Peer support guidelines launched for organizations supporting Veterans, military, public safety personnel and their Families: A first for the peer support community

OTTAWA, ON – March 31, 2025 – Peer support organizations supporting Veterans, military, public safety personnel, and their Families will now have access to guidelines for formal peer support programs offered in either workplace or community-based settings thanks to a new resource released today.

Designed by the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families in collaboration with the Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment (CIPSRT) and the Peer Support Community Network (PSCN), a national network of stakeholders from the Veteran, Veteran Family, public safety personnel, peer support, research and service provider communities, this guide is the first of its kind and has been long awaited in the peer support space. It can be used for new or existing peer support programs as a reference when developing peer support programs, assessing or adapting existing programs to ensure they are following an evidence-informed approach or as a resource for those seeking peer support to assess appropriateness of a program.

Gabrielle Dupuis, Director, Research Partnerships at the Atlas Institute, said that Veterans and members of the public safety community have long expressed the need for guidelines designed specifically to meet their unique peer support needs. “In order to create guidelines that were uniquely tailored to this community, we incorporated insights from relevant published literature while engaging deeply with the expertise brought forward by members of the PSCN, resulting in an evidence-informed and context-sensitive approach to the guideline development”

Fardous Hosseiny, President & CEO of the Atlas Institute, said, “We know that peer support can offer many benefits for mental health recovery. In the Veteran community specifically, it can be invaluable as this is a community that places a high value on relationships of trust. This supports with some of the challenges this population might typically navigate when seeking help, such as stigma reduction and feelings of isolation. Hosseiny noted that the added value of guidelines is in the consistent application of support, which promotes positive outcomes while upholding the principles of respect and shared responsibility.

Find more information and access the new peer support guidelines on the Atlas Institute website: atlasveterans.ca/peer-support-guidelines

For more information, please contact:

Joy Pavelich
Executive Vice-President, Communications and Public Affairs
media-atlas@theroyal.ca
403-934-1694