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Quebec City health officials are preparing to open a new temporary supervised consumption site downtown in response to a sharp increase in fatal and non-fatal overdoses linked to an increasingly toxic illicit drug supply.
People who smoke drugs such as crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine will be able to do so at the outdoor site, with staff on hand to intervene in the event of an overdose. It is expected to open by the end of the summer, pending provincial approval.
“We have a fairly urgent need to increase and improve supervised consumption services and overdose response,” said Dr. Philippe Robert, the regional director of public health for Capitale-Nationale.
The decision comes after health officials recorded a rise in overdoses this spring, particularly among people experiencing homelessness or living in precarious situations. At L’Interzone, Quebec City’s only supervised consumption site, staff responded to 22 non-fatal overdoses in just three months—more than the 20 recorded during all of 2025.
At L’Interzone, Quebec City’s only supervised consumption site, staff responded to 22 non-fatal overdoses in three months. (Frederic Vigeant/Radio-Canada)
Robert said the increase reflects broader changes in the illicit drug market, with substances increasingly contaminated by powerful opioids and other drugs.
“We anticipate an increase compared with previous years,” he said, noting that 43 suspected fatal overdoses are currently under investigation by Quebec’s coroner. While not all are expected to be confirmed, the number already exceeds the totals recorded in recent years.
L’Interzone has also seen demand continue to climb. It saw 45,000 users over the past year and now serves about 100 people every day, according to Marie-Christine Leclerc, a clinical nurse and manager of service programs at SABSA, the organization that operates the facility.
“We’ve had a very difficult spring,” Leclerc said. “Overdoses are increasing, contaminants are present in the drug supply, and our service is constantly seeing more people.”
She said staff continue to encourage clients to carry naloxone, have their drugs tested when possible and avoid using alone. Even so, the growing number of overdoses has placed significant pressure on the facility.
The temporary site is expected to ease some of that strain by shifting inhalation services outdoors, allowing L’Interzone to dedicate more of its existing capacity to people who inject drugs.
“Any initiative that increases overdose prevention and access to safer consumption services is excellent news,” Leclerc said. “We hope it will reduce the pressure on a service that is already operating beyond capacity.”
While welcoming the project, Leclerc acknowledged concerns about its temporary nature.
“The word ‘temporary’ is always a bit worrying because we don’t know what comes next,” she said. “But I see this as the beginning of a response to a need that has been identified for a long time.”
Dr. Philippe Robert says the emergency site is intended to do more than prevent fatal overdoses. (Radio-Canada)
Robert said the emergency site is intended to do more than prevent fatal overdoses. It will also move drug use away from public spaces and help maintain contact with people who are often disconnected from health care and community services.
“We want to save lives,” he said. “But we also want to keep people connected to services so they can access support when they’re ready.”