Health Canada Funded Community Initiatives

Health Canada, through the Drug Strategy Community Initiatives Fund (DSCIF), contributes to reducing illicit drug use among youth ages 10 to 24 by funding health promotion and prevention projects aimed at youth in this age group.

Projects focus on:

• Informing and educating on illicit drugs and their adverse health and social effects,
• Offering tools to foster resiliency and coping skills among youth; and,
• Promoting healthy behaviours and supportive environments that discourage drug use among young people.

Projects are at the national, provincial, territorial, and local community level and can include a wide range of activities such as awareness campaigns, school-based and peer support programs and outreach. Project activities can also include development and distribution of resource materials as well as sharing best practices.

The projects target the general youth population or specific sub-groups such as Aboriginal youth living off-reserve, or youth who demonstrate risk factors associated with illicit drug use (for example, a drug-using parent, friends who use drugs, youth in the child welfare system).

For a listing of projects taking place in your province/ territory, please visit the "Funded Projects" section on the Health Canada website.