Stacie Bourdon, Correctional Officer, Edmonton Institution, Alberta

Meet Stacie Bourdon, a veteran correctional officer with a heart as vast as the Alberta sky. For more than half of her 15-year career, Stacie Bourdon has stood guard at the Edmonton Institution, facing the daily rigours of a demanding profession. After COVID-19 brought along a new wave of mental health challenges, she saw the toll it took on her colleagues within the institutional walls and felt she had to do something to help.

The idea of making her horses available to staff lingered in her brain. A lifelong lover and rider of horses who bought her first pony at the age of 12, Stacie knew first-hand the therapeutic effects of interacting with animals. Years earlier, while coaching teens, she had witnessed the incredible transformation that occurred when youth connected with horses.

The stress and drama from their lives simply melted away, replaced by a profound sense of living in the present.

“The beauty of these animals is they do not care what you had to do to get the job done or how much money you have in the bank. They listen when you’re not even talking; they have a deep empathy for how a person is feeling,” Stacie says. “Research suggests horses can hear a human heartbeat up to four feet away. That’s how receptive they are to our emotions.

“Every one of us has some level of mental fatigue and many have no way of managing it. I felt awful when I realized that. I remember thinking that if only they had some form of outlet, like the horses or dogs, then perhaps it may help them a little.”

In early 2023, Stacie brought her horses onsite for the first time to a staff BBQ. “I was very lucky a member of senior management saw the merit in having the horses come on site for visits and allowed me to bring them in roughly every two weeks for the duration of the summer,” she says.

The horses provided a welcome mental wellness oasis in the midst of a challenging work environment, allowing officers to escape, even if just for a moment, from the stressors of their duties. Each horse revealed its distinct personality, with staff soon developing favourites.

Stacie witnessed the excitement as officers looked forward to visits from specific horses. Some, initially terrified, found courage over time to approach and even groom the horses. "I’ve personally witnessed big, tough guards come out to visit these amazing horses. After 20 minutes of being with them, their demeanour softens and their invisible armour fades away. Everything calms for them as these amazing 1,000-lb animals close their eyes and their breathing falls in sync,” says Stacie.

“I’ve been told these animals have such an impact on people that they have come to mind in moments of personal crisis and helped them through it. That is fully humbling.” As the temperature dropped, Stacie adapted, introducing dogs to the program. Not only did they offer companionship, but their indoor presence meant officers stationed inside could also benefit. The positive response was overwhelming, reinforcing the impact of Stacie's initiative. 

Motivated by the success of her animal therapy initiative, Stacie founded CX Solid Foundation, a non-profit organization. The foundation aims to raise funds to enable officers to seek proactive mental health support through alternative methods like equine wellness programs and Tai Chi that are not covered by traditional benefits. With eight facilitators currently offering five different types of programming, the foundation continues to expand as more funds are raised.

Her ultimate goal? To shift the narrative from reactive stress management to proactive mental wellness. Stacie’s project underscores the need for the correctional service to prioritize activities that help officers manage stress before it reaches overwhelming levels.

As long as we can keep our minds healthy, we can keep our bodies healthy.