Support for Community Projects to Prevent and Reduce Youth Substance Use-Related Harms Among Youth

Today, the Honourable Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health, announced over $2.9 million in funding through the Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (YSUPP). The program helps communities across Canada create tailored approaches to substance use prevention based on their specific needs.

August 2025

In response to the illegal toxic drug overdose crisis, the Public Health Agency of Canada is investing over $2.9 million in community-based projects in Ontario and Alberta, through a second stream of funding under the Public Health Agency of Canada's Youth Substance Use Prevention Program (YSUPP).

Funding is provided under YSUPP to implement and adapt the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) in various communities in Canada. This model, which is recognized internationally for its collaborative approach to preventing substance use harms among youth, is based on the fundamental principle that prevention efforts should be focused on building strong and healthy communities. Using a collaborative approach, it focuses on strengthening factors that promote overall health and well-being. These factors include healthy relationships, safe environments, and school and community connectedness.

Planet Youth Nipissing

North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit – North Bay & West Nipissing, Ontario

$750,000 over 3 years to support the implementation of the IPM and provide insights into youth health and well-being across pilot communities in the Nipissing District. The project will integrate input from diverse community partners and meaningfully engage youth, emphasizing cultural safety, health equity, and inclusive research practices. Key protective factors of focus will include strong family and peer relationships, extracurricular involvement, and school engagement. Some of the key activities that will be implemented by Planet Youth Nipissing include data dissemination, community engagement, and ongoing evaluation to measure project impact and generate knowledge about promising interventions.

Creating an Upstream Prevention Culture in Lanark County

Open Doors Mental Health for Children, Youth & Families – Lanark County, Ontario

$750,000 over 3 years to support Planet Youth Lanark County's continued implementation of the IPM. The objectives of the project include strengthening youth and family engagement, establishing a robust collaborative governance model, and developing and evaluating interventions that enhance youth safety and well-being protective factors while diminishing sleep related risk factors. Throughout the project, Open Doors Mental Health for Children, Youth and Families, will partner with leaders in diverse, youth-serving sectors to enhance the quality of life of communities through the prevention of substance-related harms among youth.

Growing up in Timiskaming – Planet Youth Implementation and Evaluation

Northeastern Health Unit (Formerly Timiskaming Health Unit) – Timiskaming District, Ontario

$743,859 over 3 years to support Planet Youth Timiskaming to identify, implement, and evaluate upstream interventions. Interventions will be identified through local data collected in November 2023 and through ongoing engagement with youth and three Local Action Teams, made up of community members and leaders. Funding will also support Planet Youth Timiskaming to partner with a Brock University-based researcher to conduct intervention research in order to contribute new knowledge in the field of youth substance use prevention, with a focus on learning from promising interventions and identifying key adaptations in the northern-rural context.

Planet Youth: Enhancing the Well-Being and Resilience of Calgary

United Way Calgary & Area – Calgary, Alberta

$750,000 over 3 years to support administration of the IPM school survey to Grade 10 students in eight high schools in communities across Calgary, and for Planet Youth Calgary to work with researchers from the University of Calgary, Matheson Centre, to develop, implement and evaluate data-driven interventions in the project communities. Funding will also support Planet Youth Calgary to work with Indigenous Scholars and other Indigenous stakeholders to adapt the IPM for urban Indigenous youth in Calgary. The project team will determine appropriate data collection methodologies for Indigenous youth, and develop solutions guided by Indigenous ways of knowing, being, and doing.