About

CSCS Ottawa is a grassroots campaign of community members who advocate for the opening of safer consumption sites in Ottawa for people who use drugs.

We are a volunteer-run organization employing anti-oppression, consensus decision making. All members of the community are invited to join.

Since the inception of CSCS Ottawa in 2011, our group has organized several public forums with expert speaker panels and community discussion. We've canvassed door-to-door in the ByWard Market to inform and gather the opinions of residents and businesses. Our petition calling on the Ontario government to support supervised consumption sites in Ottawa has over 1,000 signatures and counting. We collaborate regularly with community organizations and service providers on events related to social justice and community health, and we've been featured in print, television, and radio media on the issue of consumption sites.

CSCS is proud to have been an OPIRG Ottawa Action Group for five years.

Mission Statement

• To advocate for the opening of safer consumption sites in Ottawa for people who inhale or inject drugs. These facilities would reduce blood-borne disease transmission, accidental overdose deaths, public drug use and disorder, and improve access to health and social services.
• To raise awareness of the impacts of the criminalization, marginalization, and stigmatization of people who use drugs. These challenges lead to higher risks of adverse health conditions linked to poverty, inadequate housing, and equipment sharing, and are barriers to accessing health and social services.
• To promote the human rights, dignity, and holistic well-being of people who use drugs in order to foster healthier and safer communities for all.

Vision statement

• CSCS Ottawa strives to reduce the transmission rates of HIV and HCV, to reduce overdose deaths, and to improve the health and well-being of people who use drugs in Ottawa.
• We envision a city in which safer consumption sites are available to provide services to people who use drugs in Ottawa, and in which clients can inject or smoke drugs under medical supervision without fear of arrest or prosecution.
• We envision a society in which the response to problematic drug use is an integrated health approach that encompasses harm reduction, expanded primary-care services, comprehensive and creative interventions to address communicable diseases, and evidence-based drug policies.
• We envision a society in which the human rights and dignity of all people who use drugs are respected and realized.