Lindsay Engel signs the Recovery-Friendly Campus Pledge, joined by Chelsie Graham (left), program manager for Recovery on Campus Alberta, and Dr. Victoria Burns (right), founder and director of Recovery on Campus. (rdnewsNOW/Ashley Lavallee-Koenig)

By Ashley Lavallee-Koenig

PLEDGE SIGNING CEREMONY

Red Deer Polytechnic joins growing movement to improve addiction recovery supports on campus

Apr 9, 2025 | 4:37 PM

Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) is now the fourth publicly funded post-secondary institution in Alberta to sign the Recovery-Friendly Campus Pledge, a commitment to strengthen the support available to students and staff recovering from substance abuse and addictive behaviours.

On behalf of the polytechnic, Lindsay Engel, Vice-President of Academic and Student Experience, signed the pledge in a ceremony on the main campus on April 9.

“Learner impact is our number one driver within our strategic plan and providing a holistic student environment is a major part of that,” she said. “We [also] have a student mental health framework that we just signed on to and recovery as a part of that mental health framework, so we want to provide and support student wellness in whatever it looks like for that student.”

The initiative is driven by Recovery on Campus Alberta, a provincially funded organization headquartered at the University of Calgary (U of C), and which RDP has partnered with since 2022.

“We issue seed grants to our partner schools, and the purpose of the seed grants is for them to create their own campus recovery programs following best practices that include having paid dedicated staff; having peer support as a pillar; having scholarships and awards for students and staff; and supporting all pathways of recovery,” explained Dr. Victoria Burns, an associate professor at U of C and founder and director of Recovery on Campus.

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Burns explained, data indicates at least one in four, or about 25 per cent, of university students will experience a substance use disorder when attending post-secondary.

This prevalence is likely the result of multiple factors, such as the newfound sense of freedom that comes with leaving home for the first time, peer pressure and a need to find one’s identity while transitioning to campus life, she said. Additionally, underdeveloped brains feel a greater impact from substance use, and the brain isn’t developed until about 25-years-old.

Recovery on Campus is trying to meet this challenge by encouraging and enabling post-secondaries to create “everyday places and spaces that provide community and purpose” to promote long term recovery, Burns commented.

“Traditionally, addiction treatment has been based on an acute care model: 28 days in treatment and then you go on your merry way, and you’re supposed to live a life in recovery, and relapse rates are quite high,” she added. “Recovery happens in the community. Recovery is a process, often a non-linear process, but we need to have more community supports.”

RDP’s commitment to this mission will be reflected through accessible and supportive counselling, creating designated substance-free spaces for campus members to come together in wellness, as well as trained peer-to-peer support and sober events, Engel said.

Some of these supports have already been active or in the works over the last year, as the polytechnic had to communicate its commitment to recovery in order to be eligible to sign the pledge in the first place. For example, in November 2024, it held a “Merry Mocktails” event, wherein a mixologist showed attendees various mocktail recipes and how easy they were to make at home. For St. Patrick’s Day this year, it hosted “Paint Patrick’s Day,” providing campus users an alcohol-free alternative to enjoy.

Moving forward, RDP will be applying for a seed grant from Recovery on Campus.

“If we do have the opportunity to get the seed grant, we would be very much focusing on having the specific staff member to be able to lay the foundation of a more sustainable program and programming for this, and then growing on the foundations of what we do have for education and reducing stigma,” explained Samantha Cooley-Morrison, RDP’s mental health and well-being coordinator.

Ideally, this would improve the growth and reach of its recovery-oriented programs. If the grant isn’t received, however, Cooley-Morrison assured that RDP will still increase its recovery focus, utilize a steering committee and put in the effort to expand on its pledge criteria and commitments.

The pledge is as follows:

1. Provide peer-centered, all recovery pathways programming.
2. Raise awareness, educate and advocate about addiction recovery to reduce stigma.
3. Ensure that recovery is normalized, valued and celebrated through increased visibility.
4. Provide a recovery-friendly space on campus to build community.
5. Create recovery-friendly events and activities on campus.
6. Equip campus support teams to meet the needs of campus members along the addiction-recovery spectrum.
7. Increase awareness and address the needs of family members/friends.
8. Promote inclusive campus life by addressing systemic barriers.

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