About us

Where did the PAC come from?

The Psychedelic Association of Canada grew from a diverse group of individuals all wanting to do their part to usher psychedelics into the mainstream in a conscious and considered way. Our founding team includes people who have been active in Canada’s vibrant psychedelic community for decades, as well as medical and therapeutic professionals who are newer to the scene, but through their own experiences and research are waking up to the value of these powerful modalities.

In 2019, we became a Canadian not-for-profit organization. Since then, we have been joined by hundreds and hundreds of members across the country. The professional psychedelic community is well connected in Canada. We respect the incredible healing potential of these sacred substances and nurture a thriving community of people all dedicated to realizing the full potential of humanity.

Our early successes

In a little more than two years, the PAC successfully worked with Health Canada and representatives of all political parties to support access to psilocybin at end of life and to achieve Special Access Program status. Its 14,000+ name petition in support of plant and fungi medicine was read aloud in parliament. The PAC’s founders and board members comprise the leader's elders and pioneers in Canada’s psychedelic space. Its members are the leading psychedelic community in Canada, with close to 1,000 members from coast to coast.

MDMA Medicine

Our sacred values

Love

We imbue everything we do with our love for ourselves, for one another and for our planet. We understand the best impacts come when we love what we are doing. We know how it feels to us and those around us when we act in the spirit of love, and how much more successful we are likely to be.

Courage

It takes courage to speak of things that need to be upheld or to evolve. The PAC is passionate about elevating humanity. We know the power of psychedelics to activate and uplift our way of being, and their ability to be a catalyst in our awakening. This knowledge inspires us to take a stand and a leadership role in our communities.

Communication

We will succeed by being truthful, factual, respectful, transparent, collaborative, responsible, accepting, equitable, inclusive, sensitive and humble. These traits will guide all of our conversations, communications and outreach. We will exist at this level of intention, and the planet we serve deserves no less.

Integrity

For the good of all on this planet, we foster honest, consistent, inclusive and uncompromising principles. The PAC is committed to being transparent, collaborative and open to improving at every level.

Impact

We are here to change the world and the lives of people through access to psychedelic medicines. Every action and every step we take is with the stated intention of making a difference and moving us toward our shared goals.

Sustainability

We have a responsibility to our community to ensure our support for them is stable and ongoing. We have a responsibility to our planet to ensure our actions don’t deplete and instead restore and enhance our planet and our community.

Board members & Staff

Our current board is made up of a variety of backgrounds in the psychedelic space, from medical professionals to integration specialists and retreat space facilitators, from not-for-profit specialists to communications experts. Our board composition will rotate over time as new people join and others leave. Fresh perspectives and a variety of backgrounds are necessary for the long-term health and diversity of the PAC. The intention of the board is to constantly seek feedback from the community to find the best ways the PAC can be of service.

Sumit Bhatia

Board Member

Francesca D'Ambrosio

Board Member

Sheryl Hanula

Operations & Community Manager

Kimberley Iwamoto, CPA

Board Member

Jay Katz

Executive Director

Richard Kay

Founding Member

Dr. Pamela Kryskow

Founding Member & Board Chair

Gillian Maxwell

Founding Member

Jazmin Pirozek HBA, MSc

Board Member

Salimeh Tabrizi

Founding Member

Sarah Van Lange

Board Member

Cameron Wenaus

Board Member

Advisory board members

Our advisors provide guidance to our board on a host of subjects including technology, diversity, inclusivity, Indigenous wisdom, medicine, research, and more.

Kate Browning, RN

Advisory and Founding Board Member

Dennis McKenna, PhD

Advisory Member

Trevor Millar

Advisory and Founding Board Member

Deborah Small

Advisory Member

Pascal Tremblay

Advisory and Founding Board Member

Law and Justice

Robert Laurie

Robert Laurie

Advisory Member

M. Jennifer Tobe, MA, LLB

M. Jennifer Tobe, MA, LLB

Advisory Member

David Wood

David Wood

Advisory Member

Indigenous Advisory Board

Andrew Judge

Andrew Judge

Indigenous Member

Trevor Mack

Trevor Mack

Indigenous Member

Ethics Advisory Team

Michelle Brewer

Michelle Brewer

Ethics Advisor

Michelle Gagnon, RN

Michelle Gagnon, RN

Ethics Advisor

Brendan Leier

Brendan Leier

Ethics Advisor

Michael Oliver

Michael Oliver

Ethics Advisor

Lorraine Percy

Lorraine Percy

Ethics Advisor

Volunteer appreciation wall

The Psychedelic Association of Canada is a non-profit that is powered by people just like you. We like to empower our volunteers in roles they enjoy and allow them to lead initiatives, create new ones, and be an integral part of the PAC family.

Here are some of our wonderful volunteers

Karman Barn

Research Team

Brianna Biancolin

Newsletter Team

Cassie Choles

Content Team

Salman H. Choudhry

Research Team

Jessica & Thomas Colvin

Content Team

Lauri Comoli

Socials and Admin

Christina Di Stasi

Content Team

Kenn Fernandes

Newsletter Team

Leigha Gabel

Video Editing Team

Emily Galle

Volunteer Coordinator

Michael Gianfelice

Admin Team

Cory Gingras

Volunteer Coordinator

Andrew Grasmuck

Research Team

Vincent Gravel

Web / Design Support

Leeran Hayek

Content Team Lead

Samantha Howe

Newsletter Team

Rahul Iyer

Director, Analytics/Data Science Team

Andrea Kimberley

Arts Programming Coordinator

Harshal Kulkarni

Analytics/Data Science Team

Denise Lee

Content Team

Ran Maoz

Business Alliance

Kali Maurer

Events Team

Rakshit Mitra

Analytics/Data Science Team

Sharday Mosurinjohn

Director of Research

Braydon Murphy

Video Editor

Jason Perepelkin

Research Team

Brenden Rabinovitch

Research Team

Lionel Ringenbach

Tech Solutions

Liam Rosborough-Feltham

Content Team

Michele Svatos

Research Team

Gordon Yake

Events Team

Diversity, inclusion, and social justice

The PAC belongs to all Canadians who value the role of psychedelic medicines in the betterment of our society and in our individual and collective healing. Valuing inclusion requires that as members of the PAC we always ask ourselves who is not in the room and why. We want to actively dismantle barriers to the full participation of all Canadians who resonate with the purpose and aims of the PAC.

We also align with the principles of equity and justice in our aim to be a diverse community that values connection and collaboration at the core of all our efforts. We aspire to both unity around our shared mission, vision, and values and to diversity in member ownership of the PAC.

We acknowledge we still have work to do on these important issues and invite growth, education, and collaboration.

Learn more

Connect with the board

We love to hear from leaders across the country who would like to share their unique perspective and wisdom on topics like organizational development, legal, advocacy, medical, research, and many more topics of interest at the PAC.

Reach out to us at hello@psychedelicassociation.net and let's build and foster bridges of collaboration towards our shared goals.

Get in touch

Diversity, inclusion, and social justice

The CPA belongs to all Canadians who value the role of psychedelic medicines in the betterment of our society and in our individual and collective healing. We hope that fostering engagement and dialogue around these issues within the psychedelic movement supports a process of social transformation and justice. With humility we acknowledge that we will frequently fall short of our own aims, and we commit to continuing to learn and grow in this process.

Learn more