AVI Health and Community Services Society

What AVI Health and Community Services Society does

AVI Health and Community Services Society is a registered non-profit society (BC certificate S20925) founded on September 17, 1985 by five individuals responding to the AIDS epidemic on Vancouver Island. Originally incorporated as The Vancouver Island Aids Society and later operating as AIDS Vancouver Island, the organization rebranded to AVI Health and Community Services in 2019 to reflect its broadened mandate. Headquartered at 713 Johnson St in Victoria, AVI operates four physical locations across Vancouver Island (Victoria, Nanaimo, Comox Valley, Campbell River) and delivers nine core service programs: Harm Reduction Services, HIV Testing, Services for People with HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C, Prescribed Alternatives (including the SAFER initiative), Crisis Response Community Led (CRCL, formerly CLCR and PACT, operated under CMHA BC's provincial framework), Indigenous Wellness Program, Community Health Centre, Health Promotion and Community Development, and Prism Wellness (LGBTQ2S+ services). Mobile crisis response teams operate in Victoria (7 days/week) and Comox Valley, and all services are provided at no cost to clients.

AVI's business model is a non-profit hybrid of government grants, individual and corporate donations, in-kind contributions (such as unsold food from local businesses), free membership-based community governance, and grassroots fundraising events. Membership is offered at no cost and confers voting rights at Annual General Meetings. Disclosed funding includes a $372,872 Health Canada grant in July 2023; the broader funding base from BC provincial health authorities and other government sources is not publicly quantified. The organization employs 101–250 staff and is governed by a member-elected Board of Directors with a Chair and Governance Committee. Go-to-market is community-led and outreach-driven, relying on word-of-mouth, partnerships with community organizations, awareness-day events (World AIDS Day, World Hepatitis Day), and an annual newsletter. AVI does not develop proprietary technology and discloses no AI/ML capabilities, patents, or trademarks.

Strategic positioning rests on a harm-reduction, sex-positive, social-justice framework informed by voices of people with lived experience, targeting populations underserved by mainstream healthcare: people who use substances, people living with HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C, LGBTQ2S+ communities, Indigenous peoples, unhoused individuals, and sex workers. The 40-year operating history, provincial integration through CMHA BC's CRCL framework, and recent expansion into prescribed alternatives and crisis response services indicate a maturing but programmatically deepening regional operator rather than a scaling entity.

Name

AVI Health and Community Services Society

Legal name

The Vancouver Island Aids Society

Website

https://avi.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

AVI Health and Community Services Society is a BC-registered non-profit, founded 1985, operating four locations across Vancouver Island to deliver harm reduction, HIV/hepatitis C care, prescribed alternatives, peer-led mobile crisis response, Indigenous wellness, and LGBTQ2S+ services at no cost to marginalized populations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Health Services

NAICS

Individual and Family Services (6241), Social Assistance (624), Outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse Centers (621420), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090), Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093)

akta.pro primary industry

Community-Based Preventive & Health Promotion Clinics (HLAFAGAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sexual Health & STI/HIV Prevention Health Departments (HLAJAAAL), Health Equity, Access & Social Determinants Programs (BPAIAJAO), Crisis Support, Suicide Prevention & Acute Behavioral Triage Platforms (HLALAEAI), Health & Support Communities (BPAMABAL)

Keywords

• Harm reduction services
• Community health programs
• HIV and hepatitis support
• Mobile crisis response
• Substance use services

Headquarters

HQ city

Victoria

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: AVI accepts direct financial donations from individuals and organizations to support community health programs and services.
2. Government Funding: As a registered non-profit society, AVI receives funding from government sources and funders to support HIV, hepatitis C, harm reduction, and community health services.
3. Membership Fees: AVI offers free membership to community members who participate in governance through voting at Annual General Meetings and volunteering in programs and committees.
4. In-Kind Donations and Partnerships: AVI receives in-kind donations such as unsold food from local businesses to provide nutrition support for clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

AVI Health and Community Services delivers free, low-barrier community health services focused on harm reduction, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C testing and support, prescribed alternatives to unregulated drugs, mobile crisis response, Indigenous wellness, and queer/trans health. Programs are delivered in person at four Vancouver Island locations and through mobile/outreach teams to people who use substances, people living with HIV or hepatitis C, LGBTQ2S+ communities, Indigenous peoples, unhoused individuals, sex workers, and people in mental health crisis.

