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<\/p>\nAs the Ontario government cuts funding for seven supervised drug consumption sites in the province, workers at three remaining sites in Toronto that don\u2019t rely on provincial funding say they\u2019re worried the move will further strain their resources and lead to more overdoses and open drug use across the city.<\/p>\n
The province said Monday it will initiate a 90-day wind-down period to give the seven defunded consumption sites time to transition to the government\u2019s abstinence-based model \u2014 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment, or HART, hubs.<\/p>\n
It said the move affects two sites in Toronto, two in Ottawa and one each in Niagara, Peterborough and London, with Health Minister Sylvia Jones saying in a statement that the government is \u201cfocused on treatment, recovery and safer communities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health-care workers and harm reduction advocates have said the defunding would force these sites to close, leading to more overdoses and deaths.<\/p>\n
In Toronto, the move likely means only three supervised consumption sites \u2013 Street Health, Casey House and the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site \u2013 would remain because they\u2019re donor-funded.<\/p>\n
Matt Johnson, an overdose prevention site supervisor at Street Health, says they were \u201cnot surprised, but horrified\u201d by the province\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
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Johnson says the closure of two sites in the city means Street Health expects to see more people coming through its doors.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of the reasoning behind having sites all over the city was so that no one site would be overly impacted. But if you take a bunch away, it means that the ones that are left have to pick up the slack and they get used more,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor those of us who work with this community and know these folks, it\u2019s terrifying because we know the absolutely horrific impact it\u2019s to have on the people who use these services.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2024, Premier Doug Ford\u2019s government banned consumption sites within 200 metres of a school or daycare, targeting 10 sites across the province for closure by the end of March 2025. Most of those sites chose to convert to the province\u2019s abstinence-based model and closed. The government also banned new sites from opening.<\/p>\n
After that move, Johnson says the number of people going to Street Health soared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve already been feeling the impact of the closures that have already happened. Our numbers are way up, overdoses are way up. We are facing a need unlike anything we\u2019ve seen in a long time,\u201d Johnson says. \u201cWe\u2019re a small site, we only have three booths. I don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to address this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Street Health isn\u2019t facing defunding after the province\u2019s latest move, Johnson remains wary about the future of its overdose prevention site, given how the government \u201cvery clearly wants all the sites shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Monday, when our clients were first coming into the site, they were asking us questions about this and they were saying, \u2018Is Street Health being shut down?\u2019 And I kept saying, we are safe \u2014 for now. I can\u2019t give anybody any assurances,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other response I got was, \u2018If they\u2019re shutting all these places down, where do they expect us to go? And what do they expect us to do, just die?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Bill Sinclair, CEO of The Neighbourhood Group that runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, says the two sites at Moss Park and Fred Victor that are set to be defunded are both far away from Kensington Market, so it\u2019s unclear if their clients will travel to the remaining three sites or if it will result in more open drug use.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure whether people will make the trip, or in fact, they will just use unsafely, or as we\u2019ve observed, people will start using (on public transit), people are using in public libraries,\u201d Sinclair says.<\/p>\n
The Kensington Market site remains open thanks to a court injunction last year following a Charter challenge. Still, it\u2019s bracing for a jump in visitors in the fallout of the province\u2019s latest decision, he adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe smaller sites will do the best they can \u2026 this is not good health care. This is not how they should do it,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019re grateful for our donors, but this is bigger than one or two charities can solve. We all need to get on the same page.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joanne Simons, CEO of Casey House, says her team was \u201cdevastated\u201d to learn the province was defunding the seven sites. Casey House, which is also donor-funded, will likely see its resources stretched in the aftermath, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe anticipate that capacity will need to increase and our team is working on how we actually manage that,\u201d says Simons, noting they\u2019re currently assessing staffing needs and their hours of operation.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s also considering the \u201cmoral distress\u201d the move could have on staff as they respond to increased demand, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cClosing of the supervised consumption sites means that we are restricting access to a particular group of people. So how do we think about that from a human rights perspective?\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Ford defended the decision to defund the provincially-supported sites earlier this week, claiming that unlike HART hubs, consumption sites \u201cencourage\u201d drug use.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to hurt these people. I want to help them. I want them to be productive,\u201d Ford said Monday at an unrelated press conference, noting the province is investing $550 million in HART hubs.<\/p>\n
But advocates say the defunding of consumption sites and their consequent closures will ultimately lead to more deaths. Janet Butler-McPhee, co-executive director of the HIV Legal Network, said last week that the province\u2019s decision is a \u201ccowardly move.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will die without access to the life-saving care they receive at these sites. The sites exist within our communities and make them better and safer for everyone,\u201d she said at a virtual press conference Friday.<\/p>\n
Organizations including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and Amnesty International have also condemned the move, calling on the Ontario government to reverse its decision.<\/p>\n
Johnson says it\u2019s a misconception that harm reduction advocates are opposed to treatment. Supervised consumption sites do more than just distribute safe supplies and prevent overdoses, Johnson says \u2014 they\u2019re often a \u201chome base\u201d for their clients and a place to access health care without barriers.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all support people who want to stop or change their drug use. But those of us who work in the field understand that that is often a really long process that requires a lot of support,\u201d says Johnson.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat safe consumption sites do is \u2026 they make sure that people can stay alive during that process.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2026.<\/p>\n
Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n