AIDS/HIV Timeline

A brief history of AIDS/HIV

The response to the AIDS crisis varied considerably around the globe.

Here are a few perspectives that reveal in part the groundbreaking nature of the Dr. Peter Centre and its ongoing role in the global fight to control HIV/AIDS.

• Canadian perspective

  • from the Canadian Foundation of AIDS Research

  • from the organization CATIE

• US perspective

  • interactive timeline from HIV.org

• UK perspective

  • interactive timeline from Avert.org

Dr. Peter Centre expands its services

2011 - The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation is granted intervener status at the Supreme Court of Canada in Insite’s appeal to continue supervised injection service.

• Services expand to include an Enhanced Supportive Housing program for residents healthy enough to transition out of 24-hour residential care

2012 - The Dr. Peter Centre obtains funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for a three-year research evaluation: A Mixed Method Evaluation of the Impact of the Dr. Peter Centre on Health Care Access and Outcomes for Persons Living with HIV Who Use Illicit Drugs, in partnership with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV AIDS, and researchers and policy-makers from across Canada.

2013 - The Dr. Peter Centre receives the Casey Award from Toronto’s Casey House for “Leadership in providing compassionate HIV care for people living with HIV, and for removing barriers to care for vulnerable people.”

2014 - The Dr. Peter Centre, in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health, applies for an exemption from federal drug laws in order to continue to provide supervised injection service to registered clients of the DPC, making it the first Canadian organization to apply for such an exemption since the 2011 Supreme Court ruling on Insite.

2016 - The Dr. Peter Centre receives a section 56 exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA), which ensures the centre’s nurses and clients will not be charged under federal drug laws for their activities related to providing and accessing supervised injection services. 

• The Dr. Peter Centre is awarded the Elisse Zack Award for Excellence in HIV and Rehabilitation from the Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation.
• The Dr. Peter Centre is awarded a Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) grant for a national project titled “Building capacity of community-based organizations across Canada to provide supervised injection services for people who use drugs” For more information, see National Initiatives

2018 - The Dr. Peter Centre is awarded a grant from Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addiction Program (SUAP) for a national project titled “Overcoming barriers to iOAT: An implementation evaluation of iOAT in an integrated health care facility for health services organizations across Canada” For more information, see HIV and the Opioid Crisis 

2020 - The Dr. Peter Centre remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. At the request of Health Canada, we launched The HUB in June, a place where knowledge and information on harm reduction, Urgent Public Health Needs Sited (UPHNS), and COVID-19 can be shared across Canada. For more information on the UPHNS Community of Practice, click here.