Updated January 2, 2025 @ 2:11pm
Nine of the 10 Ontario supervised consumption sites forced to shut down through recent provincial legislation will be converted into treatment hubs over the next several months, the province said Thursday.
Each of the provincially funded sites was allowed to apply to turn into what it calls "homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs," the Ministry of Health said.
The nine sites in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph and Thunder Bay were all approved and will make the transition by March 31, the date by which they were slated to close, the ministry said.
"These hubs will be eligible, on average, to receive up to four times more funding to support treatment and recovery under the model than they receive from the province as a consumption site," the ministry said in a release, adding the transitioning sites will also get one-time funding to help cover startup costs.
The Progressive Conservative government recently fast-tracked legislation banning supervised consumption sites from operating within 200 metres of a school or daycare.
The law, which passed last month, also requires municipalities to get the health minister's approval before seeking a federal exemption to launch new supervised consumption sites, something Health Minister Sylvia Jones has said she would not approve.
Advocates for supervised consumption sites have condemned the move to shutter them, saying the decision will put the lives of many substance users at risk.
But Premier Doug Ford has argued critics should be grateful his government is investing in treatment services while shifting away from the supervised consumption model.
The government's plan includes a total of 19 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs, as well as 375 highly supportive housing units, at a cost of $378 million.
Applications for the remaining 10 hubs are under review and will be announced in the coming weeks, the province said, adding the goal is to have the facilities up and running by April 1.
The County of Simcoe submitted an application to the province in the fall for one of these hubs, a move endorsed by Barrie City Council.
The government announced this summer that it would spend $378 million to establish these centres across Ontario, shifting away from drug consumption sites and needle exchange programs to focus on treatment.
Last month, the community organization that runs the 10th supervised consumption site set to close down — a privately funded operation in Toronto's Kensington Market neighbourhood — filed a legal challenge alleging the provincial legislation violates both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 2, 2025.
with files from Barrie 360
