The campaign Your Drink. Your Call. puts alcohol awareness for students into a tone that tries to speak with them, not at them. Developed by the SHEA Lab at St. Francis Xavier University together with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, it was designed for post-secondary settings to raise awareness of Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health, explain alcohol-related harms and costs, and help students make more informed decisions about drinking.

What makes this campaign especially interesting is that it was built with student input from the start. The developers tested concepts with students and staff, and the final approach was shaped around being factual, non-judgemental, relatable, harm reduction focused, and free from a parental or lecture-like tone. Students also preferred real people over abstract graphics, which helped shape the visual identity and the peer-to-peer style of the campaign.

The campaign itself combines printed posters, digital screens, social media content, and student-led “Students Say” materials where peers share their own safer drinking tips. All materials connect to KnowAlcohol.ca, which offers a condensed version of the guidance and a self-evaluation tool looking at health, financial and calorie impacts. The dissemination guide also shows that campuses can adapt the materials to local needs, use them across multiple channels, and build them into launch events such as mocktail tastings, trivia, or interactive activities that invite students to reflect on their own choices.

The pilot results suggest that this approach worked. The campaign reached 11,818 accounts, generated more than 28,000 total views across posts and stories, and improved reported knowledge of Canada’s Guidance on Alcohol and Health among students who saw it. Feedback was largely positive, especially around the design, tone, and the use of real students, which many said made the campaign feel more relevant and credible.

Find more from Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (Canada, March 2026)