'A crisis in our community': Manitoba harm reduction projects receive $2M in funding

The Government of Canada is providing more than $2 million to support three Manitoba organizations in addressing substance use and the overdose crisis.

This funding is part of a government initiative announced on Wednesday to address the harms related to substance use, and improve health outcomes for those at risk of substance-related harms or overdose.

As part of this announcement, the government is allocating more than $13 million to 11 community-led projects in the Prairies, Northwest Territories and Yukon. Of this $13 million, $2,009,776 is being split between three Manitoba projects.

“We have a crisis in our community,” said Leah Gazan, MP of Winnipeg Centre, at a news conference on Wednesday.

“We have an overdose crisis that is growing on the daily, and we need investments and harm reduction approaches, and approaches that save lives.”

The Manitoba funding includes $978,000 over 26 months for the Schizophrenia Society of Canada’s Cannabis and Mental Health project.

The money will be used to help raise awareness and support the uptake of existing resources related to cannabis and youth mental health, including an enhanced website, certificate courses on cannabis and mental health, and a toolkit for facilitators.

The Government of Canada will also be giving $897,416 over 18 months to Shared Health’s Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine (RAAM) mobile and virtual services pilot project. This funding will help establish RAAM walk-in clinics in Manitoba.

The third Manitoba organization receiving funding is the West Broadway Development Corporation’s West Broadway Harm Reduction Outreach Project. The government will be providing $134,360 over 26 months to help create a peer-informed harm reduction outreach service.

“This is a very serious time in terms of the people we lost and how we need to bring evidence to the approaches that we take in what are the four pillars of drug policy, meaning prevention, harm reduction, treatment, as well as law enforcement,” said Carolyn Bennett, the federal minister of mental health and addictions.

The government funding is provided through Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program.