Thunder Bay to open new addiction treatment hub as supervised consumption site closes

The only supervised consumption site in northern Ontario is transitioning into a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub.

Path 525, which is run by NorWest Community Health Centres (NWCHC) in Thunder Bay, is closing at the end of March — since the province introduced new rules in August that the sites cannot be located within 200 metres of schools and child-care settings.

On Thursday, the provincial government announced that Path 525, along with eight other supervised consumption sites in Ontario, have been approved to transition into HART Hubs, instead.

"It's really going to be looking at a really comprehensive array of services, and co-locating services will be really important as well as developing really an integrated system of care with multiple partners," said Juanita Lawson, chief executive officer of NWCHC.

Thunder Bay continues to have one of the highest opioid-related death rates in the province, at a rate of 59.6 per 100,000 population in the first half of 2024.

HART Hubs will be eligible for an average of up to four times more funding than supervised consumption sites, the province says. Operators will also get one-time funding for start-up costs.

According to the government, the Hubs will provide:

"HART Hubs will also add an estimated 375 highly supportive housing units, in addition to addiction recovery and treatment beds, that will help thousands of people each year transition to more stable long-term housing," the province says.

However, they will not allow supervised drug consumption, safer supply, or needle exchange programs — all of which are currently offered at Path 525.

In all, the government plans to spend $378 million on 19 Hart Hubs across Ontario, with the hopes of having them open by April 1.

"That is an incredibly ambitious target, given the logistics of closing down Path 525 and hiring and staffing and co-location and work plans," Lawson said. "We, of course, will work towards that as diligently as we can and work with all of the supports at the ministry."

Path 525 opened in 2018. It's located in the basement of NWCHC at 525 Simpson St. on the city's south side and is near a number of other organizations, including Grace Place, the Thunder Bay Food Bank, Shelter House, and People Advocating for Change Through Empowerment.

There may not be enough space at the site's current location to accommodate the range of services included in the HART Hub proposal, Lawson explained.

"This is a very robust proposal and a really robust program with a lot of services, so we're really excited about that, but we also need to look at the space options," she said.