Peel Region funds community partners to advance substance use strategy

BRAMPTON, ON (October 6, 2025) - Peel Region has awarded 10 community organizations in Peel with microgrants of up to $1,000 each to support community engagement projects for Peel’s Substance Strategy. The microgrants will support equity-deserving communities in Peel, including people with lived experience, to ensure those most affected by substance-related harms have a voice in its development.

The following organizations have been selected to receive funding:

• Indwell
• Moyo Health & Community Services
• Our Place Peel
• PAARC (Peel Addiction Assessment and Referral Centre)
• Peel Poverty Action Group
• Punjabi Community Health Services
• Services and Housing In the Province (SHIP)
• SOCH Mental Health
• Students Overcoming Substance Use Disorder and Addictions Society of Canada (SOUDA)
• YMCA of Greater Toronto – Youth Substance Abuse Program (YSAP)

"Investing in community organizations means the people most affected by substance use are helping shape our response,” said Paul Sharma, Director of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention, Peel Region. “We’re grateful for our partners’ commitment to the well-being of their communities, which is central to building a strategy that works for everyone in Peel."

The funding will connect with people who have lived/living experience of substance use through focus groups, one-on-one interviews, surveys, and more. These conversations will help the organizations understand the challenges, needs, and gaps in support to develop a strategy that helps reduce substance-related harms.

In addition to the microgrants, Peel Region departments, including Paramedic Services, will support the co-design through peer-led focus groups that examine barriers faced by people with lived experience in using naloxone and CPR during substance-related harms.

Organizations will receive the funding in the Fall of 2025 to run engagement and consultation sessions that will help shape Peel's Substance Strategy. The strategy will be finalized in Spring 2026.

Resources

• Peel's Substance Strategy
• Peel Region's Community Safety and Well-being Plan
• Peel Region Regional Council Report about space for new HART Hub
• Peel Public Health's Strategic Plan
• Peel Region Strategic Plan