Doug Ford to Prohibit Safe Injection Sites Within 200 Metres of Schools and Child-Care Centres
Premier Doug Ford is set to close most safe injection sites by enforcing a 200-metre buffer zone from schools and daycares, while simultaneously increasing provincial support for addiction treatment.
In a move that has sparked criticism from health advocates—who warn it could lead to more overdose deaths—and praise from local residents frustrated with drug activity, 10 of Ontario’s 17 safe injection sites will be shut down by March 31. Among these closures are five sites in Toronto, including Leslieville’s South Riverdale Community Health Centre, near where mother-of-two Karolina Huebner-Makurat was tragically killed by a stray bullet last summer, a crime that shocked the city.
Additionally, sites in Hamilton, Guelph, Kitchener, Ottawa, and Thunder Bay will also be closed.
To offset these closures, the government plans to allocate $378 million towards the establishment of 19 new “Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment” (HART) hubs. These hubs will include 375 supportive housing units, addiction recovery programs, and treatment beds. However, the HART facilities will not offer supervised drug consumption, safe supply programs, or needle exchanges.
Ford, who has previously spoken about the impact of addiction on his own family, has expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of safe injection sites in residential areas, stating, “I’m not sold on these safe injection sites that are in neighbourhoods where needles are scattered—it’s a haven for drug dealers.”
Dan Werb, an associate professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, emphasized that supervised consumption sites can only function effectively “if there’s sufficient community support for them.”
Werb co-authored a study published in The Lancet earlier this year, which found a two-thirds reduction in overdose deaths in neighborhoods within 500 metres of these sites.
He cautioned that closing these facilities will “undoubtedly” result in more deaths and argued that the province should be increasing funding to these sites instead, to better connect users with social supports that can improve their lives.
Preliminary figures released by Toronto Public Health earlier this year revealed that 523 people died from opioid toxicity in the city in 2023—a 74 percent increase from the 301 deaths recorded in 2019.
Since 2017, the six provincially funded consumption and treatment service (CTS) sites have reported 7,444 non-fatal overdoses under the supervision of trained staff.
