Across Canada, the toxic drug crisis shows up in families, classrooms, and workplaces—not just headlines. Since national tracking began in 2016, more than 52,000 people have died from apparent opioid toxicity, and the crisis is evolving: in 2024, about 74% of deaths involved fentanyl, most involved non‑pharmaceutical (street) opioids, and 70% also involved a stimulant. These aren’t just numbers; they’re classmates, coworkers, and neighbours. And while the crisis affects every province and territory, it does not affect everyone equally. People who are unhoused, living on low incomes, Indigenous communities, and people with disabilities often face the highest risks and the fewest supports. The good news is that harm reduction—meeting people where they’re at and keeping them alive—works, and there are credible Canadian organizations you can help right now.
Harm reduction is about health, dignity, and connection. It includes things like naloxone (a medicine that reverses opioid poisoning), supervised consumption services where trained staff can respond to an overdose, and peer‑led programs designed by people who use drugs. In Canada, there’s strong evidence that supervised consumption services reverse overdoses on-site (with no reported on‑site fatalities) and connect people to housing, health care, and treatment. Staff at these sites have reversed tens of thousands of overdoses since 2017, and federal dashboards now publish national SCS data. The takeaway: these services save lives and reduce harm—not just for individuals, but for communities.
Below are six organizations—national and local—you can support to make a real difference.
Moms Stop The Harm: Families Turning Grief into Action
Moms Stop The Harm (MSTH) is a national network of families who’ve lost loved ones or are supporting loved ones who use drugs. They offer peer support groups, public education, and advocacy for evidence‑based policy, including harm reduction and decriminalization of simple possession. Donations help MSTH run grief groups, train volunteer facilitators, and keep families at the centre of the conversation—because lived experience changes minds. If your school or community group is planning an awareness event, MSTH’s resources and speakers can ground it in real stories and practical solutions.
Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs (CAPUD): Nothing About Us, Without Us
Search CAPUD on social or via community directories.
CAPUD is a national, peer‑led organization—run by and for people who use (or have used) drugs. They push for policies that keep people alive and uphold human rights, and they produce tools communities actually use (like guides for overdose prevention sites and safe supply concept documents). Supporting CAPUD means supporting leadership from people most affected by the crisis—a principle now widely recognized as best practice in harm reduction.
PHS Community Services Society (Vancouver): Home of Insite
PHS operates Insite, North America’s first sanctioned supervised consumption site, opened in 2003 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Insite provides a clean, staffed space where people can use under supervision, access naloxone, and get referrals to detox, treatment, housing, and health care. The program’s model—partnership with public health plus community supports—has inspired similar services across Canada. When you donate to PHS, you’re backing hands‑on harm reduction that has saved lives and reduced costs to the health system, alongside housing and wrap‑around services for people with complex needs.
Prairie Harm Reduction (Saskatoon): A Lifeline in the Prairies
Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) opened Saskatchewan’s first supervised consumption site and runs a busy drop‑in centre that links people to housing, health care, family supports, and cultural programming. In a province where formal funding has been uncertain, PHR has kept services going through community donations, volunteers, and local partnerships. They also offer naloxone training and youth and family supports. If you want your dollars to directly sustain front‑line services in the Prairies—especially during budget crunches—PHR is a high‑impact choice.
Street Health (Toronto): Nursing, Outreach, and an Overdose Prevention Site
Street Health’s outreach teams—often with a nurse—distribute sterile supplies, naloxone, and information in Toronto’s east‑end neighbourhoods. They operate an Overdose Prevention Site and connect people to primary care, mental health supports, and identification clinics. Street Health’s approach is simple and respectful: meet people where they are, reduce harm, and stick with them long enough to build trust. Donations support outreach shifts, OPS staffing, and basic supplies. If you’re in the GTA, this is a concrete way to help your neighbours.
Mainline (Halifax): Atlantic Canada’s Harm Reduction Hub
Mainline is a long‑running harm reduction program in Halifax that provides safer‑use supplies, outreach, education, and referrals throughout the region. Their staff and peers connect with people on the street, at drop‑ins, and through satellite partners across Nova Scotia. Mainline’s work lowers the risk of blood‑borne infections and overdose, and it gives people low‑barrier ways to ask for help—no judgment required. Support here stretches across a wide network, especially important for rural and coastal communities.
Where Do We Go From Here?
System‑level change matters, but individual actions add up—especially when we act together. Choose one step you can do in the next week:
- Carry naloxone. It’s a fast‑acting medicine that reverses opioid poisoning. Many provinces—including B.C. and Ontario—offer free kits through pharmacies and community sites. Ask at your local pharmacy or public health unit. Consider organizing a school info session on how to use it.
- Back supervised consumption services. The evidence in Canada shows SCS prevent deaths and connect people to care, with no on‑site fatalities reported. If your city has a site, support it publicly; if it doesn’t, learn what local health partners recommend.
- Support peer‑led leadership. Follow groups like CAPUD to learn respectful language and best practices—then bring those lessons to class discussions or club meetings.
- Volunteer or fundraise. Ask local organizations what they need most: socks, snacks, bus tokens, printing, or help packing safer‑use or hygiene kits. Groups like PHR, Street Health, and Mainline often post specific requests.
- Be a good neighbour. If your community debates harm reduction, share credible sources and lived‑experience perspectives. Evidence beats myths; people’s stories change hearts.
Final Thoughts
It’s normal to feel overwhelmed by the toxic drug crisis. But paralysis doesn’t help; participation does. Harm reduction isn’t about giving up on people—it’s about keeping them alive long enough to choose their next step. The organizations above prove what works: naloxone in more hands, supervised spaces that respond fast, outreach that meets people where they are, and programs led by the people most affected. Your role doesn’t have to be huge to matter. Start with one concrete action—carry naloxone, donate locally, share a reliable source, or show up for a community meeting—and build from there. We don’t need perfection. We need compassion with evidence. The future we want is built by the choices we make today.
