Resource Type : Webinaires

Novel drug surveillance sources and current drug trends (2026)

Drug surveillance programs and data sources are an essential component of toxicovigilance. Hosted by Sarah Macdonald from Parachute, this webinar will feature experts from two drug surveillance programs.

Paula Migliardi, Program Specialist with Winnipeg Regional Public Health, and Dr. Sarah Lesperance, Medical Officer of Health with Manitoba and Winnipeg Regional Public Health, will share the surveillance and harm reduction efforts of the Street Connections program. Participants will hear about the program’s harm reduction approach and the region’s wider public health response, including drug checking services, surveillance data, trends identified and how to keep informed about reports, surveillance data and drug alerts.

Samantha Lancione, Senior Analyst, and Colin Steensma, Senior Epidemiologist, at the Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch of Health Canada, will provide an overview of the National Wastewater Drug Surveillance (NWDS) initiative and guide participants through the NWDS dashboard. Participants will learn about the dashboard’s key features, how wastewater data are used to inform drug surveillance, as well as current drug trends.

A Q&A session will follow the presentations.
Presenters:

Paula Migliardi
Program Specialist, Healthy Sexuality and Harm Reduction, Population and Public Health, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority

Dr. Sarah Lesperance
Medical Officer of Health, Manitoba Health, Public Health & Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Public Health

Samantha Lancione
Senior Analyst, Office of Drug Research and Surveillance, Controlled Substances and Overdose Response Directorate, Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch, Health Canada

Colin Steensma
Senior Epidemiologist, Office of Drug Research and Surveillance, Controlled Substances and Overdose Response Directorate, Controlled Substances and Cannabis Branch, Health Canada

Vision Zero in Canada (2019)

Parachute Interim CEO, Pamela Fuselli, speaks about Vision Zero in Canada as keynote speaker at the Canadian Association of Road Safety Professionals conference in Calgary (30 minutes).