Posters appear next to a doorway in Toronto on Nov. 25 to highlight opposition to the Ontario government’s proposed closing of supervised drug-use sites.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
The Ontario government says nine of the 10 supervised drug-use sites forced to shut down through recent provincial legislation will be converted into treatment hubs.
The province says the nine sites in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph and Thunder Bay will turn into what it calls “homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs” by March 31, the date by which they were slated to close.
The Progressive Conservative government recently fast-tracked legislation banning supervised drug-use 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 drug-use sites, something Health Minister Sylvia Jones has said she would not approve.
Advocates for supervised drug-use sites have condemned the move to close 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 drug-use model.
The government is instead embracing an abstinence-based model for treatment, and its plan includes a total of 19 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs, as well as 375 highly supportive housing units.
Applications for the remaining 10 hubs are under review and will be announced in the coming weeks, the province said in a release, adding the goal is to have the facilities up and running by April 1.
