Harm Reduction for Canadian Post-Secondary Students and Staff
PORCH
A peer-delivered harm reduction service built specifically for Canadian post-secondary campuses. We organize trained student volunteers, evidence-based educational resources, and health authority-sourced supplies into the campus events where students need them most.
You can come because your friend is going, because you wondered what was in the tent, because you need condoms you can't afford, or because you've never had anyone explain fentanyl test strips without making you feel like you shouldn't be using them. Every one of those reasons is the right reason. PORCH doesn't ask why you came. We just make room for you when you come. Come hang on the PORCH.
The Need PORCH Addresses
Why campuses?
Post-secondary is one of the most transitional experiences a person moves through. New city, new identity, new freedoms, new pressures, new substances, new relationships, new body autonomy. Students are already living on the porch of adulthood. PORCH meets them precisely there, neither ahead of them wagging a finger about choices they haven't made yet, nor behind them pretending those choices aren't already happening.
The evidence is clear. Naloxone distribution saves lives.[6] Fentanyl test strips change behaviour. Safer sex supplies reduce transmission. Peer-delivered education reaches students who would never walk into a health centre.[5] Harm reduction does not increase substance use. It reduces harm. Post-secondary students need this information, and the campus is exactly where it belongs.
References
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024). Canadian Postsecondary Education Alcohol and Drug Use Survey (CPADS). health-infobase.canada.ca
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. (2018). Heavy episodic drinking among post-secondary students. ccsa.ca
- Wood, J., Martin, B., & LeBlanc, D. (2021). Among Canadian university students, STI rates are on the rise as condom use declines. The Sex Med. thesexmed.com
- Simoni, J. M., Franks, J. C., Lehavot, K., & Yard, S. S. (2011). Peer interventions to promote health. Am. J. Orthopsychiatry, 81(3), 351–359. doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2011.01103.x
- Canadian Public Health Association. (2024). A framework for a public health approach to substance use. cpha.ca
- Chambers, E., & Bayne, H. (2025, March 12). 2024 Harm Reduction Tent Report. GSA, University of Alberta. gsa-ualberta.ca/2024-harm-reduction-tent-report/
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024). Exploring STI education among university student athletes. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 50(7/8). canada.ca
- BC Centre for Disease Control. (2025, September). Harm reduction and medically supported treatment saves lives: Drug poisoning death events prevented 2019–2025. towardtheheart.com/ezine/8
About
PORCH
Built from lived experience, evidence, and the belief that every student deserves care without conditions.
Our mission is to make evidence-based, peer-delivered harm reduction accessible at every Canadian post-secondary institution. We meet students where they already are, with the practical tools and knowledge to keep themselves and each other safer. We do this through fully coordinated campus implementation that removes the primary barrier to harm reduction on campus. That barrier is the capacity and expertise to run it.
PORCH stands for Programming, Outreach, Resources, Community-Responsive Harm Reduction. Each word carries weight.
Programming means structured, evidence-based workshops and tent events, not ad hoc tabling. Outreach means going to students rather than expecting students to come to a clinic or a drop-in centre. Resources means arriving with the actual tools students need: naloxone, fentanyl test strips, pamphlets, safer sex supplies, and a resource guide built for their city. Community-Responsive means adapting the service to the specific campus culture, local health context, and student population it serves. Harm Reduction grounds everything in public health, dignity, and autonomy.
Community-responsive harm reduction means designing services around the real lives of students, not ideal ones. It means reflecting the specific campus culture, local health context, and student population the service is meant to reach. You can come to the tent because your friend is going, because you wondered what was in it, because you need condoms you can't afford, or because you've never had anyone explain fentanyl test strips without making you feel like you shouldn't be using them. Every one of those reasons is the right reason.
The Origin
In September 2024, during orientation week at the University of Alberta, Emma Chambers and Hannah Bayne organized and ran a three-day harm reduction tent in direct response to the absence of any harm reduction infrastructure at a licensed, open-air concert venue serving predominantly first-year students.[7] Drawing on backgrounds in crisis intervention in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and public health, they mobilized community partnerships with Alberta Health Services, StreetWorks, the George Spady Society, and the FentaNIL Project to deliver something that should have existed long before.
