Vice Canada Reports is a Canadian web and television series, produced and distributed by Vice Media through the website of Vice Magazine in 2015 and 2016. The series consists of documentary news reports, which were distributed through the website until the launch of the Viceland television channel's Canadian version in 2016 formally known as "CANADIANA" and "Vice Canada".
The series is a two-time winner of the Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Program or Series Produced for Digital Media, Non-Fiction, winning at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016 and at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017.
Notable Documentaries
Overdose Crisis on the US-Canada Border: Steel Town Down (2018) - Tens of thousands have died of opioid overdoses across the US and Canada in 2017, with the death count surpassing the peak of the AIDS epidemic. The weight of the crisis in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario falls on a handful of people struggling to keep their fellow community members alive, similar to countless towns in North America. Steel Town Down is an intimate portrait of the only harm reduction worker in town and a family desperate to save their son from becoming another victim of the crisis.
The Anarchist Commune in the Rainforest: Poole's Land (2018) - We travels to Poole's Land, an anarchist commune on the western edge of Canada to figure out what exactly is drawing young people to live on the periphery of society. She ventures into the rainforest and confronts a variety of her deepest fears, but ultimately finds enlightenment in the spirit of the people who inhabit this mysterious place.
The Soldiers of Odin: Inside Canada's Extremist Vigilante Group (2017) (In association with Vice News) - We investigates the Soldiers of Odin and their declared commitment to preserving Canadian values. Amid rising Islamophobia and violence in Canada, reporter Ben Makuch explores the blurry line between nationalist pride and racist rhetoric.
Fentanyl: The Drug Deadlier Than Heroin (2016) - An immersive and personal feature film about the fentanyl crisis in Canada told from the perspective of a community of drug users.
How To Buy a Gun In Canada: Armed and Reasonable (2016) - No one thinks of Canada as a nation of gun nuts, but collectively, Canadians own over 10 million guns and this number keeps growing. Canada has been ranked 6th best country overall for gun owners by Guns & Ammo Magazine. There's a new type of gun owner emerging—20 years ago you needed to know someone with guns to be introduced to them, but today, young people are discovering guns online. This new generation of young gun enthusiasts is often simultaneously pro-gun rights and pro-gun control, almost fanatical about following gun safety laws. They're making shooting a fast-growing extreme sport. Despite somewhat high gun ownership and liberal laws, Canada's gun violence is still remarkably low. What is it about Canada's gun culture and laws that separates it from the US? We talks to gun legislators and enthusiasts in Canada and the US to find out.
Probing the Existence of an Alleged Toronto Gang with Rob Ford Ties (2016) - We look into the Dixon City Bloods - an allegedly notorious gang that sprung up into Canada's consciousness during the Rob Ford crack scandal to see if the gang was a media fabrication, a violent menace, or something in between.
Toronto's Cannabis Candyland (2016) (In association with Canadian Cannabis and guest host Damian Abraham of Fucked Up) - Toronto is in the middle of a grey market, marijuana dispensary boom. Since Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015, weed entrepreneurs have been illegally opening up shop all over the city. Even though there's no guarantee that Trudeau's plan for legal marijuana will include storefront businesses, these operations are opening almost daily. Not only do these shops sell weed, more and more customers are coming through the doors of their local dispensary looking for marijuana edibles. While these stores insist they're providing a medical need to cannabis patients, can a weed soda or a chronic cookie really be considered medicinal? We host and medical marijuana patient Damian Abraham does the tough job of trying to figure that out.