The backyard at a Skookum house, an open green space with room to gather outdoors

Men's sober living · Nanaimo

A steady place to build a life in recovery.

Skookum offers structured, twelve step grounded homes for men rebuilding their lives. Private rooms, real accountability, and the room to keep working or studying while you find your footing.

Beds are open right now. Email us to check availability.

What Skookum is

Supervised, supportive sober living for men in recovery from alcohol, drugs, or other addictions.

Set on a half acre property in central Nanaimo, close to bus routes and meetings, Skookum is for men who are ready for independent living but want real accountability while they build something new.

All programming happens after hours, so you can hold a job, attend school, or focus fully on recovery. Skookum works around your schedule, not the other way around.

The house

A real home, not an institution.

Bright common spaces, a full kitchen, and private rooms where a man can settle in and do the work. Every house has a primary and backup manager, and a manager stops in regularly.

What's included

  • Private furnished bedroom
  • All utilities, internet, and cable
  • Full kitchen access, dishes and cookware
  • Onsite parking
  • Primary and backup house manager
  • Weekly house inspections
  • Half acre yard with a fire pit
$1,650 / month

Covers everything but food and personal items. A shared Sunday family meal is included.


A refundable $825 damage deposit is held in trust. Ask us about the full guest accommodation agreement.

Bright dining room with a large table and bay windows

The program

Recovery here has a rhythm.

Enough structure to hold you steady in early recovery, built around evenings so it never gets in the way of work or school.

Mon to Fri
Morning meditation9:15 am · 30 min of recovery reading and reflection. Flexible for men who are working.
Thursday
Planning meetingEvening · schedule and weekly goals with the house manager.
Sunday
House meetingEvening · two hours of honest peer feedback, accountability, and support.
Sunday
Family mealA shared dinner, the one meal included in rent.
Ongoing
TestingRandom drug and breath testing, at least twice a week.
Ongoing
Location sharingShared among residents through the Life360 app.

What we ask of you

  • Stick to your aftercare plan
  • At least four AA, NA, or CA meetings a week
  • An active sponsor and a home group
  • Service work as part of your home group
  • Keep your counselling and aftercare appointments
  • Stay busy with work, school, or volunteering

Who it's for

Ready to do the work, and ready for accountability.

Skookum is a fit for men who want independent living with real support around them. If that sounds like you, or someone you love, reach out.

  • Men, roughly 25 to 55
  • At least 30 days of continuous sobriety
  • Willing to work a twelve step program
  • Honest, open, and ready for independent living
  • Employed, in school, or focused on recovery

We have limited experience supporting men on methadone programs, so please talk with us before referring.

Skookum keeps a three strike approach. It holds the line while giving everyone a real chance to get it right.

Start with an email

In their words

Men who did the work here.

My time at Skookum House was a true turning point in my life. It gave me a safe place to heal, grow, and focus on my recovery. The support and encouragement I found there helped me build the foundation for the sober life I have today. I'll always be grateful to Skookum House for believing in me when I needed it the most.
Dan S.
Skookum House was a big help in my early recovery by offering me structure, accountability, and a community of like minded men headed on the same path as me. I have stayed clean and sober since leaving Skookum House in 2023, and am grateful for the part they played in my life.
Devon
Skookum helped me establish important early recovery habits and provided the accountability and structure I needed as I rebuilt a life in recovery. I met lifelong brothers at Skookum who continue to show me how to live as a man in recovery. Forever grateful.
Grady F.
My time at Skookum House truly changed my life. I wasn't sure what would happen when I left treatment. How was I supposed to stay clean on my own? The owners were very welcoming when they opened the door at Skookum. They shared their experience, strength, and hope. Treatment got me clean. Learning how to stay that way at Skookum kept me clean. I'm a little over three years without a relapse. My life has completely changed thanks to my time at the house.
Tyler, proud alumnus

Skookum Sober Houses stands on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, a Coast Salish people whose care for this land reaches back countless generations. We do this work with gratitude and respect. Recovery, for us, is a return to community and to right relationship, and we try to honour that spirit here every day.

Get in touch

Reach out to check availability.

Email is the best first step. Tell us a little about yourself or your loved one, and we'll take it from there. We're glad to speak directly with treatment centre staff and family.

Serving
Nanaimo & central Vancouver Island