Our Healthbox
Our Healthbox is a smart, interactive vending machine that provides free, 24/7 access to essential health supplies.
These cutting-edge machines provide low barrier access to HIV self-testing kits, naloxone, harm reduction items, sexual health products, and other wellness essentials. Designed to be private, low-barrier, and judgment-free, each Healthbox helps people manage their health on their own terms.
Equipped with touchscreens in English/French, Healthboxes offer more than supplies, they offer hope and support.
They provide trusted health information and directories linking people to local care and support. Anyone aged 16+ (18 in Quebec) can register confidentially to use a Healthbox, while “real-time” data helps measure the program’s reach and impact. Healthboxes support people and families facing complex health and social challenges across Canada. Many are under-housed, experiencing homelessness, or under 40 years old. Some are testing for HIV for the first time; others rely on harm reduction tools they cannot access through traditional health systems, where clinics and hospitals may feel unsafe or out of reach. For them, Healthbox offers dignity, privacy, and empowerment – without stigma or judgement.
There are now 22 Healthboxes operating across Canada.
As of October 2025, there are 6 in New Brunswick, 7 in Ontario, 2 in Manitoba, 2 in Alberta, and 5 in the Northwest Territories. Every Healthbox operates in collaboration with a community-based organization, harm reduction service, public health partner, and/or health centre. These “community champions” help identify the most needed supplies that their clients may need, and make sure each machine remains stocked and relevant. In the winter that might mean socks and mittens; in the summer, it could be sunscreen or water bottles. The goal is to meet immediate needs while connecting people to better care and support that will met their health needs.
Healthboxes have reached more than 15,000 people.
Since the first launch in 2023, the Our Healthbox program has dispensed 76,000+ supplies, including over 32,000+ harm reduction items such as clean needles and inhalation kits. More than 3,300 naloxone kits have been distributed—supplies that can mean the difference between life and death in Canada’s ongoing opioid crisis. Additionally, they have provided over 31,000 wellness items such as hygiene and menstrual products, hand sanitizer, and warm clothing. Perhaps the most striking figure: 1,600+ HIV self-test kits have been accessed, with more than half used by people testing for the first time. Amid surging HIV cases in Canada, early diagnosis leads to early treatment—one of the most effective ways to curb the spread of HIV and helping people get the care they need so that HIV won’t be a reason why they die early. Visit Our Healthbox to learn more.