The results were immediate and unambiguous. Over three days, the tent engaged approximately 1,275 students and distributed 829 pamphlets over three days across 14 topics. It provided 175 naloxone kits, every one of which was taken within the event period. PORCH also distributed 500 anti-spiking cup covers, safer sex supplies, and safer inhalation materials. A survey of 115 student visitors found that 98% reported learning something new about keeping themselves and their peers safer, and 99% expressed strong support for the tent at future events.[7] Demand for naloxone alone exceeded supply.
The 2024 University of Alberta Harm Reduction Tent, the pilot event on which PORCH is built, is documented in a full report published by the Graduate Students' Association of the University of Alberta. The report details the evidence base for campus harm reduction, the activities and outcomes of the tent, survey results, and recommendations for the future of campus harm reduction in Canada.
Read the 2024 Report ↗The Innovation
The PORCH tent transforms what was a one-time, institution-specific initiative into a replicable, scalable social innovation that any Canadian post-secondary campus can access. The model removes the primary barrier to harm reduction on campus, which is the capacity and expertise to run it. PORCH delivers a fully coordinated service of peer-written educational materials, health authority-sourced supplies, trained student coordinators, structured volunteer onboarding, and evidence-based data collection at every event.
What distinguishes PORCH from existing campus health programming is not only what it provides but how it operates. The tent is not a clinical intervention. It is not a lecture or a module. It is a non-judgmental, student-facing space staffed by people who look like the students it serves. The pamphlets, written in the voice of an older sibling who has been there, cover topics from alcohol and opioids to safer sex, chemsex, drink spiking prevention, and overdose response. Students actively sought out this information and took it in numbers that outpaced supply.
Built on Proof
PORCH is not a proposal. It is a proven model. The 2024 University of Alberta tent demonstrated that campus harm reduction, when done with proper coordination, peer delivery, and community partnerships, reaches students at scale. The goal now is to make that model accessible to every Canadian post-secondary campus, regardless of institutional size or existing infrastructure.
Guiding Principles
Dignity
Every student is met with unconditional respect. No preconditions, no judgment, no agenda beyond their safety.
Autonomy
People have the right to make their own choices. PORCH provides tools and information, not prescriptions for how to live.
Peer-Led
In the PORCH model, peer means a student at the post-secondary institution where the service runs. PORCH prioritizes recruiting students who use substances, including alcohol, because in harm reduction more broadly, peer refers to someone with lived or living experience of substance use. That experience is expertise. Peer-based interventions are among the most effective in harm reduction precisely because of it.[5]
Evidence-Based
All programming is grounded in current research, trauma-informed practice, and an intersectional approach to health equity. It is updated annually.
Emma Chambers, MSc
Founder & Project Lead · they/them/theirs
Emma holds an MSc in Public Health from the University of Alberta, a graduate certificate in Sexual Health and Disability, a certificate in Substance Use and Addiction, and a first-class honours degree and distinction from McGill University and Oxford University in Gender, Sexuality, Feminism and Social Justice, and Indigenous Studies.
They bring seven years of frontline harm reduction work in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, across some of the most complex and underfunded health contexts in Canada. That work has not been narrow. It has included on-site HIV testing in massage parlours for migrant sex workers, housing advocacy for pregnant people receiving support in reducing substance use, and suicide intervention. They have encouraged members of an Indigenous health cooperative to look into PrEP within serodiscordant relationships, supported precariously housed university students who were sex workers in writing bad date reports, and taught advanced overdose response to healthcare workers and peer support workers. They have also curated sex-positive, age-appropriate literature for an autistic youth entering puberty, and served as a peer teacher in their undergraduate degree, delivering sexual health education to elementary and high school students.
