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CBSA expands stunt-actor pilot project, warning those hired may get hit

Jul 24, 2019 | 9:59 AM

OTTAWA — The Canada Border Services Agency says it is plans to amend bid documents looking for stunt-actors to clarify that they may get punched or kicked during training with 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 spokeswoman for the agency says the request for proposals, 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.”

Hiring the dozen or so actors expands a pilot project the CBSA launched in May to replace instructors with professional stunt-actors during training sessions.

The CBSA won’t say what the budget is for the year-long contract on offer, citing the ongoing bidding process that closes in early September.

The Canadian Press