On August 30, Harm Reduction Sunday, consider how your community can act faithfully to support those living in crisis
In August 2025, General Council 45 supported the resolution for a Harm Reduction Sunday to be observed across the United Church. Since then, much has happened in Canada to do with the lives of people who use drugs.
Harm reduction services have come under attack through provincial government regulations and policies. Ontario, Alberta, and Saskatchewan have closed Safe Consumption Sites and related services, resulting in increased overdose responses in the wider community. The Drug Users Liberation Fund in Vancouver was found guilty of drug trafficking charges, and the case is now before the British Columbia Court of Appeal, with the potential to reach the Supreme Court of Canada. Other provinces are experiencing increased surveillance, stigma, and the closure of supports for people who use drugs and those living precariously.
For many of us working in harm reduction, the situation seems quite bleak.
Yet, Canadians are seeking out ways to support people who use drugs. Recently, Toronto Blue Jays player Davis Schneider partnered with Emergent BioSolutions, a manufacturer of Narcan, to draw attention to the toxic drug crisis. Schneider’s brother died because of toxic drugs in November 2020, and, as Schneider said in an interview, “Probably the most devastating thing is that he was alone, he wasn’t with anyone.”
His words remind us, who are called to this ministry of care, witness, and community, that we cannot leave the most vulnerable among us to die in places of isolation or neglect. We cannot live in a bubble that shields us from the realities of this world.
This Harm Reduction Sunday, August 30, 2026, we invite each of you to consider the question: Does it ever get better?
For some, this Harm Reduction Sunday may be the very first time you have spoken about the toxic drug crisis within your community of faith. For others, these conversations have become a regular part of your ministry. Wherever you find yourself, I invite you to consider how you might approach this Harm Reduction Sunday as an opportunity to deepen this conversation. How might your community, through small and faith-filled actions, cultivate a world where life can be better for those whose lives are so often held precariously? How might you become part of God’s ongoing work of hope, dignity, and healing?
Thank you for considering joining in Harm Reduction Sunday.
—The Rev. Jeffrey Dale, MFA, MDiv, is minister at College Street United Church in Toronto
The views contained within these blogs are personal and do not necessarily reflect those of The United Church of Canada.