PORCH is also personal. Emma used substances during their university years and continues to do so. Like most of their peers at the time, they did so without access to accurate information, practical supplies, or anyone who talked about it without judgment or persecution. They acknowledge that there are substances and methods they have not personally used, and in those cases they look to the expertise of people who have and do, because lived experience is expertise. They have spent their career watching the gap between what people need and what they can actually access cost people their health, their dignity, and sometimes their lives. The tent they organized at the University of Alberta in 2024 is the resource they wished had existed. Building it into something every Canadian campus can access is the work they have been building toward their entire career.
Advisory Board
PORCH's Advisory Board brings together expertise in harm reduction nursing, public health, Indigenous scholarship, and digital social science.
References
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024). Canadian Postsecondary Education Alcohol and Drug Use Survey (CPADS). health-infobase.canada.ca
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. (2018). Heavy episodic drinking among post-secondary students. ccsa.ca
- Wood, J., Martin, B., & LeBlanc, D. (2021). Among Canadian university students, STI rates are on the rise as condom use declines. The Sex Med. thesexmed.com
- SIECCAN. (2019). Sexual Health of Canadian University Students Study.
- Simoni, J. M., Franks, J. C., Lehavot, K., & Yard, S. S. (2011). Peer interventions to promote health. Am. J. Orthopsychiatry, 81(3), 351–359. doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2011.01103.x
- Canadian Public Health Association. (2024). A framework for a public health approach to substance use. cpha.ca
- Chambers, E., & Bayne, H. (2025, March 12). 2024 Harm Reduction Tent Report. GSA, University of Alberta. gsa-ualberta.ca/2024-harm-reduction-tent-report/
- Dyck, T., & Reist, D. (2021). Harm reduction for post-secondary settings. CISUR, University of Victoria. uvic.ca/research/centres/cisur/
- Mercer, F., et al. (2021). Peer support and overdose prevention. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18(22), 12073. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212073
- Ford, V., Wooster, A., & Bartram, M. (2021). Work hard, party hard. Can. J. Higher Education, 52(1), 1–20. journals.sfu.ca/cjhe/
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024). Harm reduction. PHAC Learning. training-formation.phac-aspc.gc.ca
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024). Exploring STI education among university student athletes. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 50(7/8). canada.ca
- BC Centre for Disease Control. (2025, September). Harm reduction and medically supported treatment saves lives: Drug poisoning death events prevented 2019–2025. towardtheheart.com/ezine/8
- Owczarzak, J., Martin, E., Weicker, N., Evans, I., Morris, M., & Sherman, S. G. (2024). A qualitative exploration of harm reduction in practice by street-based peer outreach workers. Harm Reduction Journal, 21, 161. doi.org/10.1186/s12954-024-01076-w
- Nyx, E., & Kalicum, J. (2024). A case study of the DULF compassion club and fulfillment centre. International Journal of Drug Policy, 131, 104537. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104537
- Murkin, G. (2014). Drug decriminalisation in Portugal: Setting the record straight. Transform Drug Policy Foundation. transformdrugs.org
What We
Offer
A fully coordinated service. Your campus gets the tent, the training, and the data. We handle everything else.
Each PORCH campus implementation includes supply sourcing through regional health authorities, locally hired student coordinators, structured volunteer training, standardized educational materials, and systematic outcome data collection at every event. Every service is peer-delivered, non-judgmental, and evidence-based.[6] PORCH is based in Vancouver, BC. The project lead travels nationally for tent events and in-person workshops. Remote workshop delivery is also available.
The Harm Reduction Tent
The PORCH tent operates at high-risk campus events such as orientation weeks, sporting events, and exam periods, and anywhere alcohol is served to students navigating independence, often for the first time. It is a staffed, student-facing space, not a clinical intervention. The tent is staffed by a locally hired student coordinator and trained volunteers. The project lead manages logistics, supply sourcing, and data analysis remotely. Your campus gets a fully operational service. We handle the rest.
