Anchoring Hope: National Addictions Awareness Week 2025
Trigger warning: This article discusses substance use, and loss
This week is National Addictions Awareness Week (NAAW) in Canada. It is a time dedicated to lifting stigma, sharing knowledge, and reminding communities that support and recovery are possible. This year’s theme, “Anchoring Hope,” invites us to meet substance use challenges not with judgment, but with compassion, understanding, and evidence-based support.
Even as Canada continues to face the realities of an increasingly unpredictable and toxic drug supply, NAAW reminds us that hope is not naïve - it is necessary. Hope is what keeps families seeking help, keeps communities showing up for one another, and empowers people with lived experience to guide the way forward.
Why this week matters:
Addressing substance use health, often means confronting grief, complexity, and difficult realities. Many families across Canada have experienced loss in recent years, with tens of thousands of overdose deaths linked to the unregulated drug supply. But NAAW is not only about acknowledging harm. It is also about recognizing resilience, community care, and the importance of creating safe pathways to support.
A quick snapshot of Ontario trends:
The most recent provincial data show a complex picture:
• Ontario reported 2,638 opioid-related deaths in 2023, and 2,231 deaths in 2024 — a 15% decrease, but still 43% higher than pre-2019 levels.
• Toronto recorded 458 deaths in 2024, a 17% decrease from the peak crisis years.
• Thunder Bay, however, experienced increases in both deaths and paramedic calls in 2024 (Data Trends | Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction)
Experts suggest several factors may be contributing to the overall provincial decrease, including expanded harm-reduction services, wider naloxone availability, and shifts in the drug supply. At the same time, new concerns have emerged, including the increasing presence of veterinary tranquilizers such as xylazine and medetomidine in the unregulated drug market.
Who is most affected?
While substance use affects people from every background, some groups face higher risks:
• Men
• Skilled trades workers
• Youth and young adults
• People experiencing housing instability
• Adults 25–44, who consistently represent the highest overdose fatality rates
• Northern and remote communities
Anchoring hope through action & compassion
Substance use health is not just a clinical issue - it’s a human one. Every person deserves dignity, safety, and the chance to seek support without shame.
We can anchor hope by:
• Using person-first, non-judgmental language
• Supporting harm reduction, which saves lives every day
• Advocating for supervised consumption sites, naloxone programs, and outreach services
• Learning the signs of overdose and knowing where to get help
• Checking in on friends, coworkers, neighbours, and family members
• Recognizing that substance use often stems from pain, trauma, stress, or isolation
Support is here. No one - whether seeking help or supporting someone they care about - must face substance use challenges alone. When compassion leads, people come forward. When support is accessible, people survive. And when we stand together, we anchor hope, today and every day.
Support Resources:
- CCSA Homepage | Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction
- ConnexOntario – 24/7 mental health, addiction, and problem-gambling support
https://www.connexontario.ca - Drug & Alcohol Helpline (Ontario) – 1-800-565-8603
- Telehealth Ontario – 1-866-797-0000
- Good2Talk (post-secondary students) – 1-866-925-5454
- Kids Help Phone – 1-800-668-6868 | Text CONNECT to 686868
- Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres (OATC) – Methadone/Suboxone access
- Information for Families | CAMH
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Homewood Health
Access resources without registering
- Step One: Visit www.homeweb.ca and click ‘sign in”
- Step Two: Enter email: MohawkCollege@Efap.com, Password: MohawkEFAP#1
Register for a private account (optional)
- Step One: Visit www.homeweb.ca and click ‘Register’.
- Step Two: Type your company name and click ‘Find it!’ Select the correct company from the list provided. Enter information into the required fields, Invitation Code for Mohawk College: MC7480 choose an email and password, and click ‘Next Step’.
- Step Three: Let us know your relationship to the organization (e.g. employee, spouse, dependent, etc.) and click ‘Next Step’
- Step Four: Enter the Necessary Information and click ‘Create a Homeweb Account’.
Phone: Employees, and their immediate family, may call Homewood Health at 1-800-663-1142, anytime 365 days of the year.
Please be assured that when you use the program, it is completely confidential.