Walking through the Glengarry non-profit housing complex in Windsor, Ont., harm reduction outreach co-ordinator Lacie Krzemien is exhausted. The recent news that Windsor’s only safe consumption site, Safepoint, will pause operations at the end of December has left her despondent. “I’m upset, because it’s […]
Tag: Canada
On the Brink: The ‘harsh environment’ of youth homelessness from a lived experience – Global News [2023-12-08]
Kat Bagnald knows what it’s like to be on the brink. At the young age of 20, she’s already been through a lot. She struggled with housing insecurity since she was 16 and has spent the last four years between shelters, couches, and the […]
How tiny shelters in Ontario are looking to fill the gap for those in need of housing – Global News [2023-12-08]
Rows of tiny cabins across a Kitchener, Ont., neighbourhood have been catching the eye of several communities across the province that’ve begun duplicating the model, hoping to bridge the gap between homelessness and permanent housing. A Better Tent City (ABTC) co-founder and chair Jeff […]
Voluntary decals to alert B.C. first responders to presence of people who are neurodivergent – Global News [2023-12-06]
Families across the province will soon have access to a new set of stickers for their vehicles or homes, alerting first responders to the presence of a loved one with autism or another type of neurodivergence. The BC Association of Chiefs of Police will […]
Naloxone: What to know about the opioid overdose-reversing drug, free across Canada – CTV News [2023-12-03]
Health Canada has called the opioid crisis one of the most serious public health threats in recent history, and an addictions specialist says everyone can play a part in helping reduce the death toll. All it takes is access to naloxone, a life-saving medication […]
Police fear ‘they’ll be seen as weak’ bringing up mental health struggles: Ontario union – Global News [2023-12-01]
A police union in a major Ontario city made a push this fall for better mental health supports for its front-line officers. Hamilton Police Association (HPA) president Jaimi Bannon faced the city’s police board in October and called for an end to a stigma […]
988 hotline for those facing mental health crisis launches across Canada – CBC News [2023-11-30]
Canada’s 988 hotline, which gives people access to suicide prevention services via call or text, went live on Thursday. People in every province and territory who are experiencing a mental health crisis and need immediate, real-time support can use the three-digit number. Similar to […]
Growing number of homeless people turning to ERs for shelter and warmth in Ontario, study says – CBC News [2023-11-28]
When Dr. Carolyn Snider arrives for her early morning emergency room shifts, she regularly sees between five and 10 people in the waiting area who don’t need medical attention— just a safe place to stay warm. “[They’re] truly there to just stay out of […]
Developmentally Disabled People Are Being Pushed into Homelessness – The Tyee [2023-11-28]
Just before the summer started, Jon Harry was told he’d have to leave his room at a Duncan motel because the owner planned to renovate. ANNOUNCEMENTS, EVENTS & MORE FROM TYEE AND SELECT PARTNERSThe Tyee Is 20. So We’re Partying by Debating the Fate […]
Doctor points to gaps in London area child and youth mental health care – CBC News [2023-11-27]
A doctor in Alymer, Ont., is speaking out after facing barriers to get outpatient mental health care for a 12-year-old patient identified as being at high risk for self-harm. Dr. Michael Fernando is a general practitioner who took over as the family doctor for […]
Autism Ontario troubled by Veltman defence team’s use of autism in criminal case – CTV News [2023-11-20]
Autism Ontario is deeply troubled by the fact that the defense for Nathaniel Veltman tried to cite autism as a mitigating factor in the June 6, 2021 attack on the Afzaal family(opens in a new tab). The advocating body for people on the spectrum […]
Crisis worker with London Children’s Aid urges province to step in as agency places kids in hotels – CBC News [2023-11-15]
A crisis intervention specialist with the London, Ont. branch of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) says there are currently no beds available for some of the city’s most vulnerable youth. Pre-existing gaps in services have only grown wider in the city and across the […]
Patients treated for mental illness face more barriers for medication approval and access, study finds – CTV News [2023-11-14]