PORCH Pamphlets
Written in the voice of an older sibling who has been there. Plain language, no judgment, no agenda beyond giving people the information they actually need. At the 2024 UAlberta tent, 829 pamphlets were distributed over three days across 14 topics.[7]
Pamphlet Topics
Naloxone Kits & Demonstrations
Every tent carries naloxone kits available for students to take, free of charge. Volunteers provide live demonstrations and walk students through what an overdose looks like and how to respond. Knowing how to use naloxone is for everyone who might one day be standing next to someone who needs it. At the 2024 UAlberta tent, all 175 kits were taken before the tent closed, and demand exceeded supply.[7]
Fentanyl Test Strips and Demonstration
PORCH provides fentanyl testing strips alongside guided demonstrations of how to use them. Students can learn how to test a substance before they or someone they care about is in the situation that makes that knowledge urgent. Cannabis use among university students is frequently combined with other substances, which increases risk significantly.[2]
Safer Sex & Safer Use Supplies
Condoms, lubricant, anti-spiking cup covers, and safer inhalation materials, all freely distributed without any conversation required to receive them. At the 2024 UAlberta tent, 500 anti-spiking cup covers were distributed alongside hundreds of condoms. Condom use is declining among young adults while STBBI rates rise.[3]
Campus-Specific Resource Navigation
Every tent generates a resource guide built for that campus and that city. Students can leave with a list of nearby sexual health clinics, free STI testing, drug checking services, substance use counselling, peer support groups, and community harm reduction organizations. The list is updated each time PORCH returns to a campus.
Outcome Data Collection
Every visitor is invited to complete a short anonymous QR-code feedback form. The data collected measures what students learned, what topics they engaged with most, and what gaps remain. Results are shared with the partnering institution as part of post-event reporting. That kind of data does not come from a passive health display. It comes from a model built to actually reach people.[7]
Workshops
The PORCH workshop stream brings harm reduction education directly into campus spaces including classrooms, student organization meetings, residence orientations, and staff training days. All workshops are facilitated by the PORCH project lead, grounded in current evidence, trauma-informed practice, and an intersectional approach to health equity,[8] and updated annually. Workshops can be booked as standalone sessions or bundled with a tent event. In-person delivery is available at any Canadian post-secondary institution. Remote delivery is available for all workshops except Safer Substance Use. To book, email us with the workshop title and your institution's location.
Safer Substance Use
The core PORCH workshop on substance use. It covers harm reduction history and mythbusting, what students are actually using and how to use more safely, and how to recognize and respond to substance-related emergencies. This workshop is not a substitute for first aid training. It gives students more tools for keeping themselves and their friends safer. Students are encouraged to take breaks throughout as needed.
Safer Sex
A sex ed workshop that covers what most sex ed doesn't. Topics include structural power and who carries risk, pleasure as a legitimate health outcome, and the grey areas of consent that don't have clean answers. Includes a campus-specific resource guide. Students are encouraged to take breaks throughout as needed.
Each specialized substance workshop is 60 minutes and follows the same structure. Twenty minutes of history, twenty minutes of effects, and twenty minutes of risks, risk navigation, and mitigation. Available in-person or remote for any group size.
All Nighter
What students are actually taking to study, how those substances work, and how to use them without derailing their health or their grades.
Gummies Hit Different
Edibles, inhalation, and the differences between products. How cannabis interacts with other substances and what to do when it's too much.
Pre-Drink to Last Round
Campus drinking culture, how alcohol works in the body, mixing risks, and how to actually look out for the people around you on a night out.
Sex on Drugs
A frank, non-judgmental workshop on substances in sexual contexts. Covers what people use and why, complicated consent when substances are involved, how to repair after difficult experiences, and practical risk management. Students are encouraged to take breaks throughout as needed.
What Do I Say?
For the people students actually turn to first. Covers harm reduction foundations, what students are using and what staff need to know about substance use and sexual health, comprehensive emergency response including naloxone training, and how to look after yourself and your students in the aftermath of a critical incident. Includes scenario-based facilitated discussion throughout. Not a substitute for first aid training.
