Doug Ford government reportedly planning to defund drug consumption sites
· Toronto Sun
The Doug Ford government is planning to cut funding for supervised consumption sites across the province before the start of summer, according to multiple reports.
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Funding is expected to stop flowing to the sites, including two in Toronto, by June 13, according to letters that were sent to site directors and obtained by the Toronto Star . They said the sites will likely close unless they receive private funding.
The publicly funded sites in Toronto include Moss Park Consumption and Treatment Services on Sherbourne St. near Queen St. E. — the city’s first such facility — and Fred Victor on Jarvis St. near Queen.
The letter obtained by the Star said the move was made to reflect Ontario’s “commitment to prioritizing treatment, recovery and supports that help individuals move toward long-term stability while protecting Ontario communities.”
System ‘has not worked,’ PCs say
The Progressive Conservative government has been taking aim at the province’s harm-reduction strategy of late, saying the system “has not worked.
“We are seeing more issues in our neighbourhoods, in our municipalities, in our communities,” Health Minister Sylvia Jones said in August 2024, when the province announced it was banning consumptions sites near schools and daycare . “I have heard from parents, community leaders, mayors and business leaders saying things are getting worse, not better.”
An email seeking confirmation from the Ministry of Health on the decision to defund consumption sites and the province’s plans for the funding were not immediately returned.
The notice came after the Ford government in 2024 banned consumption sites within 200 metres of schools or daycares . Many of the sites targeted for closure opted to become abstinence-based homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs instead.
Other sites converting to HART hubs
Some of the sites in Toronto that opted for the conversion were the South Riverdale Community Health Centre on Danforth Ave., Regent Park on Dundas St. E. and Parkdale Queen West on Bathurst St.
The province budgeted $378 million for 19 HART hubs across the province as well as nearly 400 supportive housing units, while banning new consumption sites from opening.
Three privately funded sites, meanwhile, remain in Toronto including Street Health at Dundas and Sherbourne, Casey House at Jarvis and Isabella St. and the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site at College St. and Spadina Ave.
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Advocates slam decision as ‘cowardly,’ ‘misguided’
Harm-reduction advocates, meanwhile, slammed the province’s recent decision to defund consumption sites with an official at the HIV Legal Network calling it a “cowardly move.
“People will die without access to the life-saving care they receive at these sites,” Janet Butler-McPhee said via The Canadian Press, noting they had yet to receive full details of the decision on Friday. “The sites exist within our communities and make them better and safer for everyone.”
Toronto Overdose Prevention Society organizer Zoe Dodd said they planned to fight the move, noting “wait times are still long for treatment and all these other things that the government has promised.”
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association said in a news release that defunding consumption sites is a “misguided” decision and demanded the government “uphold the safety, health and dignity of all people, including those with addiction to substances.”
— With files from The Canadian Press.