SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition are pleased to announce together that after fifteen years as a project of SFU, the Coalition will begin operations as an independent not-for-profit organization on March 31, 2026.

Together, we have advanced research, policy, and community engagement to address some of the most pressing issues in substance use, human rights and public health. We would like to express our deep appreciation for our time with SFU and the people who have supported our work there, and for the support of the many community members, donors, and partners who have made this work possible.

Operating as an independent not-for-profit organization will better reflect the national scope of our work and allow us to build transparent and accountable governance structures that support community leadership and impact.

 What does this mean for you?

• Our work continues without interruption. Our priorities and commitment to evidence-informed, community-driven policy change remain the same.
• Our partnership with SFU continues. We will continue to collaborate on important research and knowledge mobilization together with researchers and leaders at SFU. CDPC’s Executive Director DJ Larkin remains an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences.
• If you are a donor (thank you!), going forward you will need to make your donation directly to CDPC to support our work. After March 31, 2026, CDPC will no longer receive donations made through SFU. You can make a one-time or monthly donation here.
• We want to stay in touch. If you receive email from the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, you will continue to do so. If you are uncertain and you want to ensure you’re on the list to stay connected, you can sign up here.

Thank you for being part of this work. Your support has helped build a strong foundation for this next phase, and we are excited about what we will continue to achieve together.

If you have any questions, please reach out directly to info@drugpolicy.ca

The post CDPC is now an independent not-for-profit appeared first on Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

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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 – d.dmarsh@hivlegalnetwork.ca

The post Organizations Worldwide Denounce Ontario’s Decision to Defund Remaining Supervised Consumption Sites appeared first on Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

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March 31st 2026

The Honourable Doug Ford, MPP
Premier, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Via email: premier@ontario.ca | doug.fordco@pc.ola.org

The Honourable Sylvia Jones, MPP
Deputy Premier, Minister of Health 
Via email: sylvia.jones@ontario.ca | sylvia.jones@pc.ola.org 

The Honourable Vijay Thanigasalam, MPP 
Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions
Via email: vijay.thanigasalam@ontario.ca | vijay.thanigasalam@pc.ola.org

Dear Premier Ford, Minister Jones, and Associate Minister Thanigasalam,

RE: Defunding of all supervised consumption sites in Ontario

On behalf of the organizational signatories below, we urge you to reconsider the decision to defund the last eight provincially-funded supervised consumption sites (SCS) in Ontario. The evidence in support of SCS — provided to you by internal staff and reports as well as recommendations from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, among others — is unequivocal and validated by decades of research. SCS prevent deaths, injuries, and other negative health impacts disproportionately borne by Ontarians who use drugs; reduce the burden on overtaxed first responders, hospital personnel and social service staff; and reduce both public drug consumption and drug debris.

The eight sites facing June 2026 closure have served 120,997 unique people and reversed 15,402 overdoses while maintaining or improving community safety and providing numerous wraparound services including primary health care. These sites directly provide and/or connect people with addiction and mental health treatment opportunities and have reduced Ontario’s tax burden by millions of dollars annually through the prevention of HIV and hepatitis C transmission. Ontario-wide data following the 2025 SCS closures demonstrate a sharp increase in EMS (+69.5%) and emergency department use (+ 67%) for opioid-related overdoses, as well as an increase of deaths in private residences and outdoor settings.

SCS are an essential part of the ecosystem of community care that includes a wide variety of treatment and supports highly valued by local communities — and not available anywhere else. While HART Hubs offer some supports, they cannot replace SCS and the low-barrier, emergency care they offer when people experience a life-threatening overdose. The intentional exclusion of SCS at HART Hubs as well as the prohibition on needle and syringe distribution creates needless barriers to people accessing broader healthcare and social services. The choice to cut these services represents not only the loss of desperately needed emergency care, but also the fracturing of relationships nurtured between healthcare providers and people who use drugs — relationships that are a pathway to other supports. For example, if someone chooses to pursue abstinence, SCS can support them to connect with abstinence-based care. 

Notably, wait times for publicly-funded withdrawal management services, outpatient services, and residential addiction treatment facilities in Ontario can often be several months long, despite recommendations since 2017 for universal, evidence-based, publicly available, voluntary addiction treatment on demand. Further, the pursuit of abstinence is far from a linear process. Following a course of treatment, the immediately increased risk of life-threatening overdose is well-documented. In Ontario, treatment is also provided in the context of an unregulated industry where anyone can offer services. SCS keep people alive until treatment is available or until they can meet their own goals, including but not limited to abstinence.

