Kayla DeMong

Kayla DeMong, born and raised in Saskatoon, has spent over 18 years supporting individuals in the city’s core neighbourhoods and has been with Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR) for 13 years, currently serving as Executive Director. Her leadership is deeply informed by personal experience—Kayla will celebrate 22 years in recovery this December—which fuels her passion for harm reduction and her commitment to creating better supports for youth, adults, and families who use substances.

At PHR, Kayla has strengthened the organization’s profile through strategic partnerships across the health, business, media, education, and governance sectors. Her efforts have advanced PHR’s mission to improve community well-being through low-barrier, innovative harm reduction services.

Kayla is the recipient of the YWCA Women of Distinction Award, the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, and the SHRF Connections Award. As a co-investigator in research partnerships, she promotes collaboration between academic institutions and frontline services, helping reduce stigma, build trust, and foster evidence-informed change. She also trains workplaces and organizations across Canada on how to effectively support people who use substances.

Title: Where o’ Where Did Harm Reduction Go?

Conference: Manitoba Harm Reduction Conference

Title: Creating Safe Spaces to Revitalize Your Community

Conference: Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan Conference

Title: A Courageous Conversation with Kayla DeMong

Conference: Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission

Title: The Little SCS on the Prairies

Conference: Harm Reduction International Conference

Title: Mental Health, Addiction & Recovery

Conference: Lesson Learned: The Conference

Title: Social Justice and Harm Reduction

Conference: Saskatoon Branch Social Justice Committee Speaker Series

Title: Community-Based Research and It’s Role in Advocacy and Policy Change

Conference: Graduate Students Association Conference

Co-Authors: Dr Barb Fornssler

Title: Walking the Walk

Organization: Stimulus Connect, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

Title: Women, Drugs, Pregnancy and the State

Organization: Stimulus Connect, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

Title: HR Tools for Parents and Caregivers

Organization: Stimulus Connect, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

Title: Harm Reduction in the Child Welfare System

Organization: Stimulus Conference, Alberta

Title: Harm Reduction & Covid-19

Organization: Engaging for Health Equity

Co-Authors: Barb Fornssler

Title: The Truth About Harm Reduction & Safe Consumption Sites

Organization: Bleav podcast

Title: Harm Reduction & PHR

Organization: Bunny Hugs and Mental Health podcast

Title: Family Connections

Organization: Alberta Harm Reduction Conference

Title: Building Capacity for Social Return on Investment Analysis of Supervised Consumption Services in Saskatoon SK, Canada

Date: October 23-25, 2024

Organization: Lisbon Addictions European Conference on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies 2024

Title: Perspectives Pathways and Priorities of People with Lived and Living Experience of Substance Use: Informing Policies (P5 Project YXE) 

Date: November 23-35, 2022

Organization: Lisbon Addictions European Conference on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies 2022

Title: COVID-19 and Harm Reduction 

Date: June 5, 2020

Organization: Division of Social Accountability, College of Medicine

Co-authors: Dr. Barb Fornssler

Gibson, M., Chouinard, J., Gillies, E., DeMong, K., Fornssler, B. (Unpublished Manucript). Municipal Responses to Substance Use Harms in Canada: A Scoping Review and Content Analysis

Fornssler, B., DeMong, K., Gibson, M., Dixon, J. (Unpublished Manuscript). Consolidating the continuum of care: Building a coalition by sharing perspectives of the emerging opioid crisis in Saskatoon SK.

Building Capacity Project Team (Technical Report). Evaluation of Prairie Harm Reduction's Supervised Consumption Site: Final Report. Available online: July 2025

P5 Project Team. (2021). A Guide to Hope and Healing: Substance Use Services in Saskatchewan. An environmental scan of harm reduction, treatment, and recovery services in Saskatchewan. Available online: https://p5projectyxe.ca/project-resources/

Title: Canadian Urban Substance Use Surveillance Project

Organization: Urban Public Health Network

Co-Authors: Owili, A.O., Wright, J., Gillies, E., Hanson, Y., Ng, J., Lysyshyn, M., Yao, S., Elamoshy, R., Ieren, I., Onaemo, V., & Neudorf, C.

Title: Saskatchewan Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infection Multi-year Action Plan

Title: Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Prairie Partnership for Geospatial

Title: Community-based HIV & STBBI Prevention & Harm Reduction

Title: Seeking to Reduce Harms

Requesting Organization: Shining Water Regional Council podcast

Title: How to Not Be an Asshole to Addicts

Requesting Organization: Hard Knox Talks podcast

Title: People-first Harm Reduction in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Requesting Organization: CATIE

Title: Harm Reduction & Pregnancy

Requesting Organization: Prevention Institute Lunchtime Learning Series

Title: Homelessness and Youth

Requesting Organization: Métis Nation of Saskatchewan Housing Conference

2023   Co-Investigator

           Solutions Impact Grant - $150,000

           Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation

           Project Title: Building Capacity to Reduce Substance Use Harms: 

           Researching Effective Evaluation Standards for the Supervised 

           Consumption Site in Saskatoon SK. 

           Grant timeline: March 2023 – March 2025

2020    Co-Investigator SPROUT Grant Competition - $180,000

            Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation & SK Centre for Patient 

            Oriented Research Project Title: Perspectives Priorities and Pathways 

            of people with lived and living experience of substance use: 

            Informing policies. www.p5projectyxe.ca

            Grant timeline: March 2020 – February 2023