This story was first published by TorontoToday, a Village Media publication.
Toronto paramedics expect to spend more time responding to overdoses, administering naloxone and transporting people to hospitals when five supervised consumption sites close at the end of March.
“These facilities save lives, connect people to social services and are pathways to treatment,” Dr. Na-Koshie Lamptey, Toronto’s acting medical officer of health, wrote in a new report.
Premier Doug Ford’s government’s move to shutter some sites “will reduce access to an evidence-based clinical healthcare service leading to an anticipated increase in preventable fatal and not fatal overdoses,” Lamptey added.
In December, the Ford government passed the Community Care and Recovery Act, making good on a longstanding promise to close supervised consumption sites near schools and daycares. The law was a response to the 2023 fatal shooting of Karolina Huebner-Makurat near a site on Queen Street East in Riverdale.
Since then, Toronto city council and emergency services have been grappling with the fallout and preparing for what could happen when half of the city’s sites close on March 31.
Lamptey’s report, presented to the city’s board of health on Monday, gives new details on how the closures could affect Toronto’s paramedics, police, firefighters and public health bodies.
Fewer sites could mean people will be more likely to use drugs alone or in unsupervised locations, which could lead to more overdoses and additional strain on paramedic resources.
“Toronto Paramedic Services expects an increase in overdose-related calls, greater demand for naloxone administration and more frequent hospital transports,” the report said.
The service also expects an “increased demand for non-emergent community-based healthcare, naloxone distribution, and public education due to the reduced availability of safe consumption services and supplies.”
Paramedics are already spending more time than ever responding to overdose-related issues.
Since 2019, there’s been a 54 per cent increase in ambulance calls related to drug toxicity and overdose, according to the report.
The paramedic service will “continue to monitor” the data and “adjust responses as required.”
The effect on Toronto’s firefighters is more difficult to predict, the report said, because they respond to overdose calls alongside paramedics, who are the “primary attending division.”
Because paramedics take the lead, the impact on Toronto Fire Services “cannot be determined with certainty.”
Toronto police are also in uncharted waters.
“The impact to Toronto Police Services from the provincial decision to close supervised consumption sites remains unclear and difficult to predict,” the report said.
However, the service provided data showing call volumes “generally decreased” in areas near supervised consumption sites compared to pre-pandemic levels.
“I’m concerned that our emergency services … will be inundated,” said Coun. Chris Moise, chair of the board of health, at Monday’s meeting.
“We’ll see more needles in our laneways and in our school grounds, not to mention what will happen to our emergency departments and wait times. It’s a perfect storm,” he said.
While five Toronto sites are closing, the province set aside nearly $400 million to build new facilities to help people dealing with substance abuse and homelessness find help — without offering any supervised consumption services or needle exchanges.
At the beginning of the year, the Ford government announced four new homelessness and addiction recovery treatment (HART) hubs in Toronto. The Tories hope to have them open by April 1, the day after the five safe consumption sites in the city must close.
The HART hubs will offer a range of services including primary medical care, mental health and addiction supports, social services, connections to employment opportunities and some housing.
The new Toronto hubs will be located at 168 Bathurst St. in Queen West, 465 Dundas St. E. in Regent Park and 1156 Danforth Ave. The fourth site will be led by Toronto Public Health and "respond to urgent and complex health needs in Toronto’s downtown core" but its exact location has yet to be announced.
Between March 2020 and May 2024, there were nearly 400,000 visits to the city’s safe injection sites. The facilities handled 11,000 non-fatal overdoses and reported no deaths.
In a statement, provincial Health Minister Sylvia Jones' office defended the decision to close the five sites located near schools and childcare centres.
"We’ve heard from families of the harassment, verbal and physical assault they have experienced walking their child to daycare or school. We have also heard about the phone calls parents have received that their child has picked up a dirty needle, or bag of toxic drugs in the schoolyard."
"HART Hubs, similar to existing hub models in Ontario that have successfully provided people with care, will reflect regional priorities by connecting people to more comprehensive care than the support services previously offered at drug injection sites," per Jones' spokesperson Hannah Jensen.