Effective law and policy must be grounded in evidence, and shifting funding from SCS elsewhere is not supported by evidence or the public at large. Defunding SCS in Ontario will hurt the most marginalized people in our communities, namely people experiencing homelessness, people living in extreme poverty, and people who consume criminalized drugs. The urgent calls are clear from grieving Ontario residents, people who consume or serve people who consume unregulated drugs, health professionals, community safety experts, and more: SCS are an essential service in need of expansion, not elimination.

There is a formidable wealth of experience and expertise on issues of substance use in Ontario available to policy makers. We encourage and remain open to dialogue. 

We urge a reversal of the decision to defund SCS. 

Signed,

Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
Drug Strategy Network of Ontario
HIV Legal Network
ANCS Sénégal
2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations
2039192 Ontario Inc
A Womb With A View
Aboriginal Legal Services
Access Alliance
Action Hepatitis Canada
Adam Newman MPC
Addiction Services Central Ontario
Addictions and Mental Health Ontario
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario
Africa Network of People Who Use Drugs (AfricaNPUD)
AIDS and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa 
AIDS Bereavement and Resiliency Program Of Ontario (ABRPO)
AIDS Committee Newfoundland & Labrador
AIDS Committee of Durham Region
AIDS Committee of Ottawa
AIDS New Brunswick
AIVL
akzept e.V. Bundesverband für akzeptierende Drogenarbeit und humane Drogenpolitik
Alliance for Healthier Communities
Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa
Amnesty International Canada (ES)
Anglican Diocese of Toronto
Anishnawbe Health Toronto
AQPSUD
ARCH Disability Law Centre 
ArtHouseTO 
Asian Community AIDS Services
Association des intervenants en dépendance du Québec
Association for Humane Drug Policy, Norway
Association pour la santé publique du Québec
Awen Consulting Services (International Harm Reduction Capacity Building)
BC Civil Liberties Association
BC-Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS
Being Alive/People with AIDS Action Coalition
Blood Ties Four Directions Centre
BOOM Health
Bras outaouais
Breakaway Community Services
Bronx Movil
Butterfly- Asian and Migrant Sex Worker Support Network
CACTUS Montréal
Cambridge council on aging 
Canadian Civil Liberties Association 
Canadian Federation of Mental Health Nurses
Canadian Mental Health Association – Sudbury/Manitoulin
Canadian Mental Health Association – Champlain East
Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario 
CanHepC
Care Through Chaos
Casey House
CASON
CATIE
CAYR Community Connections
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation 
Centretown Citizens Ottawa Corporation
Centretown Community Health Centre 
Changemark Research + Evaluation
Church of St Stephen-in-the-Fields
Clinique juridique Grand-Nord Legal Clinic
Coderix Medical Clinic
Community Health Project Los Angeles 
Community-Based Research Centre (CBRC)
Comprehensive Treatment Clinic
Comprehensive Treatment Clinic – Community Initiatives
Cornerstone Housing for Women
Cranstoun
CUPE 3903
CUPE 5536
CUPE Local 5399
CUPE Ontario
DAP Health Harm Reduction
Davenport 4 Palestine
Davenport-Perth Neighbourhood and Community Health Centre
Deliberar ORG
DIY Community Health Timmins
Doctors for Safer Drug Policy
Dopamine 
Dr Joel Voth Medicine Professional Corporation
Drug Injecting Services in Canterbury Trust (NZ)
EACH+EVERY: Businesses for Harm Reduction
East Coast Prison Justice Society
East End Community Health Centre
Elementa
Elevate NWO
Elgin-Oxford Legal Clinic
Elizabeth Fry Society of Northwestern Ontario
Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA)
European Network of People who Use Drugs CLG
Evangel Hall Mission
Families for Addiction Recovery (FAR)
Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research
FightBack! KW
Flemingdon Health Centre
Fontbonne Ministries
Forearms of Change Center to Enable community
Fred Victor
Freddie
Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance
George Hull Centre for Children and Families
Gerstein Crisis Centre
Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet (GASP)
Guelph & Wellington Poverty Elimination Collaborative
Guelph Community Health Centre
Harlem United
Harm Reduction Australia 
Harm Reduction Nurses Association / L’association des infirmiers et infirmières en réduction des méfaits
Health Equity Alliance of Nova Scotia
Health Providers Against Poverty
Healthcare for All Coalition 
HealthRIGHT 360
