For Alberta students looking for a community of substance-free events, a University of Calgary-led program may be what you’re looking for, even outside of the city.
Powered by $3 million in provincial cash, Recovery on Campus and the University of Calgary are announcing their new three-year action plan and Recovering in Place Lab.
The plan includes expanding direct recovery support, advancing recovery education and awareness, producing impactful research and evaluation, scaling campus recovery programs, and ensuring long-term sustainability, according to a UCalgary release.
The lab will focus on research and evaluation to generate evidence-based approaches that strengthen long-term addiction recovery across post-secondary communities.
Dr. Victoria Burns, founder and director of Recovery on Campus (ROC) and associate professor in UCalgary’s Faculty of Social Work, said the new funding will play perfectly into their prevention focus.
People ages 18-25 are the most likely to develop a substance use disorder, Burns told LWC. Similarly, a strategy published by the Government of Canada in 2023 called the toxic and illegal drug overdose crisis one of the most serious and deadly crises in the country’s history, with no community left untouched.
In a post-secondary setting, peer and academic pressure and party culture can increase a student’s likelihood to find an escape through substance abuse, Burns said.
“We’re finding people are getting into problematic use or problematic behaviours younger in life, even high school age and younger, so we want people coming to college or university to have a safe place where they can land, because it can be a very recovery-threatening environment,” she said.
“Here, we want students to know that they’re not alone, they have peers, and that it’s not odd to not be engaging in substance use.”
Having controlled, substance-free residence housing is another key recovery factor, Burns, who is also in long-term recovery, said.
Funding is expected to be allocated to things like scholarships and education, helping make accessing education as low-barrier as possible. Thus far, the University of Calgary Recovery Community has given out $100,000 in scholarships.
In 2024-2025, the community hosted 282 peer support meetings with 1,125 attendees, 83 per cent of those attendees felt an increased sense of belonging after attending a meeting, and 97 per cent said they would return without hesitation, according to a school-issued release.
Upcoming events include things like bystander intervention training.
Wide scope with small beginnings
When she founded ROC, Burns was inspired by similar, longstanding programs that have been happening for decades in the US, though never seemed to cross the border.
“This really started with a Zoom meeting during COVID and then a coffee cart that we borrowed from Student Wellness, and we went around, handed out resources, free coffee, and talked about recovery, and then eventually we built up, and we ended up getting our first grant from the City of Calgary in 2021 for a pilot program,” she said.
With the help of the investment, ROC is set to provide $75,000 per year in implementation funding at the University of Alberta, Red Deer Polytechnic, and Mount Royal University, among 22 other post-secondary institutions, to catalyze recovery initiatives. UCalgary’s recovery community is set to serve as the coordination, research, and proof-of-concept headquarters for ROC.
In a statement, Alberta Minister of Mental Health and Addiction, Rick Wilson, said the government is proud to support ROC, a part of the Alberta Recovery Model, so students can focus on their education while accessing the help they need.
“The Alberta Recovery Model ensures mental health and addiction recovery is supported at every stage of life, including post-secondary education,” the statement reads.
“Recovery is possible.”
The Alberta Recovery Model is a comprehensive continuum of mental health and addiction care that is focused on ensuring every person has an opportunity to pursue recovery, according to a government-issued release. Through this model, the province is increasing access to bed-based addiction treatment and expanding virtual access to addiction medicine care anywhere in the province through the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program and Virtual Rapid Access Addiction Medicine program, among other initiatives.
Students can’t succeed academically if they’re struggling alone, Myles McDougall, Minister of Advanced Education, said in a statement.
“This investment strengthens student well-being and reinforces our commitment to safe, supportive learning environments across Alberta.”
