We have applied sex, gender and equity-based analyses (SGBA+) to many substance use issues, highlighting the importance of tailored approaches to prevention, harm reduction and treatment to better serve women, men and gender diverse individuals. These analyses also bring needed awareness to gaps in the research that need addressing.
For substance specific resources, explore our work on alcohol, cannabis, methamphetamine, opioids, and tobacco and nicotine.
We have developed a number of resources that provide guidance across substances. Explore the following resources for practical tools and broad perspectives on substance use and SGBA+:
Info Sheets and Guides:
- We developed 4 info sheets on women and substance use that are designed for service providers to use during their conversations with women about the effects of substance use on women’s health and in the perinatal period (Updated 2024).
- Women and Alcohol – English or French
- Women and Cannabis
- Women and Prescription Opioids
- Women, Nicotine and Tobacco
- Taking Care: A Short Guide to Breastfeeding and Substance Use (English, French, 2021) – This resource offers prompts and activities to support decision-making about substance use while breastfeeding.
- 50 Brief Intervention Ideas for Dialogue, Skill Building, and Empowerment (English, French, 2018) – This resource offers ideas for how multidisciplinary service providers can engage in discussions about substance use and related health and social concerns.
Toolkits:
- Integrating Sex and Gender Informed Evidence Into Your Practices: 10 Key Questions on Sex, Gender & Substance Use (2020) – This workbook provides guidance on how to integrate sex and gender into substance use services and policy.
- Doorways to Conversation: Brief Intervention on Substance Use with Girls and Women (English, French, 2018) – This resource focuses on brief intervention with girls and women in the preconception and perinatal period. Service providers from a range of backgrounds will find it relevant to their practice, including midwives, physicians, nurses, Indigenous health care providers, anti-violence workers, pregnancy outreach workers, sexual health service providers, and substance use workers.
Reports:
- Women’s Substance Use Treatment and Recovery (2024) – This report reflects the findings of a rapid review of current evidence on women’s treatment and recovery, an environmental scan of women’s programs, and the results of a three-part virtual meeting with Canadian researchers, service providers, and organizations interested in women’s substance use treatment and recovery. Findings inform recommendations for research and evaluation priorities in services and systems serving women and girls with substance use concerns.
Collaborations and Partnerships:
- A Public Health Approach to Substance Use Handbook (2023) – Developed in collaboration with the Canadian Public Health Association, this handbook can support self-reflection, community coordination, and important cross-agency and system-wide conversations about how to broaden and improve the response to substance use.
- Sex, Gender and Equity Analyses (2019) – Prepared in partnership with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, this info sheet describes the importance of SGBA+ to the substance use and addiction field and offers guidance about how to integrate it into research, knowledge mobilization and policy-related activities.
Learn more:
- Visit the Publications page to find related journal articles and other publications of interest.
- IMPART addiction research training (2015) – The Intersections of Mental Health Perspectives in Addictions Research Training (IMPART) program was a multidisciplinary research training program funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Research over a 12-year period. It equipped and supported over 80 health researchers from across disciplines, sectors and settings to conduct and sex- and gender-based analyses and intersections with other topics involving: gender and sex, addiction, mental health, violence, and trauma.