Workshops can be booked as standalone sessions or bundled with a tent event as part of a campus partnership. To book, email us with the workshop title and your institution's location.
Book a WorkshopReferences
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction. (2018). Heavy episodic drinking among post-secondary students. ccsa.ca
- Wood, J., Martin, B., & LeBlanc, D. (2021). Among Canadian university students, STI rates are on the rise as condom use declines. The Sex Med. thesexmed.com
- Canadian Public Health Association. (2024). A framework for a public health approach to substance use. cpha.ca
- Chambers, E., & Bayne, H. (2025, March 12). 2024 Harm Reduction Tent Report. GSA, University of Alberta. gsa-ualberta.ca/2024-harm-reduction-tent-report/
- Dyck, T., & Reist, D. (2021). Harm reduction for post-secondary settings. CISUR, University of Victoria. uvic.ca/research/centres/cisur/
- Mercer, F., et al. (2021). Peer support and overdose prevention. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18(22), 12073. doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182212073
- Owczarzak, J., Martin, E., Weicker, N., Evans, I., Morris, M., & Sherman, S. G. (2024). A qualitative exploration of harm reduction in practice by street-based peer outreach workers. Harm Reduction Journal, 21, 161. doi.org/10.1186/s12954-024-01076-w
- BC Centre for Disease Control. (2025, September). Harm reduction and medically supported treatment saves lives. towardtheheart.com/ezine/8
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024). Exploring STI education among university student athletes. Canada Communicable Disease Report, 50(7/8). canada.ca
Get
Involved
PORCH runs on community. There is a place for you here.
Whether you give time, skills, or a platform, your participation keeps life-saving services running for students who need them.
PORCH volunteers staff the harm reduction tent alongside the project lead, bringing harm reduction directly to the campus events where students need it most. You will engage students in real conversations about safer substance use and sexual health, and be part of the reason someone leaves with something they needed, whether that's information, supplies, or simply the experience of being met without judgment.
Training is provided by the project lead, and includes written materials, an FAQ guide, and a safety protocol. You do not need to be an expert. You need to show up, be present, and care about the people around you.
Apply to VolunteerIf your institution hosts events where alcohol is served, harm reduction belongs there too. It is ethically indefensible to host events that encourage alcohol consumption without providing the tools to mitigate associated risks.[7]
PORCH handles logistics, supply sourcing, volunteer coordination, and data reporting. Your campus gets a fully operational service without building it from scratch.
Start a ConversationThe harm reduction sector is held up by a network of organizations doing essential, often under-resourced work. Whether or not PORCH is on your campus, these organizations deserve your support.
Find a list of British Columbia, Alberta, and national organizations below and consider volunteering, donating, or advocating for their work.
Harm Reduction Organizations to Know
These organizations provide services, supplies, and expertise that inform and support PORCH's model. If you need harm reduction services, reach out to organizations in your area.
British Columbia
- DULF (Drug User Liberation Front, Vancouver)
- VANDU (Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users)
- WAHRS (Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society)
- Good Night Out Vancouver
- CSUN (Coalition of Substance Users of the North)
Alberta
- Street Cats YYC, Calgary
- 4B Harm Reduction Society, Edmonton
National
- Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP)
- Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
- CAPUD (Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs)
- Moms Stop the Harm
For Sponsors
SponsorshipSponsorship of PORCH connects your organization to peer-led harm reduction on Canadian post-secondary campuses. Contact us to request a sponsorship package.
Become a SponsorDonate
Individual GivingIndividual donations support the development of new educational materials, supply sourcing for campuses that cannot cover full costs, and the expansion of PORCH to institutions that would not otherwise have access.
DonateAs PORCH is not a registered charity, donations are not tax-deductible.
References
- Chambers, E., & Bayne, H. (2025, March 12). 2024 Harm Reduction Tent Report. GSA, University of Alberta. gsa-ualberta.ca/2024-harm-reduction-tent-report/
Reach Out
Contact
For campus partnership inquiries, sponsorship, volunteer applications, workshop bookings, or general questions.
