His Majesty’s Cayman Islands Prison Service (HMCIPS), under the Ministry of District Administration and Home Affairs (MDAHA), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) this year with the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) in February to establish a structured, five-year partnership focused on strengthening correctional services through training, knowledge exchange, and capacity building.
The agreement fortifies collaboration between the two services in support of shared priorities, including public safety, humane incarceration, effective rehabilitation, and modern correctional management. It also aligns with HMCIPS’ ongoing commitment to modernising its systems and supporting a skilled, professional workforce.
For the HMCIPS, the agreement is more than a new administrative arrangement. It marks the renewal and formalisation of a relationship with Canadian corrections that has existed for decades.
That history can be traced at least as far back as January 1987, when Let’s Talk, the staff magazine of the Correctional Services Canada, featured two senior HMP Northward Prison officers — Karl Lopez, Senior Security Officer, and Eric Smith, Technical Services Officer — who spent a month in CSC’s Quebec Region studying management techniques used in Canadian institutions. The same article also noted that Jean-Paul Lupien, former Warden of Cowansville Institution, had been seconded to the Cayman Islands for two years. Against that background, the February 2026 signing is best understood not as the start of a relationship, but as the renewal of a longstanding partnership built on practical cooperation and professional exchange.
The MOU is built on four pillars of cooperation. It creates pathways for leadership training and development, strengthens intelligence sharing and training, advances emergency response readiness and it commits both parties to long-term cooperation.
Director of Prisons, Daniel Greaves, said the agreement represents a meaningful step forward for HMCIPS and for the wider public safety system. “This partnership is about strengthening capability in the areas that matter most—leadership, intelligence, and emergency readiness—while keeping rehabilitation and humane treatment at the centre of our work,” he said. “CSC brings deep experience and proven models, and this MOU creates a practical framework for our teams to learn, train, and build capacity in a way that supports safer facilities and better outcomes for our staff and the people in our care.”
Commissioner Talal Dakalbab of Correctional Service of Canada said, “This Memorandum of Understanding between the Cayman Islands and Canada reflects our commitment to collaboration and partnership; key foundations for strengthening our correctional systems. Together, we continue to learn from one another and share expertise. This next step in our partnership highlights the importance of our common values in modernizing corrections, strengthening leadership development, supporting rehabilitation, ensuring safety and the humane treatment of those in our care.
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The Minister for District Administration and Home Affairs, the Honourable Nickolas DaCosta, JP, MP said, “The MOU reflects the Government’s commitment to continuous improvement and world-class standards in offender management. Our priority is to keep our Islands safe while ensuring our correctional system is effective, professional, and humane,” he said, “This partnership with Canada helps us to deliver now and prepare for tomorrow; equipping our officers with stronger leadership development, improved intelligence capability, and enhanced emergency response preparedness. Ultimately, that means safer staff, safer facilities, and better rehabilitation outcomes that strengthen the Cayman Islands as a whole.”
The MOU will remain in effect for five years from the date of signing, with the option to extend by mutual agreement.