About

Our mission

Connecting individuals, families, organizations, businesses, and leaders to work together to promote health and well-being and address the toxic drug crisis for the City of Greater Sudbury.

Our vision

The vision of the Community Drug Strategy is a community working together to improve the health, safety, and well-being of all individuals, families, and neighbourhoods in Greater Sudbury by reducing substance-related harms.

Guiding principles

The following principles reflect the key values and beliefs that shape and direct the actions of the Greater Sudbury Community Drug Strategy:

Honouring the voices of people with lived and living experience: We centre our efforts on the needs and voices of the individuals and communities most impacted by drug toxicity, involving them in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of our initiatives and honouring their experience and expertise.
Valuing Indigenous perspectives: We honour and value Indigenous knowledge and perspectives, ensuring culturally informed approaches.
Collaborative engagement: We value collaborative and inclusive engagement with stakeholders from diverse sectors, recognizing that addressing drug toxicity crises requires a unified effort.
Compassion and empathy: We uphold a culture of compassion and empathy, acknowledging the humanity of individuals affected by drug toxicity. We strive to create a safe and non-judgmental environment where all views will be heard.
Respect for individual choices and realities: We recognize that the path of abstinence is not universally applicable. We embrace the diverse realities of individuals who use drugs. Our focus is on ensuring the safety and well-being of people who use drugs by combatting the toxic drug supply, while respecting individual autonomy and creating a community in which individuals can live their lives with dignity, minimizing and mitigating societal harm.
Transparency and accountability: We prioritize transparency in our actions, decisions, and communication, and we hold ourselves accountable to the communities we serve.
Innovation and adaptability: We embrace innovation and are open to exploring new approaches and technologies to address the evolving challenges and context of the drug toxicity crisis, based on local needs.
Stigma reduction: We actively work to reduce stigma associated with substance use and prioritize destigmatizing conversations around drug toxicity, fostering a culture of understanding and support.
Long-term impact: We are focused on creating sustainable, long-term solutions that address the root causes of drug toxicity crises and contribute to the overall well-being of communities.

Land Acknowledgement

The Greater Sudbury Community Drug Strategy operates within N’Swakamok, also known as Sudbury. This is the territory of the Anishnawbek communities of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Wahnapitae First Nation. The Community Drug Strategy operates within the traditional lands of the Robinson Huron Treaty of 1850, which predates confederation. Together, these lands encompass strong and vibrant communities with Anishinabek, Ininiwak (Cree), Métis, and Urban Indigenous Peoples. We acknowledge the original First Peoples of this land. Their enduring presence and resilience are felt throughout our shared history and in the present day.

Toxic Drug Crisis Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the devastating impact of the toxic drug crisis on individuals, families, and communities across Greater Sudbury and beyond. The unregulated and increasingly toxic supply has led to rising rates of drug poisonings, deaths, and long-term harms. These losses are felt deeply and personally—by loved ones, service providers, and community members. We recognize that this crisis is rooted in complex social, economic, and systemic factors, and that it disproportionately affects equity-denied populations, racialized populations, and those facing greater marginalization. We honour the lives lost, the resilience of those affected, and the urgent need for compassionate, coordinated, and evidence-informed action.

Position Statement on Harm Reduction

The Community Drug Strategy supports a comprehensive approach to the toxic drug crisis.

This includes measures grounded in

harm reduction
promoting dignity and autonomy
honouring the voices of people with lived and living experience
holding systems and structures accountable
deconstructing misinformation and stigma
serving the public good

For further information, read our Position Statement: Harm Reduction, A Key Component of a Comprehensive Substance Use Approach.

Key priorities

Promote awareness among all sectors of the issue and impacts of structural stigma and support practices and policies to promote inclusion and change norms, ensuring everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
Create new, and improve existing, partnerships to identify gaps and leverage and amplify efforts, promoting connections and collaboration between sectors.
Enhance care pathways to ensure client-centred approaches, facilitating seamless client transition between services along the substance use continuum.
Establish structures and processes to regularly connect stakeholders who are engaged in actioning solutions.
Seek commitment from all sectors to decolonize practices, committing to reviewing and modifying existing policies and practices to promote equitable access for BIPOC populations to services and resources.
Take action to provide safe spaces for all who access wrap-around, harm reduction, and treatment services.
Proactively seek out funding opportunities and identify where existing funding could be repurposed or reallocated to address priorities.
Collectively identify priority areas of focus and systematically coordinate investments.

For further information on the priorities related to the three streams of the Greater Sudbury Summit on Toxic Drugs read the Summit report, Honouring Voices, Embracing Perspectives, Moving Forward: A Summary Report on the Greater Sudbury Summit on Toxic Drugs (PDF).

This item was last modified on May 7, 2026