Social Policy in Ontario

9 supervised consumption sites in Ontario are switching to drug recovery treatment hubs

Posted on January 6, 2025 in Health Delivery System

Source: InsideHalton.com — Authors: Metroland Staff

InsideHalton.com
January 6, 2025.   By Metroland Staff

The sites selected are within 200 metres of schools and licensed child-care centres in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph and Thunder Bay

The province is keeping its word, and announced nine supervised consumption sites in Ontario are now switching to drug recovery treatment hubs, starting in March.

The sites selected are within 200 metres of schools and licensed child-care centres in Toronto, Ottawa, Hamilton, Kitchener, Guelph and Thunder Bay.

They will be converted into what the province calls Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs, with 10 others also being created across the province.

The project is expected to cost $378 million.

Applications for the remaining HART Hubs are under review and will be announced in the coming weeks. All HART Hubs have a goal of being open by April 1, 2025, the province said. medical event

“We have heard loud and clear from families across Ontario that drug injection sites near schools and child-care centres are making our communities less safe,” Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Sylvia Jones said in a Jan. 2 press release. “Through these nine new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs, part of our government’s $378 million investment to create a total of 19 hubs across the province, we are taking the next step in our plan to keep communities safe while improving access to mental health and addictions services.”

The most recent public outcry came after mom Karolina Huebner-Makurat was killed in July 2023 by a stray bullet near a supervised consumption site in the Leslieville area of Toronto.

Surrounding residents blamed the South Riverdale Community Health Centre for the violence and a deteriorating sense of safety in the neighbourhood.

Back in November 2024, the province tabled a bill to shut down 10 supervised consumption sites that were deemed too close to schools and daycares.

Jones added that no new supervised injection sites would be approved under the Conservative government.

“The new HART Hubs will give people struggling with addiction the support and treatment services they need to achieve lasting recovery,” Ontario’s Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Michael Tibollo said in a press release.

The HART hubs will be similar to existing hubs in Ontario, the province said. They will provide people with addiction care and support, social services and employment support.

“This is good news for (Hamilton),” Mayor Andrea Horwath said on the X platform. “The Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub, led by the amazing team at (Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre) has been approved.

“This Hub will address mental health, addiction, homelessness, and barrier to care, providing vital support for our city’s most vulnerable residents, at a time when they need it most. Through strong local partnerships, the Hub will open pathways to treatment and recovery, housing stability, and social inclusion.”

“By banning drug injection sites near schools and daycares and transitioning them into new HART Hubs, we’re keeping children, families and communities safe while helping people get lasting recovery from addiction,” Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop said on X.

“Bay of Quinte is not on the list,” Amanda Robertson shared on the X platform. “If you’re not outraged, you should be. Our homelessness crisis won’t solve itself.”

“I’m grateful that our Kitchener community will be receiving funding for the creation of a HART Hub,” Aislinn Clancy, MPP for Kitchener Centre shared in a thread on X. “But I want to be clear that the Ford government’s harm reduction cuts are going to claim lives. People are not going to stop using drugs simply because we take harm reduction services away or threaten jail time.

“We’re only going to see more public drug use, more infectious disease spread and more drug poisonings showing up in our ERs.”

https://www.simcoe.com/news/9-supervised-consumption-sites-in-ontario-are-switching-to-drug-recovery-treatment-hubs/article_9321693b-c5ee-50d0-8afc-6422ee3e134c.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a07&utm_source=ml_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=0C810E7AE4E7C3CEB3816076F6F9881B&utm_campaign=siha_12830&utm_term=latest

 

Tags: crime prevention, jurisdiction, pharmaceutical

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