The Canoe Project (Harm Reduction)
The project is overseen by a steering committee composed of members from CAAN and DPC, who convene quarterly to ensure activities align with the workplan and performance targets.
Our primary objective is to create a national community of practice for frontline health professionals and organizations providing harm reduction services to Indigenous communities. This community will be supported by monthly videoconferences, where members can share knowledge and best practices. Meeting minutes and annual summaries will facilitate the dissemination of valuable lessons learned, while a podcast series will be available for those unable to attend the live sessions.
Additionally, we are developing an online repository tailored for frontline professionals, offering resources on culturally relevant harm reduction services for Indigenous peoples.
Our capacity-building approach is customized, strengths-based, and includes year-long training programs across various communities, involving the co-creation of localized tools that promote stigma-free, anti-oppressive, and culturally appropriate services. Indigenous consultants will ensure that training reflects the unique contexts of each community.
By 2027, we aspire to significantly enhance the capacity of frontline service providers to deliver culturally safe and stigma-free care, with many participants poised to implement meaningful policy or practice changes.
The objectives of "The Canoe" Project
- Increase the capacity of harm reduction service providers to provide culturally safe and stigma-free harm reduction services to Indigenous people.
- Improve the cultural safety and stigma-free nature of the harm reduction services offered.
- Scale up wise practices nationally for culturally relevant, non-stigmatizing initiatives to meet the needs of target populations.
- Increase context-specific resources for harm reduction services that serve target populations in rural and mid-sized communities.
- Increase access to more spaces where Indigenous people are meaningfully engaged in harm reduction services.
- Nationally elevate the voices of Indigenous people and people with lived and living experience (PLLE) in responses to the overdose crisis.
- Support Indigenous and non-Indigenous harm reduction organizations to increase their capacity to deliver harm reduction services to their Indigenous clients.
We are committed to a collaborative and culturally respectful approach to harm reduction, and we are confident that “The Canoe” project will make a meaningful impact on the quality and cultural relevance of harm reduction services for Indigenous people in Canada.