Mental Health & Addictions Outreach Counsellor

Who We Are:

At the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle, community is at the heart of everything we do. We are a well-established Indigenous-led and governed organization working across Simcoe County, Muskoka, and northern York Region to support the wellness of Indigenous people and communities.

We believe in working together, alongside community members, partners, and organizations, to listen, learn, and respond to what matters most. Our work is guided by values of self-determination, lifelong learning, and meaningful community participation.

We offer a variety of programs and services that reflect the strengths and needs of our communities and support anyone seeking wellness, including seniors, families, and children. Through Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin (Everyone Helps), our Indigenous Interprofessional Primary Care Team, we bring together a wide range of supports through primary care, including traditional healing, clinical services, midwifery, counselling, therapy, community addiction services, and land-based healing programming. Our services embrace the life span with compassionate care.

In addition to the opportunity to work in a collaborative and supportive team-based environment, BANAC is a HOOPP employer and offers an excellent benefits package. This package includes enhanced days off to support employees, as well as 5 days of Indigenous cultural training and a work environment that values and supports training and lifelong learning.

About The Role:

This position is part of a team-based model of care that is accountable to the communities we serve. Work is grounded in the principle of Indigenous Health in Indigenous Hands. Support and mentorship are provided within the team, where collaboration and kindness are valued. In alignment with Indigenous and provincial standards, the organization upholds excellence in care, accountability, and compliance centred on Indigenous self-determination in health.

This position is being posted in response to an existing vacancy at the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle.

We look for a commitment to reflexive practices as part of ongoing professional development, including deepening the understanding of Indigenous histories and experiences.

As an important part of the interdisciplinary team, the Outreach Counsellor will perform assessments and treatment planning and provide direct service in collaboration with others.

The Outreach Counsellor will support clients who wish to detox in their own homes or a similar setting. Evening and weekend hours will be required to provide support.

The Outreach Counsellor will use a wholistic approach to support clients and their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health as they progress toward their substance use goals. This role collaborates closely with other providers to ensure strong assessment and collaborative care

This role is part of the Mobile Withdrawal Management Service (MWMS). MWMS is a collaborative service that supports an individual to safely withdraw from substances in their home, the home of a family member or friend, or another community support location. The Outreach Counsellor will also help facilitate an addictions support program on a rotating schedule. This role requires some weekend and after-hours work with advance notice.

In this role, you will:

Organizational

• Assist in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programs and services.


• Maintain a strong commitment to quality improvement and support the continuous improvement of client care at the team level.


• Comply with agency policies, standards, guidelines, and procedures.


• Participate in staff and other designated meetings and work in cooperation with management and other team members in the provision of trauma-informed and coordinated services.

Mobile Withdrawal Management Services

• Provide assessment of substance use issues and negotiate appropriate treatment.


• Provide individual and group counselling to individuals wishing to address substance use.


• Monitor withdrawal symptoms and assist clients in managing them.


• Use crisis intervention strategies and support and educate clients, as appropriate, in relapse prevention, community withdrawal management, treatment referral, self-care strategies, and family support and education.


• Liaise with referring primary care providers and other agencies.


• Provide information and strategies for health promotion and prevention.


• Provide client-centred advocacy and assist clients in identifying and advocating for their civil and legal rights.


• Work in partnership with ethno-racial communities and organizations to facilitate the appropriateness of services for members of these communities.


• Assist participants and clients to identify, build, and maintain a natural support system.


• Facilitate connections to needed and wanted services, supports, and resources, including those in the broader community.


• Collaborate with resources to facilitate access to and coordination of services.

Day/Evening Program

• Create and implement trauma-informed programming to support clients dealing with issues related to substance use.


• Provide individual and group counselling to individuals wishing to address substance use.


• Provide information and strategies for health promotion and prevention.

Monitoring and Evaluation

• Evaluate the achievement of goals from the perspective of both the participant/client and case manager, as well as client satisfaction with services and achievements.


• Maintain participant/client records as per agency standards.


• Report in writing all accidents, injuries, and occurrences.


• Collect data, including participant/client demographics, service statistics, and goal achievement, as well as information required by other systems that may be developed.


• Provide reports as required or requested.


• Manage program-related funds as per directives.

Community Relations

• Maintain positive relationships with networks, professional organizations, and other related service providers.


