About the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence
In February 2022, Canadore College announced the development of the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence. This new treatment centre will be a healing, education, and wellness hub, and will offer treatment services tailored to the needs of each client.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence is to be a place of healing, education, and wellness.
- To restore those suffering from addiction back to healthy mind and body.
- To practice daily healthy habits to attain improved physical and mental health outcomes.
- To provide training opportunities for clients to build a successful future.
- To educate future professionals for the health and human wellness sector.
Background
Recent studies have shown that opioid-related deaths increased by almost 80% during the first two waves of the global COVID-19 pandemic, with rates in Northern Ontario being three times higher than in other parts of the province.
Due to the surge in demand for addiction treatment across the province, the Ontario government has invested $90 million over three years to support almost 400 addiction treatment beds, helping to stabilize and provide care for approximately 7,000 clients per year. The Ontario government has placed a significant focus on investing in community-based supports to help reduce the burden of in-patient and emergency hospitalizations. On Friday, February 16, 2022, the government announced it was investing $6.84 million through the new Addictions Recovery Fund to enhance access to bed-based addiction treatment support for Northern Ontario through Canadore College.
The idea for the treatment centre is based on a number of reports that developed out of community roundtables with municipal officials, service providers, and citizens who were responding to the frustration of service gaps, lack of dedicated resources, and under-resourced communities.
Our Future
The Northern Ontario Addiction Treatment Centre of Excellence will provide outreach support for discharged clients to prevent potential relapses. As part of the client’s recovery program, Canadore will encourage clients to enrol in courses offered by the College for life skills training and educational upgrading to help guarantee success in recovery and set the client on the path towards finding employment.
The expectation is that the facility will attract students to the College’s School of Health Science as it is incorporated in the curriculum. The facility is important to health and wellness care in Northern Ontario as it addresses a regional need for addiction treatment. Canadore College will train students to help fill the gap in healthcare workers across the region.