PREPARED BY: Substance Use Prevention And Harm Reduction
DATE: 2026-03-12
SUBJECT: WECOSS Action Plan Renewal
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE
The Windsor-Essex Community Opioid and Substance Strategy (WECOSS) is a unified, community-based strategy focused on preventing and reducing the harms associated with substance use in Windsor-Essex County (WEC). Launched in 2018, the WECOSS works towards a healthier community for all by building effective partnerships, sustaining community-level interventions, and enhancing the quality and range of supports available to address substance use issues locally. As the backbone and resource agency for the WECOSS, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) leads the coordination of the strategy and works with a large network of community partner agencies and people with lived and living experience with substance use (PWLLE) to implement its initiatives.
From 2021-2025, the WECOSS was guided by an Action Plan from 2021 (2021 Modernization Report). Over this period, the partnership advanced numerous initiatives aligned with the recommendations in the 2021 plan, with progress summarized annually in the strategy’s Annual Reports. By 2025, the local landscape surrounding substance use had shifted significantly due to evolving community needs, strengthened partnerships, and new system-level initiatives, prompting the need to renew the Action Plan. As a result, the WECHU led a renewal process from June 2025 to February 2026 to identify new strategic priorities and areas of focus for the years ahead.
To support the renewal of the WECOSS Action Plan, a comprehensive community consultation was conducted to gather perspectives from key stakeholders on the future direction of the strategy. The consultation included a partnership evaluation exercise with WECOSS partners, 16 key informant interviews with members of the WECOSS Leadership Committee, 4 focus groups with 38 members of the WECOSS Pillar Working Groups, 3 focus groups with 15 members of the WECHU’s Substance Use Peer Advisory Committee, and an environmental scan of 32 other drug strategies across Ontario. Together, these results informed the development of the new Action Plan, which sets out an updated mission, vision, values, strategic framework, and priority actions areas for the WECOSS to address over 2026 – 2030.
WECOSS ACTION PLAN 2026-2030
Mission, Vision, and Values
The mission, vision, and values for 2026 – 2030 represent the core mandates guiding the strategy. These mandates establish a common understanding of the strategy’s purpose, the outcomes the strategy aims to achieve, and the approaches that will be used to implement the work.
- Mission: To coordinate an equitable response to the substance use crisis that improves health and well-being for all residents.
- Vision: A community that supports all people to live well and reduce preventable substance-related harms.
- Values: Collaboration; Coordination; Compassion and Dignity; Evidence-Informed Decision-Making; Accountability and Transparency; and Innovation.
Strategic Framework
Since its inception, the WECOSS has operated through a four-pillar model, categorizing its interventions under the pillars of Prevention and Education, Treatment and Recovery, Harm Reduction, and Enforcement and Justice. The 2026 – 2030 Action Plan shifts away from the four-pillar model to a tiered framework guided by both strategic foundations and action pillars. This framework ensures a balanced approach grounded in strong principles while driving meaningful, measurable change.
Why a New Strategic Framework?
The 2025 Action Plan consultation demonstrated that two of the traditional pillars for the WECOSS – Treatment and Recovery and Enforcement and Justice are now being effectively led through more recently developed community initiatives. To enhance coordination and reduce duplication of work across the system, the WECOSS has refined its strategic framework to concentrate on areas where it is uniquely positioned to add the greatest value. The new strategic framework will prioritize investments in two remaining action pillars – Prevention and Education and Harm Reduction – each of which will be grounded in and incorporate the strategic foundations of Advocacy, Data and Surveillance, and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Action Pillars
The action pillars represent the primary areas through which the strategy advances its goals and directs its efforts outwardly to the community. The action pillars are as follows:
- Prevention and Education – The goals of this pillar are to prevent and delay the onset of substance use and improve community understanding of substance use as a health issue. Priority action areas for 2026 – 2030 focus on engaging youth in program development, supporting and strengthening the role of parents and caregivers to prevent problematic substance use later in life, and building local capacity amongst service providers.
- Harm Reduction: The goals of this pillar are to reduce the health, social, and economic harms associated with substance use. Priority action areas for 2026 – 2030 focus on the standardization of harm reduction services across the region, supporting local organization in the development of anti-stigma policies practices and standards, and creating meaningful opportunities for engagement for PWLLE.
Operational Structure
To implement the 2026 – 2030 Action Plan, the WECOSS will introduce a new collaborative structure designed to strengthen strategic oversight, optimize use and allocation of resources, and improve coordination among multiple organizations and stakeholders. The new structure is comprised of a WECOSS Steering Committee (Governance Function), a Peer Advisory Committee (Advisory Function), and Project-Based Groups (Operational Function), all of which will be coordinated and supported in a backbone capacity by the WECHU.
NEXT STEPS
With the Action Plan finalized, the WECOSS has identified its priorities for Year 1 (2026) and rebuilt its Terms of Reference to align with the new operational structure. As a next step, the WECOSS will publicly launch the Action Plan to the community and promote it through coordinated communications with partners. Following the launch, efforts will focus on updating the strategy’s membership and working collaboratively with partners to advance the Year 1 priorities.