The provincial government has announced that it will be closing sites that provide supervised consumption services (SCS) near schools and daycares, and will be prohibiting any new ones from being built near them.
The changes mean that any SCS site within 200 metres of a school or child care centre will be banned from operating.
As a result, nine provincially-funded sites and one self-funded location in in Ottawa, Guelph, Hamilton, Thunder Bay, Kitchener, and Toronto, will close by no later than March 31, 2025. Five of those sites are located in Toronto, the province has confirmed.
In a news release, the province annouced that it would also implementing new "protections to better protect community safety in the vicinity of remaining sites," which include new requirements for safety and security plans and new policies to "discourage loitering and promote conflict de-escalation and community engagement."
The Ontario government said it would also be introducing new legislation this fall, that if passed, would prohibit municialities or any organization from "standing up new consumpton sites or participating in safer supply programs."
This legislation also calls for the prohibition of municipalities from applying for drug decriminalization examptions from the federal government.
Instead of funding SCSs, the provincial government said it would be $378 million to open 19 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs in partnership with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services, and the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
The province says these hubs, which will not be allowed to deliver needle exchange programs, but may be permitted to offer needle return or collection services, would be similar to existing hub models "that have successfully provided people with care" and would "reflect regional priorities by connecting people with complex needs to comprehensive treatment and preventative services."
Some of the services offered at these hubs could include primary care, mental health services. addiction care and support, social services and employment support, shelter and transition beds, supportive housing, and other supplies and services like naloxone, onsite showers, and food, the province said.
Ontario said the plan is for these hubs to add 375 "highly supportive" housing units along with addiction recovery and treatment beds.
The nine provincially-funded supervised consumption services sites slated for closure are being encouraged to submit proposals to transition to HART Hubs and may be eligible for up to four times more funding than they previously received, the province said.
“Communities, parents and families across Ontario have made it clear that the presence of consumption sites near schools and daycares is leading to serious safety problems,” Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, said in a release.
“We need to do more to protect public safety, especially for young school children, while helping people get the treatment they need, which is why we’re taking the next step to expand access to a broad range of treatment and recovery services, while keeping kids and communities safe.”
Harm reduction advocates, meanwhile, have championed supervised consumption sites as a way to help mitigate opioid-related deaths, which have surged in recent years as drug supplies have become increasingly toxic and unpredictable.
Supervised consumption sites allow people to bring their own unregulated drugs for use within a clinical space under the supervision of trained healthcare professionals who can provide treatment immediately if an overdosei occurs.
They also connect drug users with health and social services.