Anchoring Change Substance Use Prevention

A national initiative to transform school-based substance
use prevention, education, and intervention in Canada

DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP

Standard development managed by CSA Group · Informed by an expert advisory committee.
With meaningful contributions from youth, families/caregivers, educators, health professionals, and Indigenous interest holders.

About the Standard

The Standard is the initiative’s foundational output — the first pan-Canadian standard for how schools approach substance use from prevention and education through to intervention.

Prevention:

School-wide actions that strengthen protective factors, prevent or delay initiation, and reduce risks and harms

Education:

Developmentally appropriate, cross-curricular instruction that builds accurate knowledge, skills, and health literacy

Intervention:

Timely, confidential, and non-punitive responses, including early identification, brief intervention, harm minimization, and referral to community-based services

It provides national guidance organized using three complementary frameworks, informed by five guiding principles, and grounded in six domains of evidence.

IMPLEMENTATION

Getting started

Tools to help your school or district assess current practice and plan next steps.

School Practice Scan & Implementation Planning Tool

Map your current practices against the Standard and identify priorities for action.

ALIGNMENT

Built to work with what’s already in place

The Standard aligns with existing international, national, and provincial frameworks, standards, and initiatives.

Expand the categories below to access alignment briefs that show how the Standard maps to current policies, curricula, and more.

LEARN MORE

Research and Media

Featured Research

Featured Media

Éduquer les enfants aux substances dès la maternelle

Un nouveau cadre intitulé Anchoring Change suggère d’entreprendre des efforts de prévention et d’éducation sur la consommation de substances dès la maternelle.

New guidance recommends starting substance use education in kindergarten

A new framework to develop guidelines around substance use in schools recommends beginning prevention and education efforts efforts as early as kindergarten.

No more ‘just say no’ — Canadian schools will soon have a roadmap to address student substance use

A new cross-Canada standard, to be officially launched soon, aims to change that. It sets out what evidence-informed substance use prevention, education and intervention should look like from kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12).

The burden of substance use in schools

(February 27, 2025) Schools in Canada need a reset when it comes to reducing substance use harms in students, according to a new report from Wellstream, a multidisciplinary child and youth mental health and substance use research group.

Canadian school principals spend more time managing substance use in schools than ever before

(February 26, 2025) A new study says that Canadian school administrators, including principals and vice principals, are spending more time managing student substance use than previous years, but lack the resources to provide effective support.

Survey on substance use in schools

A national survey of school principals is drawing attention to student substance use and the strain its puts on educators and school resources. We speak with lead researcher and UBC Nursing Professor Emily Jenkins about the findings.

Canadian schools need new approach to address student substance use, says new report

One in five survey respondents report that they are spending six hours a week dealing with student substance use (article).