A snowblower, old tools and some garbage bags filled an old garage at the Kindersley, Sask., RCMP detachment. For many years — decades even — the single-car garage had been a dumping ground for things nobody knew what to do with. But that all changed when Sgt. Ray Blais arrived in September 2015.
"When I first got here, I was surprised because there was no fitness facility here, there was no equipment," he says. "I also noticed a detached garage here that was being used for all the wrong reasons — it was just gathering junk."
Blais decided to put the empty space to use. After a bit of research and several discussions with detachment staff, he put together a plan to transform the unused garage into a fitness facility for employees.
"There's an expectation for us to be fit and to not be a liability out there," says Blais, who's been a police officer for 31 years. "This job is physically and mentally demanding so we need to have spaces to stay healthy."
Funding fitness
To tackle the renovation, Blais called Fiona Vincent, manager of the Fitness and Lifestyle Unit for the RCMP in Saskatchewan. Vincent pointed Blais in the right direction for resources, and also provided a small grant to help Kindersley buy some new equipment.
"Our goal is to create environments that are open and welcoming and encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle," says Vincent. "Investing in someone's health and well-being helps everyone, it percolates out. A healthier person is a happier person and they're more engaged in their work."
In 2016, the Saskatchewan Fitness and Lifestyle Unit helped more than 40 detachments upgrade their fitness facilities. While not every project is as extensive as creating a full gym, the program provides funding for new fitness equipment in detachments throughout the province.
For Vincent, creating workout spaces isn't just about keeping RCMP officers and employees physically fit — it's also about mental health, emotional health and promoting healthy lifestyles.
"By being healthier, we're not only physically prepared to meet the tasks of our job but it helps with cognitive function," she says. "It helps us to be sharper, concentrate more, have better judgment, improve resiliency and even sleep better."
Vincent says her goal is to make the healthiest choice the easiest choice for employees. Cst. Daniel Earle, a member of the Kindersley detachment says convenience has been his biggest motivation for hitting the new gym.
"It's the ease of access right at the office, you can work out before shift or after shift . . . it makes it a little easier," he says. "Here, I can work out with my co-workers, my shift-mates, and get them excited about going to the gym, too."
A creative solution
After a plan for the new gym was confirmed by the Kindersley detachment and the Fitness and Lifestyle Unit, Blais rounded up some co-workers to clean out the cluttered space.
To make the most of his funding, Blais didn't buy all of the fitness equipment new. He approached Depot, the RCMP's national training facility, to see about getting second-hand equipment. They obliged, and helped fill the new gym with refurbished workout machines.
"Ray is very forward thinking and creative," says Vincent. "He was able to tap into so many different resources to pull this off."
Within less than a year of Blais' arrival, the gym was complete. While the space may be small, the gym has it all: a rowing machine, stationary bike, treadmill, elliptical and universal weight machine with a squat rack.
Since the new fitness facility opened in fall 2016, it's made a big difference for employees. In fact, Blais had to create a schedule for the gym, since so many people wanted to use the space.
"It's had an exceptional impact, I've seen quite a few people using the gym who wouldn't have otherwise — and regularly," says Earle. "Now we can expend some energy at the gym and be better fit for our jobs, both mentally and physically."