Product overview

AVI Health and Community Services operates as a multi-disciplinary community-based organization offering an integrated suite of harm reduction and community health programs across Vancouver Island. The portfolio consists of nine core service programs: Harm Reduction Services (providing supplies like sterile needles, safer inhalation kits, and safer sex supplies), HIV Testing, Services for People with HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C, Prescribed Alternatives (including the SAFER initiative for pharmaceutical alternatives to unregulated drugs), Crisis Response Community Led (CRCL mobile crisis teams), Indigenous Wellness Program, Community Health Centre, Health Promotion and Community Development, and Prism Wellness for LGBTQ2S+ health. The organization delivers these services through locations in Victoria, Nanaimo, Comox Valley, and Campbell River, providing low-barrier, sex-positive, and harm reduction-based education, prevention, and support services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Harm Reduction Services Provides sterile needles, safer inhalation kits, safer sex supplies, and information to people who use drugs, intended to reduce risks associated with substance use and sexual activity.
• Indigenous Wellness Program Culturally grounded harm reduction and wellness support tailored for Indigenous community members on Vancouver Island.
• HIV Testing Confidential HIV testing with pre- and post-test counseling and linkage to ongoing support and treatment services for individuals learning their status.
• Crisis Response, Community Led (CRCL) Mobile peer-assisted crisis response teams operating in Victoria and Comox Valley as a community-led alternative to traditional police or EMS mental health crisis response.
• Prescribed Alternatives (including SAFER) Provides prescribed pharmaceutical alternatives to the unregulated drug supply, including through the SAFER project, to reduce overdose risk for people who use drugs.
• Services for People with HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C Testing, counseling, treatment linkage, and ongoing support services for individuals living with HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C.
• Community Health Centre Provides low-barrier access to integrated community health services for at-risk populations who face barriers to traditional healthcare.
• Health Promotion and Community Development Knowledge sharing, capacity building, and health education initiatives for communities across Vancouver Island.
• Prism Wellness Specialized wellness program supporting queer and trans health, providing affirming services for LGBTQ2S+ communities.

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BCauseminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 3 March 2026BCause is an online grocery company that offers affordable food from local sources. Customers can select AVI as their charity of choice when signing up for a BCause Box, enabling community members to support AVI's work through grocery purchases.
• Victoria Arts CouncilminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 November 2025Partnership for AVI's 40th Anniversary 'Still with us: A Legacy of HIV/AIDS in the Arts' exhibition and events series. The Victoria Arts Council provided a pop-up venue within The Bay Centre for exhibitions and events.
• Visual AIDS (NY)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 November 2025Partnership for World AIDS Day film screening 'Day With(Out) Art' featuring newly-commissioned films by HIV+ artists as part of AVI's 40th anniversary commemoration.
• Intrepid TheatreminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 November 2025Co-presented 'The Viral Monologues' performance featuring first-person accounts from AVI community health services affiliates as part of 40th anniversary events.
• CMHA BC (Canadian Mental Health Association BC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 March 2025CMHA BC initiated the province-wide rebranding of Peer Assisted Care Teams (PACT) to Crisis Response, Community Led (CRCL). AVI operates CRCL programs under this CMHA BC provincial framework in Victoria and Comox Valley.
• Friends of DorothyminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 July 2023Friends of Dorothy Victoria hosted the World Hepatitis Day fundraiser event 'Dinner and Drag' with Mina Mercury to raise awareness about Hepatitis C and donations for AVI's programs.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation: Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation provides HIV/AIDS supportive housing, health, and community services in Vancouver. Comparable to AVI's HIV/AIDS programming and community health centre service line, with similar non-profit community-based care model for people living with HIV.
• PHS Community Services Society: PHS Community Services Society operates non-profit community health, housing, and harm reduction services in Greater Vancouver, including the Insite supervised consumption site and low-barrier community health clinics. It is highly comparable to AVI in mission, harm reduction focus, and community-based service delivery model.
• Lookout Housing and Health Society: Lookout provides housing, harm reduction, and health services to marginalized populations across Metro Vancouver and BC. Directly comparable to AVI in harm reduction philosophy, low-barrier access, and integrated service model serving people who use substances and those experiencing homelessness.
• AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT): ACT provides HIV/AIDS support, harm reduction, sexual health, and community programming in Toronto, with origins parallel to AVI's AIDS Vancouver Island roots. Comparable in being a community-led non-profit serving people living with HIV and overlapping marginalized populations.

Broad incumbents

• BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC): BCCDC is BC's provincial public health agency responsible for communicable disease control, including HIV, hepatitis C, and harm reduction programming. Comparable as a public-sector funder and policy partner that shapes the operating environment for AVI's HIV/HCV testing and harm reduction services.
• Vancouver Coastal Health Authority: VCH is the regional health authority that funds and operates health services across Vancouver and parts of BC, including harm reduction and HIV programs. Comparable as a public-sector counterpart and funder with overlapping service populations and harm reduction mandate in BC.
• Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) BC: CMHA BC is the provincial umbrella for mental health services in BC and AVI's CRCL partner, having initiated the province-wide CRCL rebrand. Comparable as a large incumbent mental health and substance use service provider that AVI both partners with and operates within through the CRCL framework.

Regional players

• CACTUS Montréal: CACTUS Montréal operates needle exchange, supervised injection services, and harm reduction programming in Montreal. Comparable to AVI's Harm Reduction Services and SAFER program in non-profit community-led harm reduction delivery, though serving a different urban population.
• Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy (Oahas): OAHAS provides culturally grounded HIV/AIDS and harm reduction support for Indigenous communities across Ontario. Comparable to AVI's Indigenous Wellness Program in its harm reduction and culturally grounded service model for Indigenous peoples, though operating in a different province.
• Inner City Health Associates (ICHA): ICHA provides healthcare to people experiencing homelessness and precarious housing in Toronto. Comparable to AVI's community health centre and harm reduction work serving unhoused populations, though operating in a different provincial jurisdiction.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about AVI Health and Community Services Society