About the Organization
Matsqui-Abbotsford Impact Society (Impact Society) is a community-based, BIPOC-led non-profit organization supporting youth and families navigating challenges related to substance use, mental health, and wellness. Our approach is rooted in compassion, harm reduction, cultural humility, and the belief that every young person has the capacity for growth, connection, and change.
We work in collaboration with community partners such as Foundry Abbotsford, Abbotsford School District, and Fraser Health to provide accessible, youth-centred counselling and outreach support that meets youth where they’re at—whether that’s in the community, at school, at a partner location, or online.
We value the diverse identities, cultures, families, and communities our staff and the young people we serve come from. We work to create a workplace where people do not have to leave important parts of themselves at the door in order to belong professionally.
The Role
The Youth Substance Use Services Counsellor provides individual and group-based counselling, outreach, advocacy, and connection to resources for youth ages 12–24 who are engaged in substance use or are affected by the substance use of someone in their lives.
This position focuses on building strong therapeutic relationships grounded in trust, empathy, collaboration, and non-judgment. Counselling approaches are responsive to the individual young person and may draw from motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioural approaches, DBT-informed skills, narrative therapy, solution-focused approaches, and other evidence-informed, trauma-informed, and person-centred practices.
Our work is grounded in harm reduction. We recognize that young people come to us with different experiences, cultures, needs, strengths, and goals. Our role is not to prescribe what change must look like, but to support young people in identifying and working toward goals that are meaningful to them.
The counsellor will receive referrals from community partners, conduct assessments, develop collaborative care plans, and work alongside other counsellors, outreach workers, schools, health-care providers, families where appropriate, and community services to provide coordinated support.
Employment Details
- Full-time, 37.5 hours per week
- $28.92 per hour
- Hybrid position based in the Fraser Valley, BC, requiring regular in-person work and flexibility to work some evenings and occasional weekends
- Comprehensive benefits after three months, 100% paid by the employer, including health and dental benefits, paid personal time, and vacation time
- Paid cultural days recognizing that staff may require time to participate in cultural, ceremonial, community, or other culturally significant responsibilities
- Ability to exchange mainstream statutory holiday observances for cultural or religious observances that are meaningful to the employee, where operationally possible
- Temporary position with an anticipated term of approximately 12 months
- This position is providing coverage during the medical leave of the incumbent. While we anticipate approximately one year of employment, the term may end earlier or be extended depending on the return of the incumbent, organizational staffing needs, and available program funding
- Reports to the Director of Counselling
Key Responsibilities
- Provide individual and group counselling to youth ages 12–24 who use substances or are affected by the substance use of others
- Provide flexible, outreach-based counselling in community, school, partner-agency, and virtual settings
- Receive and manage referrals from youth, families, schools, health-care providers, and community partners
- Complete assessments and develop collaborative, youth-centred care plans
- Build therapeutic relationships using trauma-informed, harm reduction, culturally responsive, and person-centred approaches
- Maintain accurate and confidential clinical documentation in accordance with professional, legal, funder, and organizational requirements
- Participate in clinical supervision, case consultation, and team meetings with the Director of Counselling and counselling team
- Collaborate with community partners, including Foundry Abbotsford, Abbotsford School District, Fraser Health, and other youth-serving organizations
- Support youth in navigating and accessing health care, mental health services, harm reduction resources, social supports, and other community services
- Participate in collaborative care planning and advocacy where appropriate
- Contribute to program evaluation, reporting, development, and continuous improvement
Qualifications and Attributes
- Minimum Bachelor’s degree in Social Work, Child and Youth Care, Psychology, Counselling, or another related human-services field
- Relevant graduate-level education is considered an asset but is not required
- Experience providing counselling, therapeutic support, or outreach services to youth and young adults
- Knowledge and practical application of evidence-informed counselling approaches such as motivational interviewing, CBT, DBT-informed practice, narrative therapy, solution-focused approaches, or related modalities
- Strong understanding of harm reduction, trauma-informed practice, youth development, and person-centred care
- Demonstrated cultural competency and cultural humility, including the ability to work respectfully and effectively with youth and families from diverse racial, cultural, Indigenous, gender, sexual, socioeconomic, and family backgrounds
- Awareness of the ways racism, colonization, stigma, poverty, discrimination, and other systemic barriers can affect substance use, mental health, access to services, and young people's experiences within systems
- Ability to build authentic therapeutic relationships with young people who may have experienced stigma, trauma, marginalization, or barriers to traditional services
- Lived or living experience related to substance use, recovery, mental health, or navigating systems is considered an asset
- Strong communication, documentation, organization, and relationship-building skills
- Ability to work independently in outreach environments while remaining connected to a collaborative clinical team
- Experience working collaboratively with schools, health-care providers, community agencies, and multidisciplinary teams is an asset
- Valid Class 5 driver’s licence and reliable personal transportation are required
- A Criminal Record Check and Vulnerable Sector Search are required. A history of a criminal record will be considered on a case-by-case basis and does not necessarily preclude employment
Our Approach
Impact Society’s counselling program is built on respect, collaboration, authenticity, cultural humility, and meeting people where they are—both literally and emotionally.
We recognize that effective substance use counselling does not begin with requiring abstinence or telling young people what their lives should look like. It begins with relationship.
Our counsellors work from a person-centred, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and harm reduction lens, creating space for young people to talk honestly about substance use without fear of judgment. We support youth to better understand their experiences, strengthen protective factors, reduce harms, navigate complex systems, and define their own goals for wellness and change.
As a BIPOC-led organization, we recognize that culture, identity, family, community, and lived experience can be fundamental to wellness. We value professional education and clinical skill alongside lived experience, relational practice, cultural knowledge, humility, creativity, and the ability to connect authentically with young people.
To Apply
Please submit a resume and cover letter outlining your relevant experience, approach to youth counselling, and interest in working within a harm reduction and outreach-based model to:
[email protected]
Applications will be reviewed as received until the position is filled.
Applications submitted without a cover letter will not be considered.
Pay: $28.92 per hour
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Dental care
- Extended health care
- Mileage reimbursement
- Paid time off
- RRSP match
- Vision care
- Work from home
Application question(s):
- Did you read the "How to Apply" section?
Education:
- Bachelor's Degree (required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Abbotsford, BC V2S 3T2
