Together, they are calling on the government to heed the advice of experts from organizations with unparalleled experience in substance use, to follow the growing body of evidence demonstrating the clear need for SCS, and to commit to keeping individuals and neighbourhoods safer for everyone by reversing the ill-advised decision to eliminate the remaining eight funded SCS in Ontario.
Despite the province’s claims that the closure of SCS sites last March caused no issues, data presented today at a press conference highlights a troubling trend: Province-wide data shows a sharp increase in emergency medical service calls (+69.5%) and emergency department visits (+67%) for opioid-related overdoses in the period following the forced closure of nine SCS in March 2025 under the Community Care and Recovery Act.
“These trends are disturbing and warrant very close scrutiny by the province”
States Dr. Gillian Kolla, from the Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University.
“The timing and scale of these increases align with concerns raised at the time of the closures to the Ontario government by countless public health experts, including their own internal advisors. The government has an obligation to take these trends seriously and examine the role that the removal of supervised consumption services may have played.”
In the city of Toronto, calls to emergency medical services for opioid-related toxicities have increased by 82% since the closure of SCS sites, rising from 192 calls in March 2025 to 350 calls per month in January 2026, a sharp increase in line with what experts had warned would occur following the closures, and in stark contrast to the previously declining trend. In Hamilton, where the city’s SCS closed in April 2025, emergency medical service interventions for opioid-related issues rose from 66 in April 2025 to 199 in February 2026, the highest monthly number recorded since data collection began. Taken together, these trends raise serious concerns about the flawed and ultimately inconclusive study by Alberta’s Crown corporation recently cited by the Ontario government to justify the closures.
The remaining eight sites to be eliminated in June 2026 have served 120,997 unique individuals and reversed 15,402 overdose emergencies. These results are the product of exceptional client-provider relationships and an impressive array of complementary services, including primary health care, voluntary substance use and mental health treatment options, specialized social supports, and more.
“Having experienced both sides of the system, harm reduction is not theoretical for me—it saves lives”
States Akosua Gyan-Mante. “I have seen firsthand how compassion, dignity, and a non-judgmental approach can keep people alive long enough to access care and stabilize.”
There is also evidence that harm reduction initiatives and SCS reduce Ontario’s fiscal burden by preventing the transmission of HIV and hepatitis C, among other cost-saving benefits.
“The closure of these sites, and the broader, illogical attack on harm reduction in Ontario and across Canada, is deeply concerning and is already proving deadly,” states Sandra Ka Hon Chu, Co-Executive Director of the HIV Legal Network.
“Defunding supervised consumption sites and pressuring people to adopt a model based solely on abstinence—including the HART Hubs—will not work. Supervised consumption is a key component of the response to the crisis in our toxic and unregulated drug supply: it cannot be replaced.”
“We strongly encourage the adoption of drug policies that contribute to the health and safety of individuals and communities, rather than harming them,” states Michael Parkinson, Executive Director of the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario. “The Ontario government has a duty to guarantee the life, liberty, and security of all its residents. Intentionally dismantling proven interventions guarantees dangerous and costly outcomes, threatening the relief we all seek and deserve.”
We call on the Ontario government to follow the evidence and immediately reverse its disastrous decision to continue defunding SCS and forcing their closure during a public health emergency of historic proportions.
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