A new study has found that patients being treated for mental illness in Canada wait “far too long” for medication approval and face “inequitable access” across the country. The study from the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, titled “System Broken,”(opens in a new tab) […]
SafeSpace London’s landlord has message for property owners considering homeless shelters as tenants – CTV News [2023-11-01]
“Do it. This will help us find a longterm solution [to homelessness],” urged Rashad Ayyash when asked what he would tell other property owners considering homeless shelters or frontline agencies as tenants. Ayyash and his business partners are proud to be landlords for SafeSpace […]
Ontario inmates saw higher risk of overdose death as COVID-19 emerged: study – CTV News [2023-10-28]
Former Ontario inmates saw their risk of dying from a toxic-drug overdose jump as much as 50 per cent at the start of the pandemic compared to the years before COVID-19, says a study. The study in the medical journal PLOS One compared pandemic […]
One-of-a-kind Pride Library at Western welcomes students and the public back – CBC News [2023-10-25]
The main library at Western University isn’t known for its purple sofas and funky art work. But they’re there, at the back on the main floor, inside a unique library space that’s reopened after a four-year hiatus. The Pride Library, which houses thousands of […]
Red-flags raised around medically-assisted death in Canada’s prisons – Global News [2023-10-13]
Since it first became legal in Canada in June 2016, 10 federal prisoners have been granted a medically-assisted death (MAID), according to the Correctional Service of Canada. The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) also says that as of Aug. 31 this year, a total […]
Could we have done more? Risk assessment and violence – Healthy Debate [2023-10-10]
Every week, we read of a violent act that could have or should have – or we like to think that it could have or should have – been prevented. The perpetrator is usually a repeat offender. He (for usually it is a male) […]
Housing first: The case for social prescribing of housing in emergency departments – Healthy Debate [2023-10-03]
The past decade in Canada has seen a material escalation in visible homelessness. With a highly financialized housing market driving housing unaffordability and escalating inflation putting pressure on mortgages, rents and food, the crisis of homelessness has continued to worsen. This has resulted in […]
New apartments opening for homeless people with ‘complex health needs’ – CBC News [2023-10-11]
People who have nowhere to live and are dealing with complex health needs will now have 25 supportive housing units where they stay so they don’t end up on the street. The London Health Sciences Centre and London Cares have partnered to offer the […]
‘It will cost people their jobs’: Thunder Bay top cop says racism won’t be tolerated – Global News [2023-10-11]
Thunder Bay police Chief Darcy Fleury knows firsthand what it’s like to experience racism — and that has helped guide his first few months on the job as he looks to overhaul the embattled police force and repair relations with the Indigenous community. The […]
Heritage advocates hope to save Indigenous wall murals in former Guelph Correctional Centre – CBC News [2023-09-30]
Freddy Taylor says serving time at the now-former Guelph Correctional Centre started out as a very dark period in his life, but ended with a renewed passion for life and art. Taylor, 78, was taken from his home in Curve Lake as a child […]
5M Canadians experienced a mental health disorder in 2022: StatCan – CTV News [2023-09-23]
More than five million Canadians experienced some form of mental health disorder in 2022, a new Statistics Canada study has revealed. StatCan says those Canadians “met the diagnostic criteria for a mood, anxiety or substance use disorder, with the prevalence of mood and anxiety […]
To soothe anxiety around scattering the ashes of loved ones, London created a space for it – CBC News [2023-09-21]
The City of London has created a dedicated space for mourners to scatter ashes of their late friends and family at the Riverside boat launch along the Thames River. In a news released published Wednesday, city officials said the space, located in the Wonderland […]
Ontarians on social supports ‘worse off’ than before pandemic, study suggests – Global News [2023-09-20]
Some Ontario researchers say residents in the province who were already among the poorest and most vulnerable prior to COVID-19 are now worse off than they were before. A new report McMaster University’s political science and labour studies department is highlighting how things are […]
