How We Verify Listings

Recovery Begins is a Canadian directory of addiction treatment centres. This page explains exactly how we find, evaluate, verify, and maintain every listing — so you can trust the information you find here.

How Centres Are Added to Our Directory

We do not wait for treatment centres to apply for inclusion. Our team proactively identifies centres across all Canadian provinces and territories using the following sources:

• Provincial health authority databases and licensing registries
• Accreditation Canada verified facility lists
• Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) resources
• Health Canada substance use and addiction resources
• Provincial addiction services directories including ConnexOntario and BC Mental Health and Substance Use
• Established Canadian directories including drugrehab.ca
• Direct outreach to known treatment providers

Inclusion in our directory is free. We do not charge treatment centres for listings, and we do not prioritize centres based on any commercial relationship.

What We Verify for Each Listing

Before a centre is published, we cross-reference the following against at least two independent sources:

• Contact information — phone number, address, and website are verified against the centre’s own website and provincial records
• Services offered — treatment types (inpatient, outpatient, detox, IOP, PHP) and programs are confirmed against the centre’s published service list
• Substances treated — we document which substances the centre has active programming for, based on their website and available clinical documentation
• Accreditation status — we check against Accreditation Canada’s public directory where applicable
• Licensing — we verify provincial licensing status where public records are available
• Operational status — we confirm the centre is currently accepting clients before publishing

Our Verification Standards

All listing data is reviewed by a credentialed team member before publication. Our editorial team is led by Michael Leach, CCMA (NHA), ISSUP Certified, who applies clinical judgment to ensure that service descriptions are accurate and meaningful to someone seeking treatment — not just marketing language copied from a brochure.

We distinguish between what a centre advertises and what it demonstrably provides. Where a service cannot be independently confirmed, it is not listed.

Content Review Process

The educational content on Recovery Begins — including substance pages, treatment program guides, and resource articles — is written to meet the standards expected of medical web content. Specifically:

• All content is written or reviewed by a credentialed professional
• Claims are supported by citations from Health Canada, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and peer-reviewed sources
• Content is reviewed on a rolling basis and updated when guidelines or clinical evidence changes
• Each content page displays the date it was last reviewed and the name and credentials of the reviewer

Update Schedule

Listings are actively maintained, not simply published and forgotten. Our update schedule is as follows:

• Contact information — reviewed every 6 months or whenever a user or centre reports a change
• Services and programs — reviewed annually and whenever a centre notifies us of a change
• Educational content — reviewed annually or when clinical guidelines change
• Accreditation status — checked against Accreditation Canada records annually

Each listing displays a last-updated date. Centres can claim their listing at any time to update their own information directly — claimed listings are clearly identified so users know the data was provided by the centre itself.

Removal Policy

A centre is removed from our directory if any of the following apply:

• The centre has permanently closed
• Accreditation has been revoked and not reinstated
• The centre is found to be operating outside provincial regulations
• The centre cannot be contacted through any published channel and operational status cannot be confirmed
• Credible reports of patient harm, fraud, or unethical practices that have not been addressed

To report a concern about a listed centre, email us at communications@rehab-center.com. We take all reports seriously and investigate within 5 business days.

Conflict-of-Interest Policy

Recovery Begins operates under a strict conflict-of-interest policy to protect the integrity of our directory:

• No pay-to-play — Listings are not ranked, promoted, or featured based on any commercial relationship. We do not accept payment for placement or ranking within the directory.
• No referral fees from centres — We do not receive referral fees or commissions from treatment centres for connecting clients to them.
• Editorial independence — Our editorial team operates independently of any business development activity. Commercial decisions do not influence listing status or editorial content.
• Transparent funding — Recovery Begins may display advertising or use affiliate links to fund operations. These are clearly separated from directory content and do not influence which centres appear or how they are ranked.
• No ownership stakes — Recovery Begins has no ownership interest in any listed treatment centre.

How to Claim or Correct a Listing

Treatment centres can request changes to their listing at any time. To claim your listing or submit a correction, contact us at communications@rehab-center.com with your centre name and the information you would like updated. We will verify your identity and process the request within 5 business days.

Users who find inaccurate information are also encouraged to report it. We rely on our community to help keep the directory current.