Canada: Substance Use and Addictions Program

Deadline: 24-Sep-21

The Government of Canada has launched the Substance Use and Addictions Program (SUAP) to provide contribution funding for projects that respond to drug and substance use issues in Canada.

• Harm reduction related to substance use and the toxic illegal drug supply: Projects that expand the availability of services designed to reduce the harmful health, social and economic effects of substance use on individuals, families and communities, such as:
  • New or enhanced safer supply projects that provide innovative ways to reach people living with an opioid or stimulant disorder who may face barriers to traditional methods of care
  • Projects that aim to prevent overdoses by providing wraparound services, peer-led outreach and/or navigation services for hard-to-reach populations
  • New or enhanced drug checking services
  • Other harm reduction activities that address the toxic illegal drug supply
• Prevention, health promotion and early intervention: Projects that aim to address the root causes of harmful substance use, prevent the harms associated with substance use, or provide services that can help to avoid future risks, such as:
  • Projects focused on preventing substance use from becoming harmful, including those addressing unmanaged pain or trauma, marginalization and discrimination, youth and post-secondary students, and workplace environments
  • Partnerships between the health system and professional and/or community-based organizations
  • Projects that pilot or evaluate models for supporting people who use drugs who are in contact with law enforcement and/or the justice system
• Treatment and Recovery: Projects that engage or retain people in evidence-informed, culturally relevant and stigma-free treatment and recovery services and supports, such as:
  • Projects providing assistance in the navigation of health benefits, the health system, treatment options, potential transitions in care, and receiving services across systems of care
  • Projects that provide comprehensive and integrated wraparound services that meet multiple needs
  • Reducing barriers to accessing opioid agonist therapy (OAT)
  • Alcohol management or cessation programming
  • Projects that can pilot or evaluate models for other innovative substitution programming (e.g. cannabis substitution)
• Strengthening the substance use workforce: Projects that connect systems of care and increase the capacity across the spectrum of support services (health, social, peer-led, etc.) to provide care to people who use drug, such as:
  • Training or continuing education for peer workers, health and social service professionals, and those working to reach priority populations
  • Training to ensure that services for priority populations are delivered in a manner that considers the social and historical contexts of health and health care inequities, addressing power imbalances and discrimination (cultural safety)
  • Partnerships between systems of care (e.g.: between health and social services, or mental health, substance use, and chronic pain)
  • Projects led by peer and patient-led organizations focused on peer support, including those related to chronic pain

• People with needs that are often unmet by existing services, such as:
  • Indigenous Peoples
  • Racialized peoples and communities
  • 2SLGBTQIA+ peoples and communities
  • Youth
  • People living with pain
• Regions where there may be gaps in services available, such as:
  • Rural and remote communities
  • Indigenous communities
  • Small to medium sized cities with populations up to 100,000
  • Other regions without adequate access to primary care physicians and other healthcare professionals such as psychiatrists
• Groups at heightened risk of substance-related overdoses, such as:
  • People who use illegal and toxic drugs
  • People who work in the trades or in physically demanding professions
  • Men aged 25 to 59
  • People who use drugs alone
• People who face multiple social impacts, such as:
  • People in poverty or experiencing economic insecurity
  • People experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness
  • People who have been in contact with various justice systems
• People who work with and advocate on behalf of those impacted, such as:
  • People with lived and living experience of substance use as well as their families
  • People with experience of living with chronic pain
  • Frontline health, social and harm reduction workers

• Canadian not-for-profit health organizations, including hospitals, regional health councils and community health organizations
• Canadian not-for-profit organizations and registered not-for-profit charitable organizations
• Canadian institutions, including universities, boards of education and other centres of education in Canada
• Other levels of government, including Indigenous, provinces, territories and municipalities, and their agencies
• First Nations, Métis and Inuit not-for-profit organizations

For more information, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/substance-use/canadian-drugs-substances-strategy/funding/substance-use-addictions-program.html