Peer Support Specialist

Position

Peer Support Specialist - HART of Simcoe County

Program or Team

Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin Community Addictions Supports Team (CAST)

Location

Base Location: Barrie; Regional and In-Community Work Required

Supervisor

Director of Health Services

Supported by Team Lead CAST

Term

1.00 FTE Term March 31, 2027

Salary

$60,000 - 65,000 plus applicable benefits

**About the Organization**:
The Barrie Area Native Advisory Circle is a regional social planning and development organization. The BANAC service region now covers Simcoe County, Muskoka, and the northern York Region. BANAC works in cooperation with Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous organizations to address community-identified priorities through coordinated planning, implementation, and evaluation efforts. As an Indigenous-led and Indigenous-governed organization, BANAC has a mandate to support the continued promotion of Indigenous lifelong-learning, self-determination, and community participation.

BANAC offers many innovative programs and services including the Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin Indigenous Interprofessional Primary Care Team. Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin offers Traditional Healing and coordination, land-based programming, primary care, community addictions supports and treatment, counselling and wellness services, and community health promotion.

**About the Role**:
The Peer Support Specialist is an integral member of the interdisciplinary team supporting Indigenous community members who are experiencing homelessness, housing instability, and/or substance use challenges as a part of the Navigation Team for the HART of Simcoe. Drawing on their lived or living experience of recovery, Peer Support Specialists build trusting, non-judgmental relationships that empower clients to explore their wellness goals, navigate the system, and access appropriate supports. Working in a mobile and community-based setting—including shelters, encampments, transitional housing sites, and other outreach locations—Peer Support Specialists model recovery, provide mentoring, reduce stigma, and create meaningful connections that promote healing and self-determination.

Grounded in Indigenous values and wellness approaches, the Peer Support Specialist brings unique insight and hope to individuals navigating complex experiences with mental health and substance use. This role operates with flexibility, cultural humility, and a trauma-informed lens. As a member of the team, the Peer Support Specialist collaborates with outreach counsellors, case managers, and healthcare providers to ensure care is coordinated, wholistic, and rooted in the strengths of each person and their community.

**What You Bring**:

- Self-identified lived experience with addictions and recovery or with supporting a family member with addictions and recovery is considered an asset
- Minimum Grade 12 Diploma with post-secondary mental health related education or higher.
- Minimum three (3) years experience working with individuals who have mental illnesses.
- Must have access to a vehicle, a valid Ontario driver’s license, and adequate automobile insurance.
- Peer Support training will be considered strong asset
- Excellent active listening, oral communication, and written communication skills
- Demonstrated experience working with Indigenous communities and clients; ability to provide culturally safe care
- Knowledge and experience of recovery-focused principles and recovery goal setting
- Knowledge of mental health services, community services and social supports available in the North Simcoe Muskoka region

**What We Offer**:
We provide a generous benefits package, including HOOPP, paid vacation, cultural leave, extended holidays, on-going training opportunities and the opportunity to work in a dynamic community-based environment.

**Information About Working at BANAC Mamaway Wiidokdaadwin**:

- Work is typically performed in clinic, office and community settings.
- Regular travel will be required - vehicle an asset
- Regular overtime work may be required from time to time, BANAC team members enjoy a flex schedule agreement
- Periodic exposure to smoke may occur from the burning of sacred medicines: Tobacco, sweet grass, sage or cedar.

Specific employment conditions are specified in an employment contract with BANAC and include the following:

- Worksite location
- Valid C.P.R. and A.E.D. Certificates required
- Valid Class G Ontario Driver’s License is required with clear check for vulnerable sector

Applications are encouraged from qualified applicants of First Nations, Métis, Inuit ancestry (in accordance with section 24.1a of the Ontario Human Rights Act, United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), UNDRIP Action Plan, Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action).

**DISCLAIMER**: This job posting indicates the general nature and level of work expected. It is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities req