Harm Reduction
Supporting Safety, Dignity, and Informed Choice
Harm reduction is a practical, compassionate approach to health and wellbeing. It focuses on reducing the risks associated with substance use — without judgment, pressure, or requirements to stop using.
At LIFT, harm reduction means meeting people where they are and supporting safer choices that protect health, preserve dignity, and build trust. For many people, this approach is often the first doorway to care.
What Harm Reduction Looks Like at LIFT
Our mobile outreach team provides harm reduction services directly in the community — in the places people live, gather, and feel safest.
This includes:
Safer use supplies to help reduce the risk of infection and injury
Naloxone kits and training to respond to opioid overdoses
Drug checking tools, including fentanyl test strips
Education and conversations about overdose prevention and substance use safety
All services are offered in a non-coercive way. There are no conditions, expectations, or requirements attached.
Why Harm Reduction Matters
Today’s unregulated drug supply is increasingly unpredictable. Substances are often stronger, more toxic, and mixed with other compounds — sometimes without a person’s knowledge.
Across Ontario, most fatal overdoses involve fentanyl, and many occur indoors, often when no one else is present to help. In these situations, access to harm reduction supplies and education can mean the difference between life and death.
Harm reduction does not encourage substance use. It acknowledges reality — and responds with care, evidence, and respect.
More Than Supplies: A Point of Connection
Harm reduction is also about relationships.
For many people, engaging with LIFT around safer use is their first positive interaction with a health or social service provider in a long time. These connections create opportunities to:
Address wounds, infections, or other health concerns
Talk about housing, income supports, or mental health care
Explore next steps at the person’s own pace
We understand that trust takes time. Harm reduction creates space for that trust to grow.
Our Approach
LIFT’s harm reduction services are grounded in:
Compassion — every person deserves respect and dignity
Choice — individuals define their own goals and readiness
Accessibility — services are mobile, flexible, and low-barrier
Community — responses shaped by local needs and lived experience
This approach reflects what research and frontline experience consistently show: people are more likely to engage with care when they feel safe, respected, and heard.
Accessing Harm Reduction Services
Harm reduction services are available through LIFT’s mobile outreach team across Lanark County.
You do not need an appointment or referral to access supplies, naloxone, or education. Services are confidential and judgment-free.
To find out where LIFT will be in the community this week, visit our Schedule & Locations page or contact our team directly.
Why it Matters
Supporting safer use, reducing preventable harm
Today’s unregulated drug supply is increasingly unpredictable. Substances are often stronger, more toxic, and mixed with other compounds — sometimes without a person’s knowledge.
Across Ontario, most fatal overdoses involve fentanyl, and many occur indoors, often when no one else is present to help. In these situations, access to harm reduction supplies and education can mean the difference between life and death.
Harm reduction does not encourage substance use. It acknowledges reality — and responds with care, evidence, and respect.
Source: Ontario Drug Policy Research Network – Opioid Indicator Tool
Fentanyl — a highly potent synthetic opioid — is now a dominant driver of opioid-related harms in Ontario, and its increased presence correlates with higher rates of overdose death over recent years.
Source: Health Canada – Supervised Consumption & Harm Reduction Evidence
Programs that provide harm reduction supplies and naloxone are proven to save lives and reduce barriers to care when paired with education and outreach.
Ontario has been a central part of Canada’s broader overdose crisis, with thousands of opioid and stimulant-related deaths reported nationally and provincially.
Source: Substance Use Harms in Canada and Ontario Data Tool (Public Health Ontario)
