Mar 23, 2026
Street Health stands with the numerous professional, community and grassroots groups to oppose the Ontario Government’s defunding and closure of remaining Supervised Consumption Sites (SCS). The toxic drug crisis continues to claim lives of people throughout the province. SCS’s offer life-saving services and must remain part of Ontario’s healthcare commitment.
The government announcement, made on March 13, 2026, will force the closure of two sites in the downtown east region of Toronto – South Riverdale’s Moss Park OPS and Fred Victor’s SCS. “These two sites serve a large number of individuals who are homeless or lack secure housing in our city. These closings will place additional strain on emergency services, frontline community organizations and undoubtedly result in more preventable deaths,” states Chaudhry Ahmed, Director of Operations, Street Health.
Street Health provides healthcare for individuals who are homeless and lack secure housing. Since being defunded in 2019, Street Health’s Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) has operated thanks to private donations. The OPS has close to 2,000 client visits annually.
By eliminating funding for SCS’s the government is removing the opportunity for marginalized and often vulnerable people to receive wrap-around care providing access to additional services like nursing for wound care and mental health support that assists individuals with components of daily living.
“We have already seen an elevated incident of overdoses in the community since the first round of SCS closures in 2025. Harm Reduction and access to supervised consumption services and overdose prevention are essential parts of a public health approach,” states Ahmed. “The government should be funding these evidence-based harm reduction services across the province to prevent the deaths we are seeing due to the toxic and unpredictable drug supply.”
For more information:
Matt Johnson OR Kelly White
OPS Supervisor Harm Reduction Manager
416-921-8668, x 224 416-921-8668, x 238