International Overdose Awareness Day 2025
Learn more about Overdose Awareness Day and Connective’s housing first and harm reduction approaches.
Aug 29 2025 | Connective
Every year on August 31, communities around the world mark International Overdose Awareness Day. It is a time to remember those we’ve lost to overdose, honour the grief of those left behind, and reaffirm our commitment to compassion, understanding, and support for those affected.
Since it began in 2001 in Melbourne, Australia, International Overdose Awareness Day has grown into the world’s largest annual campaign to end overdose, challenge stigma, and strengthen prevention efforts. The theme for 2025 — “One Big Family, Driven by Hope” — reminds us that the overdose crisis affects us all as losses ripple beyond families to classrooms, workplaces, and entire communities. It’s also a call to see each other as part of one interconnected family, committed to compassion, safety, and change.
The Ongoing Crisis in Canada
Between January 2016 and June 2024, 49,105 Canadians lost their lives to apparent opioid toxicity. In just the first half of 2024, Canada recorded 3,787 opioid toxicity deaths and 1,599 stimulant toxicity deaths.
These numbers aren’t just statistics — they represent people, families, and communities forever changed.
Our Experience
At Connective, we see firsthand how the overdose crisis affects individuals, families, and entire communities. Every day, our staff support service users navigating substance use, mental health challenges, and systemic barriers, and we witness the ripple effects across our programs. We also recognize the emotional weight and dedication required of our teams, and we are grateful for the care, advocacy, and persistence they bring to this work. These experiences inform how we design and deliver services, from Housing First supports to therapeutic communities and outreach programs, ensuring they remain practical, compassionate, and evidence-based.
Harm Reduction Approach: Meeting People Where They’re At
Harm reduction is a core part of our work. It’s an evidence-based, non-judgmental approach that recognizes not everyone can or wants to stop using substances. Everyone deserves safety, dignity, and access to care.
Our programs follow a Housing First approach. We believe safe, stable housing is the foundation for addressing other challenges, such as mental health or problematic substance use. From that foundation, staff work with residents to build plans that reflect their own goals, which may include safer use, treatment, or long-term recovery.
We also take practical steps to keep people safe in the moment. Teams receive ongoing training in naloxone administration and overdose response. In addition, some of our housing sites are equipped with ventilation rooms for safer use, and several programs offer safe supplies to help prevent overdose and other health risks.
Beyond a Housing First approach, we partner with community organizations to provide wraparound supports, health services, and skill-building opportunities. Staff are also trained in crisis prevention, First Aid/CPR, mental health first aid, domestic violence and safety planning, substance use awareness, and trauma-informed practices.
At Connective, harm reduction is part of a continuum of care, integrated across housing, outreach, and recovery services. This ensures people can access safer use, treatment, or recovery supports at the stage they’re at. It also helps prevent overdoses and supports lasting change.
Connective’s Supports
Across BC and the Yukon, Connective offers programs grounded in Housing First and harm reduction. Safe, stable housing is the foundation. From there, we provide a continuum of care that includes treatment, recovery, therapeutic communities, and specialized supports to help people build stability, skills, and long-term wellness.
Some of the ways we put this into action include:
- Community Service Offices – Advocacy, referrals, and direct supports for people facing barriers to mainstream services.
- Addictions Counsellor (Kamloops) – One-on-one and group counselling for women transitioning from institutions back into the community.
- Vancouver Island Therapeutic Community (Nanaimo) – Long-term, community-based recovery for men, with shared responsibility and skill-building.
- Northern BC Therapeutic Community (Prince George) – A long-term recovery program for 30 residents, offering safe housing, community living, and wraparound supports to help sustain recovery.
With decades of experience addressing complex social challenges across BC and the Yukon, Connective provides a Housing First approach, outreach, employment, and community-based programs. These services meet individual needs while also strengthening communities.
On this Overdose Awareness Day, we stand with communities everywhere in remembrance and solidarity. Together, we can raise awareness, promote a harm reduction approach, ensure naloxone is accessible and understood, and challenge the stigma surrounding substance use, working toward a future where fewer lives are lost to preventable overdose.