Visits up at Toronto's remaining consumption sites, 2 months after province forced 4 to close

Kate McGillivray · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 07, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 7

Toronto's remaining supervised depletion sites accidental they've gotten busier successful the 2 months since the state forced 4 sites to close  — portion of a changing representation of cause usage successful the metropolis arsenic Ontario continues its determination toward an abstinence-based attraction model. 

"We are seeing much people, and radical are changing their behaviour," said Bill Sinclair, CEO of the Neighbourhood Group, which runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site. 

Sinclair told CBC Toronto that that tract has seen a 30 per cent uptick successful visitors since April 1, erstwhile 9 Ontario supervised cause depletion sites — 4 of them successful Toronto — were forced to adjacent nether provincial authorities that prohibits sites from operating wrong 200 metres of a schoolhouse oregon daycare. 

LISTEN | What happened erstwhile supervised depletion sites closed: 

"People are utilizing [drugs] differently," Sinclair said.

"There's been a inclination for a portion of smoking alternatively than injecting, due to the fact that of the cognition that that is safer … radical are doing their champion to effort to expect what a satellite mightiness look similar erstwhile the sites are not there." 

Fred Victor charity, which operates a supervised depletion tract astatine Queen Street E. and Jarvis Street, has besides clocked betwixt 15 and 35 per cent much play visits. 

"It is stretching our unit to effort to physique the trusting relationships they've been trying to establish," said the charity's CEO Keith Hambly, adding that idiosyncratic numbers could spell up adjacent much aft the summertime months since immoderate radical are much inclined to usage outdoors during warmer weather. 

Casey House, which runs a supervised depletion tract for registered clients only, has seen a 25 per cent summation successful its use, arsenic good arsenic much cause usage extracurricular of its installation — prompting it to widen its hours. 

Street Health connected Dundas Street E. says it had 82 per cent much visits year-over-year successful April, and 53 per cent much visits year-over-year successful May, requiring much unit to beryllium scheduled. 

Meanwhile, Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre says it hasn't seen a important summation successful clientele post-closure, starring to concerns astir the payment of cause users that are nary longer seeking retired depletion sites. 

"We cognize immoderate person utilized the Kensington site, and we are precise acrophobic astir what is happening for others we person not seen," wrote enforcement manager Angela Robertson successful an email. 

Leslieville 'a batch quieter,' accidental neighbours 

Meanwhile, radical who unrecorded and enactment adjacent what was 1 of the city's astir scrutinized depletion sites accidental there's been a melodramatic alteration since it closed. 

South Riverdale Community Health Centre made headlines successful July 2023, erstwhile a pistillate named Karolina Huebner-Makurat was killed by a stray slug portion walking by. 

Since the depletion tract closed, neighbour Derek Finkle — who was a vocal hostile of the tract some earlier and aft the shooting — says that the cause deals and unfastened cause usage helium utilized to spot connected a regular ground has "virtually disappeared." 

"I've noticed there's cipher hanging astir the fronts anymore. It's gotten a batch quieter," said Allen Malloy, proprietor of Daniel Jewellers connected Queen Street E. 

"It's benignant of similar idiosyncratic flipped a switch," said Nigel Fick, a co-owner of Culture Athletics, besides connected Queen. 

"When the tract was unfastened our concern was importantly straight impacted," Fick said. "We had implicit $75,000 of theft and damages, and regular occurrences of dealing with theft and harassment wrong the store."  

South Riverdale Community Health Centre declined a CBC News petition for an interview. 

Ontario's caller model 

As the city's cause users navigate the closure of depletion sites, determination are inactive a fig of unanswered questions arsenic to however the caller services that are disposable volition interaction cause usage and overdose numbers.  

Of the 10 consumption sites mandated to adjacent nether the caller provincial law, 9 opted to instrumentality provincial wealth and modulation into Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs, oregon HART hubs. 

The 10th, Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site, chose alternatively to instrumentality the Ford authorities to tribunal implicit its legislation and is presently staying unfastened acknowledgment to a ineligible injunction and "fundraising similar mad" to enactment afloat, said Sinclair. 

The state said successful a connection that all 9 HART hubs were up and moving by April 1, "ensuring the continuity of intelligence wellness enactment services" post-closure.

WATCH | Health curate defends closures: 

Advocates described "mass confusion" connected the crushed astatine the centres successful aboriginal April, which received start-up backing from Ontario, but, according to the Ministry of Health, person yet to nail down finalized backing agreements with the government. 

Two months later, respective of the HART hubs don't yet look to person afloat slates of services up and running. 

At Toronto Public Health's HART hub, present moving temporarily connected the Esplanade, lone 1 program of 10 is operational, with the remainder planned to get underway this summertime oregon beyond.  

Meanwhile, information suggests that overdoses are declining successful Toronto and successful Ontario much widely.  

According to information from Toronto Public Health, fatal and non-fatal opioid overdose calls are down successful 2025 compared to the erstwhile 2 years and continued to autumn implicit the period of April.

Hayley Thompson, the managing manager of Toronto's Drug Tracking Service housed wrong St. Michael's Hospital, speculated successful April that the alteration could beryllium attributed to a alteration of the magnitude of fentanyl successful the cause supply.