• Represent the mission, values, and philosophy of the agency in the community, including at networks or meetings as requested.


• Assist in the training and mentoring of students, new staff, and/or volunteers.


• Perform other duties as assigned.

What You Bring:

• Relevant post-secondary education related to mental health, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or lived experience with mental health and addictions.


• Demonstrated experience working with Indigenous communities and clients to provide wholistic, culturally safe, and trauma-informed care.


• Knowledge of community resources and experience navigating and connecting with mental health and addiction services.


• Experience in mental health and/or addictions, with a community-based setting preferred.


• Access to a vehicle, a valid Ontario driver’s licence, and adequate automobile insurance, as well as a driving record that permits insurance through BANAC.


• Understanding of provincial and local legislation, as well as government policies, procedures, and practices pertaining to services provided by the agency.


• Knowledge and practice of harm reduction, client-centred recovery philosophy, and community service delivery.


• Knowledge of community resources connected to the provision of mental health and addiction services.


• Good interpersonal and networking skills.


• Knowledge of assessment, planning, and skill-teaching strategies.


• Ability to anticipate crises and apply appropriate non-violent crisis intervention skills to de-escalate situations.


• Ability to multi-task and work with a sense of urgency when required.


• Knowledge of mental illness, addictions, withdrawal management, and medications, as well as the ability to assist clients with symptom management.


• Understanding of how commonly requested services function, such as OW and ODSP.


• Ability to analyze issues and reframe them for clients to assist in problem-solving.


• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.


• An enthusiasm for team-based care and collaboration

What We Offer:

Our work is accountable to Indigenous communities, guided by relationships, knowledge, and practices that shape how we serve and learn together. We work alongside community members, Indigenous organizations and the broader community to ensure our programs reflect the voices and strengths of those we serve.

Our full-time permanent employees enjoy:

• a generous group health benefits package, including HOOPP


• enrollment in our Employee Assistance Program,


• paid time off, cultural leave days and extended holidays


• professional training opportunities and


• the opportunity to work in a dynamic community-based supportive work environment.

Physical Demands and Working Conditions:

• Work is typically performed in BANAC clinics, offices and / or in community settings.


• Regular travel to meetings and communities is required; access to a personal vehicle is required.


• Reliable Vehicle – Regional Travel Required.


• Regular overtime work may be required from time to time.


• Low to moderate exposure to noise in the work environment.


• Regular exposure to a moderate level of tension and anxiety due to deadlines, competing political pressures, and the competing needs and demands for limited resources.


• BANAC work site locations are periodically exposed to smoke due to the burning of sacred medicines: tobacco, sweet grass, sage and / or cedar.

All pertinent employment conditions are specified within the employment agreement with BANAC and include the following:

• Ability to attend all BANAC worksite locations is required


• Valid C.P.R. and A.E.D. Certificates are required


• Valid Class G Ontario Driver’s License is required


• An up-to-date clear Vulnerable Sector Check is required


• An up-to-date clear TST result

Applying to this Job:

The position is open to all those interested even if they do not meet all the qualifications listed. At BANAC we recognize that lived experience can provide knowledge and skills equivalent to formal education and / or professional experience. Individuals who have relevant community connections, lived experience, and / or cultural knowledge that align with the job’s responsibilities are strongly encouraged to apply.  To further promote our accountability to the Indigenous communities we serve, preference will be given to candidates of Indigenous ancestry.  BANAC strongly encourages applicants to self-identify within the application process.

Please apply directly on the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle careers site at www.banac.on.ca/careers.

Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle is committed to providing accessible employment practices that are compliant with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.  If you require accommodation for disability during any stage of the recruitment process, please advise the Human Resources Department at: [email protected]

Please note that the Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle (BANAC) uses BambooHR as part of its recruitment and selection process. While BANAC incorporates select AI features to enhance process efficiency, BANAC remains committed to human-led decision making. BANAC recognizes that AI is not perfect, as a result all AI-generated outputs are subject to human review to ensure accuracy, inclusiveness and equitable hiring practices. At BANAC, our goal is to use technology to support, not replace, thoughtful human decision making in recruitment and hiring.

DISCLAIMER:  This job posting indicates the general scope and level of work expected.  It is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties and / or responsibilities that will be required by the incumbent.  The selected incumbent may be asked to perform other duties as required to support business needs