Experts, Beltline community debate future of Calgary's supervised consumption site

Just south of Calgary's downtown core, the Beltline neighbourhood has been a magnet for new development and migration in a rapidly growing city. It's one of Calgary's most densely populated communities, with people pouring in to fill new residential towers that dot the area's skyline.

But one recent constant amid the churn of development has been Calgary's lone supervised consumption site (SCS). 

Since its launch roughly seven years ago, the SCS at the Sheldon Chumir Health Centre has kept its doors open. It's been lauded as a life-saving service, but also targeted with criticism from opponents who blame it for public drug use and increased calls to police in its vicinity.

On Tuesday, city council is set to debate whether it should call on the provincial government to close the site, following a public back-and-forth earlier this month between city hall and the province. The debate comes as the province has shifted its addiction services model to focus more on recovery-oriented care.

The debate puts the SCS back in a familiar position of scrutiny, but some Beltline residents believe the political discussion around the site is oversimplifying the issue, including the needs of its clients.

"Right now, unfortunately, all we're seeing is using this issue as a political football, and when that happens the community loses," said Beltline Neighbourhoods Association founding member Peter Oliver.

Council's debate is scheduled to occur more than three years after the province announced it would close the site in 2021. It also follows the worst year for opioid deaths in Calgary on record.

Alberta's substance use surveillance data shows 627 such deaths in Calgary last year, as well as the most opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits in Calgary on record.

That's mirrored similar trends in many Canadian and U.S. communities that have struggled for years against a wave of drug poisoning deaths, though both sides of the border have seen declines so far in 2024.

Similarly, Alberta saw a decrease in opioid poisoning deaths in the first half of 2024, leading government to express cautious optimism over the effectiveness of its recovery-based approach. Critics advised the figures were preliminary.

When Calgary's SCS opened, it was the first of its kind in Alberta. The facilities offer a place for people to use pre-obtained drugs under the supervision of a registered nurse trained in overdose response. The site was set up as a response to the opioid crisis, and to lower public drug use and discarded needles.

It's also designed to offer harm-reduction supplies, like new needles and naloxone kits, as well as education, medical aid, and connections to recovery, health and other social services.

In the second quarter of this year, the facility logged 10,907 visits, the highest it's recorded in a single quarter in three years.

Calgary has only ever had one SCS, but an alternative system can be seen in Edmonton, which has three facilities within one central area to lessen the pressure on each site.