More than 5,600 Canadians died due to an opioid overdose last year, and paramedics were needed for 40,000 cases of suspected overdose. Harm reduction facilities provide victims with naloxone, supervised consumption sites and safer supply. They keep them alive and give them a chance to enter treatment. Removing access to them takes away their lifeline.

Eight out of ten Canadians suffering from substance use disorder report that stigma, rather than cost or access, prevents them from accessing any treatment. This culture of stigma did not appear out of thin air, but developed through decades of criminalization, media framing, stereotyping. Now that culture informs the policy, which kills people.

We are asking provincial and federal policymakers to:

Stop closing supervised consumption sites.
Restore funding for already-closed sites in Ontario and Alberta.
Increase access to safe supplies and naloxone in underfunded communities.
Invest in public education to change the narrative around addiction.

Culture does not have to keep inherited beliefs. Sign this petition to ask policymakers to fund harm reduction instead of stigma.