The provincial government passed legislation that will force the closure of five Toronto safe consumption sites in roughly three months time.
Bill 223, called the “Safer Streets, Stronger Communities Act,” cleared a final vote Monday.
The legislation was tabled by Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government last month and fast-tracked through the legislative process.
Ford’s government selected the five supervised consumption sites that will close next March because of their proximity to schools and daycares. Five other sites across the province will be shuttered as well.
In place of the facilities, the government is spending $378 million to launch 19 new homelessness and addiction recovery treatment hubs, which are intended to offer treatment and preventative services including primary care and mental health support.
Mayor Olivia Chow and harm reduction advocates have argued closing the supervised consumption sites will result in an increase in overdose deaths, a strain on first responders and more public drug use.
The province began reviewing the sites last year following a fatal shooting outside the South Riverdale Community Health Centre in Leslieville.
Bill 223 also prohibits municipalities and other organizations from relocating the safe consumption sites or opening new ones.
It bars cities from requesting illegal drugs be decriminalized by the federal government — a request made by the City of Toronto in 2022 and denied by Health Canada in May.
The Toronto sites that will close are as follows:
- Toronto Public Health (The Works) – 277 Victoria St.
- Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, The Neighbourhood Group – 260 Augusta Ave.
- South Riverdale Community Health Centre – 955 Queen St. E.
- Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre – 168 Bathurst St.
- Regent Park Community Health Centre – 465 Dundas St. E.
Diana Chan McNally, a frontline service worker and homelessness advocate in Toronto, said she was at the Ontario Legislature Monday to watch Bill 223 pass.
“This means we will see the only life-saving service for people who use drugs shut down in the middle of a toxic drug crisis,” she said in a social media video filmed on the Queen’s Park lawn.
“The government knows that if these sites shut down, lives will be lost.”
There were 265 suspected drug-related deaths reported across Ontario in October, according to data from Ontario’s chief coroner. The number of deaths spiked in 2020 alongside the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