Get in Touch
Frequently
Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about PORCH, harm reduction, and how it all works.
General
Harm reduction is a public health approach that prioritizes the safety, health, and dignity of people who use substances, without requiring abstinence as a condition of receiving support. It starts from the recognition that substance use is part of human experience, not a moral failure. Rather than asking whether someone uses, it asks how we can help them do so more safely.[2] The same principle extends to sexual health: rather than assuming abstinence, harm reduction ensures people have the information and supplies to protect themselves and their partners.
Harm reduction is grounded in a set of core commitments. It is evidence-based. It respects the rights and dignity of people who use drugs. It is committed to social justice and collaborating with people who use drugs to create policy and programs. It actively avoids stigma.[2]
Most people use some form of drugs, and there is a continuum of behaviours ranging from total abstinence to severely problematic use. That continuum includes legal substances like caffeine and alcohol as well as illicit ones. To ignore or condemn the effects of drug use is unwise and doesn't help keep people and communities safe.
It's also worth noting that harm reduction isn't unusual — most people practice it every day. Wearing a seatbelt. Using a bike helmet. Washing your hands during cold and flu season. Checking expiry dates. These are all harm reduction.[3] When it comes to substance use, the same logic applies.
Types of harm reduction in drug use include information about safer use, safe consumption sites, needle and syringe programs, clean supply programs, overdose prevention and reversal (including free naloxone), opioid agonist therapy, drug checking services, decriminalization, legal services, and housing support.
Types of harm reduction in sexual health include condoms and other barriers, access to PrEP and PEP, birth control, free and accessible STI testing, HIV self-testing kits, and decriminalization of sex work.
Decriminalizing means it is not illegal to possess and use personal amounts of all drugs. Criminal sanctions against the personal use of illegal psychoactive substances have failed to curb usage and availability. Evidence shows that a public health approach can reduce harm instead. Resources that previously went to policing and prohibition are redirected toward harm reduction and addiction recovery.
Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Since then, drug use and drug-related crime have both decreased, with rates of drug use falling below the European average. Decriminalization works.
Harm reduction does cost money. So does the prohibition and policing of drugs, which costs Canada approximately $4.8 billion annually. Harm reduction saves taxpayer dollars by reducing the healthcare and policing costs associated with drug prohibition. A single supervised consumption site saves taxpayers approximately $6 million per year while keeping people who use drugs safe.
No. Crime does not increase after harm reduction and safer consumption services are introduced in a neighbourhood. Evidence shows that in these areas, public consumption, discarded needles, and litter all decrease.
Because no substance use, sexual activity, or life experience is entirely without risk, and claiming otherwise would be dishonest. "Safer" is intentional. It acknowledges that risk exists while making clear that what people do with accurate information, the right supplies, and a non-judgmental conversation is meaningfully different from doing those same things without any of that. PORCH doesn't promise safe. It delivers safer. That distinction is the whole point.
No. Evidence consistently shows that harm reduction does not increase rates of substance use. What it does do is reduce the harms that happen when people use substances without information, without supplies, and without anyone to talk to. The students who come to the PORCH tent are not there because the tent gave them permission to use substances. They are there because they were going to anyway. Now they are going home with naloxone, fentanyl test strips, and something they didn't know before.
PORCH is available to post-secondary institutions across Canada. The organization is based in Vancouver, BC, and the project lead travels to deliver tent events and in-person workshops nationally. Remote workshop delivery is also available. A French-language version of the website and materials is in development.
For Institutions
Email emma.chambers@porch-harmreduction.org to start a conversation. PORCH will work with you to understand your campus context, identify the right events, and build a quote tailored to your institution's needs and budget.
Tent events require a minimum of six to eight weeks' lead time for local coordinator hiring, volunteer training, supply coordination with regional health authorities, and material preparation. Earlier is always better, particularly for orientation week events. Workshops generally require less lead time and can sometimes be arranged with shorter notice.
