On August 20, 1995, I slipped into the passenger seat of my friend’s rusty old hatchback. It was nine o’clock at night. As we pulled onto the highway, heading from Ottawa toward Montreal, I wriggled to get comfortable on the vinyl seat, smooth against my bare legs. Fastening the seatbelt, I settled in. By ten […] More »

I used to dream about owning a house someday. Nothing extravagant, just a roof over my head that belongs only to me—a millennial’s dream of a room of my own. In 2012, that dream was on the horizon. I had finished my education and was living at home with my mother. She owns a modest […] More »

As fentanyl rears its ugly head across Canadian communities, the country is trying to mount a counterattack against the deadly opioid. And while cities beyond Vancouver and Toronto wait for government approval to open supervised injection sites, naloxone—the lone antidote in the battle against the ubiquitous street drug—remains scarce, according to a recent Canadian Medical […] More »

Every day a member of the Kinonjeoshtegon First Nation drives 70 kilometres from Lake Winnipeg’s western shore to a store in Dallas/Red Rose, Man. to buy 40 20-litre jugs of drinking water. That water is intended for elders and single mothers on the Jackhead Reserve, as Kinonjeoshtegon is also known, who don’t have access to […] More »

On a mild February afternoon in 2014, a pastor named Chris from the Maritimes sat outside his Jeep in a park near his home by the water, and smoked a joint. There was a sense of experimentation, curiosity even. Having never smoked weed as a teenager, Chris barely knew what he was doing. He got […] More »

One Friday in late January, a photo on Facebook had Debra Selkirk in tears. Weeks earlier, she’d received a desperate email from a woman in the U.S. The woman’s 30-year-old sister needed a new liver, but she had to be alcohol-free for six months before she could get a transplant. The question was: Did she […] More »

Pacing frantically around her living room, Audrey yelled at herself in frustration: “Just put down the fucking phone!” It was mid-February and, having been sober since New Year’s Day, Audrey, 35, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, decided to see a show with friends at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall. After getting ready […] More »

Newfoundland and Labrador’s unique culture has endured in part because its people are, in many ways, remarkably similar. But the Atlantic province faces a paradox: As its population shrinks, its shared ancestry will have to change significantly in order to survive. Now, a small group of scientists and entrepreneurs on the island are jumping on the […] More »

In March 2012, Shannon Hardy came across dozens of headlines about Prince Edward Island’s abortion policy. The Island hadn’t offered in-province abortion services for 30 years, and those seeking terminations at private clinics had to travel to Nova Scotia or New Brunswick on their own dime. “I just thought, ‘Oh my God. I can’t believe […] More »

Years ago, walking through downtown Ottawa made Amanda Rocheleau anxious. As a social worker at The Ottawa Mission, one of the city’s largest homeless shelters, she knew almost every homeless person by name, and they knew hers. She listened to their stories every day—of childhood abuse, neglect, struggles with addiction and mental disorders. It didn’t […] More »

The Salvation Army is proposing an 892-square-metre “mega-shelter” in Ottawa’s Vanier neighbourhood that would provide temporary shelter beds for up to 350 people. The shelter would be the biggest in North America, featuring a special health care unit, a space for addictions recovery, permanent housing referrals, a dining facility, counselling, employment skills training, and more. […] More »