National Safer Supply Community of Practice

09/10/2026

Our second webinar in our series about Hospital-based OPS is happening Tuesday September 22nd!

We'll hear from Dr. Jess Wilder and Dr. Ryan Herriot about the unsanctioned sites on Vancouver Island - the benefits they've seen, the challenges they've faced, and how they've managed to do it - and how others can too!

Register for a Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9cfSNaxHTfutJsgttQqFzA

Doctors for Safer Drug Policy

09/01/2026

Our Fall Webinar Series on Hospital-based OPS/SCS starts next week!

We are excited to have Serena Eagland and Naomi Watt come and discuss the incredible work at the OPS at St. Paul's Hospital.

About our speakers:
Naomi Watt is a Nurse Educator who has worked with Providence Health Care in Urban Health & Substance Use since 2019. She takes her job almost as seriously as she takes pranking her coworkers. She known for a generous heart, a sentimental constitution, and persistent dorkiness.

Serena Eagland is a Clinical Nurse Specialist for Substance Use with PHC and the incoming Vice President of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association. Serena is passionate about building equitable healthcare services for people who use drugs. When not at work, she can be found on the soccer pitch or getting pushed off of her paddleboard by her dogs.

Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_9cfSNaxHTfutJsgttQqFzA #/registration

08/31/2026

Today on International Overdose Awareness Day, we remember and grieve the thousands of people we've lost to stigma, criminalization, and the unregulated drug supply.

We stand with those mourning loved ones and with those holding hope that the people who they support don't become another statistic.

Our statement for IOAD 2026 can be found here:https://www.substanceusehealth.ca/sites/default/files/SUHN%20IOAD%202026%20statement.pdf

08/14/2026

Women, trans, and gender-diverse people experiencing gender-based violence often navigate multiple and intersecting challenges, including homelessness, drug use, and poverty. Many are also navigating the criminal legal, family policing (‘child protection’), immigration, and other government systems.

In response, shelters across Ontario are adapting their practices to reduce barriers, expand access, and better support shelter participants with complex and intersecting needs.

The HIV Legal Network’s Responsive Shelter project highlights practical, low-barrier approaches emerging across shelter settings. While this initiative builds on our work with Ontario’s Violence Against Women (VAW) sector, the practices featured here are relevant across emergency, drop-in, transitional, and supportive shelter models. The page is designed for shelter operators, advocates, service providers, and community partners seeking to expand access, reduce harm, and strengthen safety through trust-based approaches.

Learn more here: https://www.hivlegalnetwork.ca/site/responsive-shelter/?lang=en

08/14/2026

What happens at the intersection of mental health, substance use, and incarceration in Nova Scotia?

Join us for our next Research Spotlight Webinar featuring Dr. Laura Beach and Fern Hatcher, Jessi Janes, and Rachel Avery from NECHC’s Mobile Outreach Street Health (MOSH) Team.

Hear key findings and recommendations from this important research on lived and living experience, gaps in care, release planning, housing, and continuity between custody and community.

🗓 Thurs. Aug. 20
🕛 12 pm ET / 1 pm AT
🔗 Register via our website or https://bit.ly/4wUZTcf

website: www.substanceusehealth.ca

.ca

08/13/2026

Read about our Fall Webinar Series on hospital-based OPS/SCS and upcoming Research Spotlight webinars exploring the intersections of incarceration and substance use health.

You’ll also find new community and clinical resources, research hot off the press, upcoming events, and more.

Find it all here: bit.ly/4qdeHQY

08/10/2026

Today is Prisoners' Justice Day. Our statement and related resources is available on our website. Link in comments.

07/22/2026

Tomorrow - Wednesday! This is going to be a great conversation! Bring your curiosity, creativity, and questions and lets think about things like What would public health messaging look like if we centred pleasure? How can we support first responders to provide trauma-informed approaches to overdoses? and more!

Breaths, Naloxone, and the Politics of "Coming To" - Pleasure, overdose response, and why it matters how people are revived

Join us Wednesday July 22nd at 1 pm ET for our next webinar.

Dr Geoff Bardwell (University of Waterloo, Drug Lab) and community partners are discussing research conducted in Kitchener and Galt ON. They spoke with people who use drugs about getting high, overdosing, and 'coming to' afterward. And their stories didn't fit into neat categories of 'good' or 'bad'.

A key topic in the discussion we will have is about how people 'wake up' - what it's like to come to with breaths compared to coming to with naloxone.

In the context of supervised consumption services closing in Ontario and other parts of Canada, this conversation will explore what may be lost when people no longer have access to spaces where overdose response can be grounded in care, dignity, and choice.

Join us by registering:https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2ihrZ3fBSjKSBx7czvAMjg

07/22/2026

If you are impacted by the wildfire situation, ONWA has supports available, including water, food, toiletries, hygiene kits, cultural items, diapers and formula. We have air conditioning, internet, laptops and other resources available at 380 Ray Blvd. If you need help, call ONWA’s Intake line at 1-800-667-0816

07/16/2026

Have you registered for this yet? It’s going to be a great discussion!

Breaths, Naloxone, and the Politics of "Coming To" - Pleasure, overdose response, and why it matters how people are revived

Join us Wednesday July 22nd at 1 pm ET for our next webinar.

Dr Geoff Bardwell (University of Waterloo, Drug Lab) and community partners are discussing research conducted in Kitchener and Galt ON. They spoke with people who use drugs about getting high, overdosing, and 'coming to' afterward. And their stories didn't fit into neat categories of 'good' or 'bad'.

A key topic in the discussion we will have is about how people 'wake up' - what it's like to come to with breaths compared to coming to with naloxone.

In the context of supervised consumption services closing in Ontario and other parts of Canada, this conversation will explore what may be lost when people no longer have access to spaces where overdose response can be grounded in care, dignity, and choice.

Join us by registering:https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_2ihrZ3fBSjKSBx7czvAMjg