For Immediate Release
Toronto, ON | March 31, 2026––Today, exactly one year since the Government of Ontario forced nine Consumption and Treatment Services sites (CTS, also known as supervised consumption sites, or SCS) to close across the province, more than 250 organizations — led by the HIV Legal Network, the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition — have sent a clear message to the Government of Ontario. Together, they are calling on the government to respect the expert advice of organizations with unparalleled experience on substance use issues, follow the mounting evidence demonstrating the clear need for SCS, and pledge to keep individuals and neighborhoods safer for everyone by reversing the misguided decision to defund the remaining eight funded CTS sites in Ontario.
Despite claims from the province that the closure of CTS sites last March caused no problem, data shared at a media conference today highlight a troubling trend: Ontario-wide data shows a sharp increase in EMS calls (+69.5%) and emergency department use (+67%) for opioid-related overdoses in the period following the forced closure of nine CTS sites in March 2025 under the so-called Community Care and Recovery Act.
“These trends are troubling and warrant very careful scrutiny by the province,” says Dr. Gillian Kolla, Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University. “The timing and magnitude of these increases are consistent with concerns that were raised at the time of the closures to the Government of Ontario by countless public health experts, including their own internal advisors. The government has an obligation to take these trends seriously and to consider what role the removal of supervised consumption services may have played.”
In the City of Toronto, EMS calls for opioid-related toxicities have increased by 82% since the closures of CTS sites, rising from 192 calls in March 2025 to 350 monthly calls in January 2026, a sharp upward shift consistent with what experts warned would happen following site closures, and starkly at odds with the prior downward trend. In Hamilton, where the city’s CTS closed in April 2025, opioid-related EMS responses rose from 66 in April 2025 to 199 in February 2026 — the highest recorded monthly count since reporting began. Taken together, these trends raise serious concerns about the flawed and ultimately inconclusive Alberta crown corporation study recently invoked by the Ontario government to justify the closures.
The eight remaining sites to be defunded in June 2026 have served 120,997 unique people and reversed 15,402 overdose emergencies, aided by exceptional client-provider relationships and an impressive suite of wraparound services, including primary healthcare, voluntary addiction and mental health treatment opportunities, specialized social supports, and more.
“As someone who has experienced both sides of the system, harm reduction is not theoretical to me — it is life-saving,” says Akosua Gyan-Mante. “I’ve gone from being a service user to now supporting others on the frontlines, and I’ve seen firsthand how compassion, dignity, and non-judgment can keep people alive long enough to access care and build stability.”
Harm reduction initiatives and SCS are also proven to reduce Ontario’s tax burden by preventing HIV and hepatitis C transmission, among other cost-saving benefits.
“The closure of these sites, and the wider and illogical attack on harm reduction in Ontario and across Canada, is deeply worrisome and already proving deadly,” says Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Director of the HIV Legal Network. “Starving supervised consumption sites of funding and pressuring people into an abstinence-only model — including HART Hubs — will not work. Supervised consumption is a key part of the response to the crisis of our toxic, unregulated drug supply: it cannot be replaced.”
“We strongly encourage the advancement of drug policies that help, not harm, individual and community health and safety,” says Michael Parkinson, Executive Director of the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario. “The Government of Ontario has a duty to ensure the life, liberty, and security of all of its residents. Intentionally defunding proven interventions guarantees dangerous and expensive results, threatening the relief we all seek and deserve.”
We are calling on the Government of Ontario to respect the evidence and immediately reverse its disastrous decision to further defund SCS and force their closure during an ongoing public health emergency of historic magnitude.
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For the Evidence Brief that shares data on the impact of 2025 CTS closures in Ontario, please see What the Evidence Says about Defunding Ontario’s Remaining Supervised Consumption Sites.
For more information on the need to scale up supervised consumption services Canada-wide, please see Scaling Up Supervised Consumption Services: What has changed in Canada?
Media contact
Dylan DeMarsh – [email protected]
