The Ontario government is pressing forward with plans to close 10 supervised drug consumption sites, marking a significant shift away from harm-reduction services and toward treatment-centred addiction care.
Premier Doug Ford defended the decision on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in St. Catharines, saying the closures reflect growing concerns from residents about public safety particularly in areas near schools, playgrounds, and childcare facilities.
Ford said communities have repeatedly complained about drug paraphernalia left in public spaces and open drug use occurring close to places where children spend time.
“I’ve never supported safe consumption sites,” Ford said. “People are discontented with seeing needles in parks, outside schools, and near daycares.”
The shutdowns, announced Tuesday, are scheduled to take effect by March 31, 2025. They include nine provincially funded Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) sites and one independently operated overdose prevention site. Nearly half of the closures will occur in Toronto, with other sites affected in Hamilton, Guelph, Thunder Bay, Waterloo, and Ottawa.
According to Ford, supervised consumption sites have not delivered the improvements promised to surrounding neighbourhoods.
He said that “They were supposed to make things better,”. “Instead, people feel less safe, not more.”
In place of the sites being closed, the province is committing $378 million to establish 19 Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs across Ontario. The government describes the hubs as centralized locations offering a broad range of supports, including primary health care, mental health services, addiction treatment, employment assistance, transitional shelter beds, supportive housing, and access to food, showers, and overdose-reversal medication.
The Ministry of Health says the initiative will also add 375 new units of highly supportive housing and expand the number of addiction recovery and treatment beds available province-wide.
Unlike the supervised consumption sites, HART hubs will not permit on-site drug use, safe supply programs, or needle exchange services. In some cases, limited needle collection may be allowed, but the focus will remain on treatment and stabilization.
Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the new approach is intended to help people move toward recovery rather than enabling ongoing substance use.
Operators of existing CTS locations are being invited to apply to transition their services into HART hubs. The province says those that qualify could receive funding increases of up to four times their current budgets and benefit from an expedited approval process.
The move has drawn criticism because it contradicts findings from two independent reviews commissioned by the province last year. Conducted by Unity Health Toronto following the fatal shooting of Karolina Huebner-Makurat near the Leslieville directed consumption site in July 2023, the reviews recommended to keep the site open while strengthening security and expanding supervised consumption services across Ontario.
Ford dismissed those recommendations, saying public opinion carries more weight than expert reports.
He said “I don’t need a study to know how people feel,”. “Put one of these sites beside someone’s home and see how they respond especially if it’s near a school or daycare.”
Public health advocates warn that closing supervised consumption sites could push drug use into public spaces, increase overdose deaths, and place additional pressure on emergency responders. Ford rejected those concerns, saying similar warnings have been raised for years without evidence of success.
“This approach hasn’t worked,” he said. “We’re replacing it with something that actually helps treatment, housing, and real support.”
Ford said he remains sympathetic to people struggling with addiction but believes government policy should prioritize recovery.
“They deserve compassion,” he said. “But compassion means detox, rehab, and a chance at a better life not facilities that allow drug use to continue.”
The premier added that feedback from mayors and municipal leaders has largely been supportive of the closures.
The decision represents a fundamental change in Ontario’s drug policy one that continues to spark sharp debate between government leaders, health experts, advocacy groups, and residents across the province.
