What recovery means at UCalgary

Nearly one in five Canadians, and approximately one in four university-aged adults (aged 18 to 25) will experience a substance-use disorder, says UCalgary Recovery Community (UCRC) manager Chelsie Graham.  

The issue is more prevalent for post-secondary institutions as the surrounding cultures can lend themselves to recovery-threatening habits.   

This challenge of recovery is compounded by stigma. “There is just as much, if not more, stigma around addiction recovery than there is in addiction itself,” says Graham, BSW’22, making recovery, especially for post-secondary students, a steeper hill to climb. 

The need to cut through the stigma and support students through their recovery so that they can concentrate on their studies and be ready to face life upon graduation is why UCalgary is home to Alberta’s first campus-based recovery program, Recovery on Campus (ROC).  

Not only is ROC the first, it also approaches recovery differently and openly by helping to reshape conversations around recovery as a personal journey towards health, well-being, community and connection.  

It is through this province-wide program that the UCRC offers peer-support groups, training and employment for student peer-support facilitators, substance free-housing, and service navigation that connects students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of the larger community with on-campus and community supports.   

“If you identify it as recovery, then we support that,” says Graham, reflecting on how the UCRC recognizes that recovery extends beyond substance use and can also involve digital devices, gaming or food.  

“(On campus), where we are such a diverse community, what works for one person might not work for another and holding people to an unattainable goal is harmful. Recovery is not one and done; it’s a lifetime process.” Graham adds their approach focuses on increasing social capital, community, spiritual and cultural connection, and purpose. 

Abstinence not the only measure of success 

“Recovery may include harm reduction, moderation, or changing one’s relationship with a substance or behaviour,” Graham says. “This approach is particularly important for process addictions involving things people cannot simply abstain from, such as food or computers.”  

For some, that may mean undertaking a traditional “12-step program.” Others may find support through faith-based or secular approaches, peer-support groups, medication-assisted recovery, harm reduction, or Indigenous cultural healing. Rather than prescribing a single pathway, says Graham, the goal is to help individuals find the pathway that best aligns with their experiences, values and goals.   

“No one pathway is something that we will press upon people,” says Amrit Matharoo, BSW’19, a Registered Social Worker and recovery support specialist with ROC and UCRC. “Our philosophy is that recovery is whatever it looks like for the individual.”  

Connecting people with their pathways 

UCRC supports, among other things, peer-led, peer-driven support spaces that allow people to “come and feel comfortable with others who are experiencing the same things they are experiencing, or with people that are educated, that are not judging,” says Graham. 

Adds Matharoo: “It’s not about diagnosing anybody, but about how we can build your community support so that people feel less alone in the experiences that they have.” 

UCRC peer-support meetings cover topics including eating disorders; mental health; smoking, vaping and cannabis recovery; and grief and loss.   

That support also extends beyond campus.  

Recovery beyond campus 

Wellbriety, an Indigenous-based UCRC peer-support program, incorporates Indigenous knowledge, culture and ceremony in supporting recovery. 

As one of the only services of its kind available to the wider Calgary community, not just the campus community, Wellbriety has enabled the UCRC to connect with organizations including Simon House and Alcove Recovery, extending support to people accessing those services.  

Matharoo says Wellbriety meetings also include a monthly celebration of participants’ sobriety milestones alongside their friends and family, featuring “a shared meal of bannock and stew or cupcakes, just to make sure that people feel celebrated for the work they’re putting into their recovery.” 

Beyond individual programming, Graham says the most important thing is simply getting the conversation going. 

That conversation reflects a growing movement around collegiate recovery programs. Although these programs have existed in the U.S. since the 1970s, they have only emerged in Alberta since 2021. Through ROC, UCRC’s approach to recovery support is expanding across the province. Additionally, the UCRC’s research arm, the Recovering in Place Lab, informs both its programming and the growing body of literature on recovery.