Ontario confirms future of 9 supervised injection sites, 1 remains in limbo
Global News
The government announced Thursday that drug injection sites in locations including Toronto, Ottawa and Thunder Bay will all be given funding to switch to rehabilitation facilities.
The Ford government has confirmed that nine of the 10 supervised consumption sites it will force to close by March have been greenlit to transition into intensive addiction recovery hubs.
The Ministry of Health announced Thursday that drug injection sites in locations including Toronto, Ottawa and Thunder Bay will all be given funding to switch from supervised consumption to rehabilitation facilities.
The transition is necessary because of Ontario’s summer announcement that 10 supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres would be ordered to close by March 31.
The move came with other measures that effectively ban the sites from moving or new facilities from opening.
“We are taking the next step in our plan to keep communities safe while improving access to mental health and addictions services,” Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said in a statement.
Announcing the closures in the summer, the government unveiled $378 million to create 19 so-called HART Hubs, which will focus on addiction recovery and treatment but not allow any drug consumption.
The money is set to fund 19 hubs over four years and should create roughly 375 highly supportive beds for people struggling with homelessness and addiction. Nine of the 19 hubs will be former supervised injection sites, while more than 80 non-profits have expressed interest in hosting the remaining 10 sites.
The nine supervised consumption sites that will transition into addiction hubs will be run by:
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