Very little. PORCH handles coordination, supply sourcing, materials, training, and data collection. Institutions provide event access, a space for the tent, a point of contact to facilitate local logistics, and, where required, access to the student population for volunteer recruitment. Specific requirements are confirmed at the time of booking.
PORCH collects anonymous student feedback via a short QR-code survey at every event. No personally identifying information is gathered. Aggregate results are shared with the partnering institution as part of post-event reporting and used to improve PORCH programming nationally. See the Privacy page for more detail.
For Students
No. You can come because you're curious, because your friend dragged you over, because you want free condoms, because you have a question you've never been able to ask out loud, or because you use substances and want to be better prepared. All of those reasons are equally valid.
Yes, the tent is fully anonymous. PORCH does not collect names, student IDs, or any identifying information. The optional feedback form is anonymous. Nothing about your visit is reported to your institution, your instructors, or anyone else. Walk up, take what you need, ask what you want to ask, and leave.
Yes. Knowing how to respond to an overdose, how to prevent drink spiking, and how to support a friend who uses substances is for everyone who might one day be standing next to someone who does. Most of the people who picked up naloxone at the University of Alberta tent were not there for themselves.
Yes. Everything at the tent, including naloxone kits, fentanyl test strips, safer sex supplies, pamphlets, and resource guides, is free to take.
References
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024, January 12). Canadian Postsecondary Education Alcohol and Drug Use Survey (CPADS). health-infobase.canada.ca
- Public Health Agency of Canada. (2024). Harm reduction. PHAC Learning. training-formation.phac-aspc.gc.ca
- Indigenous Harm Reduction Team. (n.d.). What is harm reduction? ihrt.ca/what-is-harm-reduction/
- BC Centre for Disease Control. (2025, September). Harm reduction and medically supported treatment saves lives: Drug poisoning death events prevented from 2019–2025. towardtheheart.com/ezine/8
- Murkin, G. (2014). Drug decriminalisation in Portugal: Setting the record straight. Transform Drug Policy Foundation. transformdrugs.org
- Nyx, E., & Kalicum, J. (2024). A case study of the DULF compassion club and fulfillment centre. International Journal of Drug Policy, 131, 104537. doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2024.104537
Privacy
PORCH is committed to protecting the privacy of everyone who engages with our services.
At the Tent and Workshops
PORCH does not collect any personally identifying information about students who visit a PORCH tent or attend a PORCH workshop. The anonymous feedback form available at every tent event collects responses related to learning outcomes, resource engagement, and program satisfaction only. No names, student IDs, contact information, or device identifiers are gathered. Aggregate, de-identified data is used to report outcomes to partnering institutions and to improve PORCH programming across all campuses.
Website Contact Form
Contact information submitted through the website contact form, including name, institution, and email address, is used solely to respond to your inquiry and is never shared with third parties.
Questions
For questions about PORCH's privacy practices, email emma.chambers@porch-harmreduction.org.
Accessibility
Harm reduction only works if it actually reaches people. Accessibility is not an afterthought at PORCH. It is built into the model.
PORCH is committed to meeting WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards for this website. If you encounter an accessibility barrier on this site or at a PORCH event, please email emma.chambers@porch-harmreduction.org.
At the Tent
All PORCH tent setups are wheelchair accessible. The tent environment is kept as scent-free as possible. PORCH pamphlets are in development for Braille conversion. If you have specific access needs for an upcoming tent at your institution, email us in advance and we will do our best to accommodate.
This Website
This site is built to WCAG 2.1 AA standards. It includes sufficient colour contrast across all text, full keyboard navigability with visible focus indicators, semantic HTML with ARIA labels, and skip-to-content navigation. Animations respect the operating system's reduced-motion setting.
Colour Contrast
All text on this site meets or exceeds WCAG AA minimum contrast ratios. Normal text meets the 4.5:1 minimum and large text meets the 3:1 minimum. Colour is never used as the sole means of conveying information.
Language
A French-language version of this website and all educational materials is in development. This page and all content use the lang="en" attribute for screen reader compatibility.