intent of the RFP is to advise professional stunt-actors that there is a potential risk in a training environment of physical contact that cannot be entirely mitigated,” the CBSA told CTVNews.ca in a statement.
“The purpose of the work environment section is to advise of inherent risks in the conduct of practice exercises in a training environment.”
In the past, instructors served as stunt actors in these training scenarios, the CBSA confirmed.
Hiring the dozen or so actors expands a pilot project the CBSA launched in May to replace instructors with professional stunt-people during training.
“As part of the RFP, the CBSA wanted to ensure that those involved understood that in this training environment there is a risk that stunt actors may be inadvertently hit by trainees or training tools in the course of practicing defensive tactic maneuvers,” the CBSA said.
“The scenarios are governed by safety rules, monitored by instructors and the actors wear personal protective equipment, the CBSA said.
“The actors are required to demonstrate a particular behaviour or set of behaviours to provoke a reaction and a subsequent intervention from the trainee during training,” the CBSA explained.
“The actors adapt to the reactions of the officer trainee including movement, communication techniques and physical force in order to simulate potentially escalating situations.”
The CBSA would not say what the budget is for the year-long contract, citing the ongoing bidding process that closes in early September.
--- With files from The Canadian Press
