Canadian Urban Substance Use Surveillance Project (CUSSP)

CUSSP started in late 2022, with Phase 1 objectives wrapping up by February 2024. Over the past year, Phase 2  incorporated a senior epidemiologist and I.T. specialist to the research team. A number of community consultations occurred and by February 2025, CUSSP Phase 2 was completed.

In Phase 1 objectives a) and b) involved an environmental scan that included a grey literature search of existing surveillance systems, stakeholder holder interviews, and a stakeholder survey. Findings were presented during the UPHN member annual gathering in Halifax in June 2023, and at the UPHN member meeting in Montreal in October 2023. 

Phase 1's last objective included a detailed report, outlining the basis for an integrated public health surveillance system, using a harm reduction approach of meeting cities "where they are at". The harm reduction approach included reorienting and modifying our approach to data collection and analysis by prioritizing urban centres and their local configurations of actors and data sources. The final Milestone report on Phase 1 included a breakdown of the substance use continuum and surveillance framework, the role of public health units, application of this framework to data assets mapping and the steps and capacity needed to launch a pilot system.

In the (final) implementation phase, two pilot sites - Vancouver and Saskatoon - were chosen, based on interest and existing relationships within their respective health authorities. These two cities reflect opposing ends of the surveillance capacity spectrum in Canada. Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) contributed indicators currently collected on the authority of the Medical Health Officer while Saskatoon required a more adaptable approach, with multiple partners contributing data. Data was collected for 3 consecutive months and a dashboard, comprised of 21 common indicators, was created. 

Lessons learned from Phase 2 include the importance of community partner input and engagement in the system design, collection, interpretation and discussion of the data to increase synergies, communication, and service delivery. A properly-resourced surveillance system that allows local public health and service providers to compare and learn from one another, must be a critical goal.