Hepatitis C Elimination Roadmap Ontario
HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO)
HIV Justice Network
Homeless Youth Alliance
HOPS – healthy options project Skopje
House Of Sophrosyne
Housing Works, Inc.
IAVGO Community Legal Clinic 
Income Security Advocacy Centre (ISAC)
Indigenous Harm Reduction Network
Indonesian Harm Reduction Network
Inner City Family Health Team
Inner City Health and Wellness Program, University of Alberta
instituto RIA
Interfaith Grand River
International Network of People who Use Drugs
International Network on Health, Hepatitis and Substance Use (INHSU)
Into the Outside Mind
IRIS Estrie
Jean Tweed Centre
JM Drama Alumni
John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
Kensington Health
Kensington-Bellwoods Community Legal Services
Kickstart Medical
Kootenay Insurrection for Safe Supply
LAMP Community Health Centre
Langs Farm Village Association (Langs)
Legal Assistance of Windsor
Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat
Mad Studies Hub York University 
Magpies place volunteer for outreach
Mainline
Maytree
Médecins du Monde Canada – Doctors of the World Canada
Médecins du Monde International Network
META:PHI
Metzineres sccl
Mindful Nurse Gardener Inc. 
Moms Stop the Harm
Mothercraft, Breaking the Cycle
Moyo Health and Community Services
Mozia Women’s Network Society
My Brain My Choice Initiative (Germany)
National Harm Reduction Coalition
National Overdose Response Service
National Right to Housing Network
Native Child and Family Services of Toronto 
Neighbourhood Legal Services
Neighbourhood Legal Services (London & Middlesex) Inc.
Niagara Region Anti-Racism Association 
Nurse 2 Nurse Peer Support
Oasis unité mobile d’intervention
OCRINT
Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy
Ontario AIDS Network
Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS)
Ostrowski Medicine Professional Corporation
PACT de rue
PAN 
Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC)
Parkdale Community Legal Services
Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre
PASAN (Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network)
PATH: Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes 
PEERS Alliance
Penticton and Area Overdose Prevention Society (P+OPS)
People’s Health Movement-Canada
Planned Parenthood Toronto
Positive Living Niagara
Pozitive Pathways Community Services
PREKURSOR Foundation
Reach Out Chatham Kent (ROCK)
RECAP
RECLAIM Collective 
Recovery Care
Regent Park Community Health Centre
Regent Park Community Ministry
Regional HIV AIDS Connection
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, Sudbury & District
Réseau ACCESS Network
Respect Rx Pharmacy
Retired Executives for Social Equity
Rideauwood Addiction and Family Services
Righting Relations Canada
Shelter Health Network
Shelter Housing Justice Network
Skana Family Learning Centre
Skoun, Lebanese Addictions Center 
SLO Bangers Syrunge Exchange and Overdose Prevention Program 
Social Development Centre Waterloo Region
Social Planning Toronto
South African Network of People who Use Drugs
South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario
South Riverdale CHC
St Felix Centre
St. Michael’s Homes
Street Cats YYC
Street Haven
Street Nurses Network
Substance Overdose Prevention and Education Network (SOPEN)
Substance Use Health Network
Sudbury Temporary Overdose Prevention Society
Sunset Country Family Health Team
The Ally Centre of Cape Breton
The Centre for Psychology and Emotion Regulation 
The Gilbert Centre for Social and Support Services
The Neighbourhood Group Community Services
The Ottawa Mission
The Peterson Foundation
The Seeking Help Project
The Sidewalk Project
Thrive HIV Prevention and Support
Toronto Board of Health
Toronto Harm Reduction Alliance (THRA)
Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction
Toronto Overdose Prevention Society
Toronto’s Drug Checking Service and Ontario’s Drug Checking Community 
Tracking(IN)Justice Project
Unison Health and Community Services
Up North Harm Reduction 
Vibrant Community Health
VIRCAN Care & Research Inc.
Washington Office on Latin America
Waterloo Region Community Legal Services
Waterloo Region Drug Action Team
Welcome Centre Shelter for Women & Families
Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy
West Neighbourhood House
Women and HIV / AIDS Initiative
WoodGreen Community Services
Workers for Ethical Substance Use Policy 
Youth RISE
YWCA Toronto

The post OPEN LETTER RE: DEFUNDING OF ALL SUPERVISED CONSUMPTION SITES IN ONTARIO appeared first on Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.

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