Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A new jail being built on Osoyoos Indian Band land is going up quickly in the South Okanagan.

Media were invited to tour the Okanagan Correctional Centre, near Oliver, on Thursday.

"It is looking very impressive," said MLA Laurie Throness, parliamentary secretary for corrections, during the tour. "It is on time and on budget, and will benefit First Nations and the local community with jobs."

Construction on the $200 million project is scheduled to wrap up by the fall of 2016, with inmates expected to move in by early 2017. It is believed the new facility will relieve pressure on Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre.

So far, more that 100,000 hours have been logged on the site and more than 375 people have worked on the construction, with about 1,000 direct and indirect jobs expected to support the build by its completion.

In addition, almost 800 people have attended information sessions on employment at the correctional centre, with more sessions to follow this fall.

Les Krusel, construction manager for PCL Construction, said the company has focused on hiring locally, but has people working on site from all over B.C.

"It is about 45 per cent local hires, mostly B.C. workers and some First Nations, with more finishing trades to come on," he said.

A warden has already been appointed and is beginning to recruit senior staff.

It is believed there will be 300 permanent jobs at the site, with 240 correctional officers and 60 other staff.

Once completed, the high-security facility will have 378 cells. Thursday's tour revealed there will be two bunks, a desk, sink, a toilet and accommodation for TVs in each cell.

The project is the first partnership of its kind in Canada to build a provincial correctional centre on First Nation land and is considered a landmark agreement between B.C. Corrections and the OIB.

Chief Clarence Louie described it as not just a huge project for the Indian band, but for the entire South Okanagan.

"There aren't many $200 million projects in Oliver and Osoyoos, not many," he said. "They happen once in a decade, if that."

The impact of jobs and contract opportunities will carry on for generations, he added.