January is definitely a new beginning for many of us, but here at the OAN it signals the closure of a cycle as well. On behalf of all of the staff of the OAN, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Wendy Pinder, Acting Executive Director, as she completes her full-time contract with us and returns to the Ontario Organizational Development Program as Program Administrator. Since her arrival last February, Wendy has overseen three successful Skills Workshops (as well as the planning of the upcoming ED/Board Chair Forum), two Board trainings and our best-attended AGM ever! Additionally, Wendy worked very

Thank you to all member agencies who have been updating the OAN Calendar with their events – it helps all of us to know what is on the way.  The calendar can be accessed *and updated* by going to oan.red/events/ and entering your details.

The Ontario AIDS Network Office will be closed from December 24 – January 1 (inclusive) with our cheery, capable team returning to work starting January 2, 2019. This means any recently submitted expense reimbursement forms will wait to be processed until the New Year. For those of you also taking a break during this time frame: enjoy! We look forward to continuing our work together, in our growing and changing sector in the coming year.

Last week, the Federal government announced changes in exemption procedures for Safe Consumption sites across Canada. Here’s an excerpt of a reaction from Regional HIV/AIDS Connection: “In Ontario, this means that regions in urgent need of support will be able to work directly with Federal representatives to receive exemptions for new sites with the goal of reducing overdoses, linking people who use drugs to care and dramatically reducing the potential for new HIV acquisitions by providing clean equipment and accurate, up-to-date information to people accessing these services…this change has incredible potential to improve the lives of all Canadians – especially those

Nous sommes très heureux et fiers d’annoncer que l’inscription est ouverte pour une toute première formation en français de l’Institut de développement du leadership positifTM (IDLP) auprès des Franco-Ontariens vivant avec le VIH. Aussi connu sous son nom anglais de PLDI (Positive Leadership Development InstituteTM), l’IDLP vise à outiller les personnes vivant avec le VIH (PVVIH) afin qu’ils /elles développent leur potentiel de leadership et accroissent leur capacité à participer, de manière significative, à la vie communautaire. La formation Module de base : Qui suis-je en tant que leader ? aura lieu en français à Ottawa, au Sheraton Ottawa Hotel du 17 au 20 janvier 2019. Cette formation est aussi le

This has been a pivotal year for HIV and hepatitis C prevention, testing and treatment. Researchers and clinicians have pioneered game-changing HIV treatment regimens, Canadian liver experts have expanded recommendations for hepatitis C testing, and the overdose crisis has triggered an unprecedented response from harm reduction workers, coast to coast. Following a period of online voting, the CATIE has released reader-submitted list of top HIV and hepatitis C stories of 2018.

On World AIDS Day, Federal Health Minister, Ginette Petitpas-Taylor, signed onto the U=U Consensus Statement on behalf of all of Canada! Surrounding her on Parliament Hill, amidst cheers and revelry were the team members from the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, U=U Campaign founder Bruce Reichman and community members. Executive Director of the AIDS Committee of Ottawa, Khaled Salem, wrote of the occasion: “Words cannot express our sentiments and truly convey our feelings surrounding this momentous occasion, when we, as an organization, city, country and most importantly, as the HIV community made history together.  “Our collective hearts were filled with pride, and tears were trickling down

OAN Skills has opened registration for our ED/Board Chair Forum, taking place March 1 – 3, 2019 in Toronto. Building on our program theme this year of “Strengthening ASO’s from the inside out!”, the ED/Board Chair Forum will provide an opportunity for learning, sharing, networking and increasing knowledge to strengthen the response to HIV/AIDS in Ontario. In addition, the OAN Honour Roll will coincide with the dates of the Forum, providing some entertainment for participants and an opportunity to network the evening of Saturday, March 2nd at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, across the street from the venue. This year, we

In response to sector requests, the WHAI Provincial Office will be holding a live webinar on Wednesday December 12, from 11:00am – 12:30pm to share some updates about what is happening in our WHAI Network! The webinar will discuss background about WHAI’s work including some current Areas of Focus, progress and achievements, work for the upcoming fiscal year as well as some ways WHAI can support other OAN Members and others in the sector. Please RSVP to mbannerman@whai.ca if you are planning to attend and she will share the meeting link directly.

The OHTN is launching a survey for Gay, Bisexual, and other men who have sex with men surrounding decisions about sex and how they might talk about these decisions with their sex partners. Those who complete the 20-30 minute survey will receive a $5 e-gift card for Tim Horton’s or Starbucks as a thank you. Click here to participate!