Now that folks are beginning to prepare for back-to-school and a return to campus life, we thought we would share the full-length version of this video made by a group of 4th year BSN students in the Spring as they visit the Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) in downtown Nanaimo.
Operated by CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association) on the corner of Albert St & Dunsmuir (beside City Hall), join these students as they walk us through the anonymous & on-the-spot drug checking process step-by-step!
Harm reduction tips for a safer school year ahead: don’t use alone, get your drugs tested & always carry Naloxone 💜
OPS Details:
📍250 Albert Street, Nanaimo, BC
📞 250-244-4042
⏰ Open 7 day a week 11:00am-9:00pm.
Enter through the gate!
VIU Harm Reduction Alliance
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Promoting a harm reduction approach on campus and in our community
08/07/2026
International Overdose Awareness Day 💜
2-6pm on August 31, 2026
📍 Diana Krall Plaza (downtown Nanaimo)
Event hosted & sponsored by NANDU, Nanaimo Citizens for the Reduction of Harm, Doctors for Safer Drug Policy & Moms Stop The Harm
We promise we’re better at nursing than acting. 😅
Enjoy some of our favourite bloopers from this semester’s harm reduction video project!
Would you know what to do in an opioid overdose emergency?
Watch our 4th-year nursing students discuss nasal naloxone, including what it is, how it works, and the steps involved in administering it during a suspected opioid overdose.
Nasal naloxone is the form supplied in naloxone kits across the VIU campus.
To find a naloxone kit near you, visit the VIU Harm Reduction Alliance website for naloxone kit locations and other harm reduction resources available to students.
Knowledge and preparation can make a difference. 💜
Here’s the link to the VIU HRA website:
https://sites.google.com/view/viuhra/what-is-naloxone/how-to-use-naloxone
Shout out to the VIU videography team for recording this content!
VIU
Did you know you can get substances tested anonymously right here in downtown Nanaimo?
Come with our 4th-year nursing students as we visit the Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) run by CMHA (Canadian Mental Health Association) on Albert street and walk through the process step-by-step!
OPS Details:
📍250 Albert Street, Nanaimo, BC
📞 250-244-4042
⏰ Open 7 day a week 11:00am-9:00pm.
Enter through the gate!
Shoutout to the VIU videography team for shooting this video!
Have you ever wondered what happens inside Nanaimo’s Overdose Prevention Site on Albert Street?
Come along with VIU’s fourth-year nursing students for a behind-the-scenes tour as we explore the services offered.
📍250 Albert Street, Nanaimo, BC
📞 250-244-4042
⏰ Open 7 day a week 11:00am-9:00pm Enter through the gate!
04/17/2026
If you haven’t seen them yet, check out these two pieces written about the Grief Fire & 10th anniversary of the declaration of this public health emergency by two amazing local journalists: Lauryn & Mick
We appreciate you 💜
https://www.chly.ca/local-news/2026/04/15/grief-fire-held-at-vancouver-island-university-10-years-after-toxic-drug-crisis-declared
https://thediscourse.ca/nanaimo/nanaimos-toxic-drug-emergency-at-10-years
04/17/2026
Thank you to everyone who attended the Grief Fire Ceremony on Tuesday and to anyone who stopped to take a moment with the 616+ purple hearts 💜 in the quad on campus that represent lives lost in Nanaimo to the ongoing Toxic Drug Crisis.
-from the team at the VIU Harm Reduction Alliance (unfortunately, we aren’t always great at capturing full-group shots, so we are missing a few from these photos including Malakai, Michela & Carmen; pictured: Hilary, Jenny, Lucy 🐶 & Sarah)
04/07/2026
According to VIU’s Snuneymuxw Elder-in-Residence, Auntie Geraldine Manson, “This event will allow those who have lost someone through overdose to come together to be part of a ceremony that embraces grief and loss. Grief can be overwhelming, so writing a note to loved ones lost at a sacred fire helps us express and share our loss and gives some comfort to one’s mind.”
Dr. Carmen Lavoie, a VIU Social Work professor & Co-Founder, adds, “A community grief fire is held to honour those who have passed in silence or behind the veils of stigma and shame. We build a fire to signify our grief for those who have passed and to create a container for others to share their grief. In this way, grief becomes a journey of giving to one another to nourish our community and counter community divisions that no longer serve us.”
This event is an adaptation of a Snuneymuxw spiritual tradition made available to the public and exemplifies the spirit of collaboration and gathering together to address difficult issues such as grief and loss.
Join us on Tuesday April 14th at 12pm outside of Building 200 (RBC Plaza) for our 2nd Annual Grief Fire Ceremony. Pizza lunch provided courtesy of our friends at . Fresh flowers will be available, as well as electric tea lights for attendees to light in remembrance of their loved ones. Additionally, an art installation will be featured to honor and represent those lost, serving as a visual tribute to their lives and the impact of the Toxic Drug Crisis. Attendees will be invited to share/speak if they feel called to do so 💜
📸: Auntie Geraldine Manson speaking at last year’s Grief Fire Ceremony (April 14th, 2025)
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