Toronto’s Board of Health just joined the fight to keep the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site open

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Toronto’s Board of Health just joined the fight to keep the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site open

Toronto's Board of Health met on Jan. 20 to discuss how the closure of supervised consumption sites will impact services offered by Toronto Public Health, and how the city can respond.

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The Neighbourhood Group hosted a rally on Sept.  13, 2024 in front of the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention site .
📸: Provided by Kensington Bellwoods Community Legal Services.

Sebastian Tansil

Sebastian Tansil

Caring mastermind who loves spending quality time with friends and family. Empathetic and precise economist by training. Loves amber yellow as it reminds him of people dearest to him.

Jan. 21, 2025

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Toronto's Board of Health is looking to intervene in support of a lawsuit against the provincial government — all to protect supervised consumption sites from a recent ban.

On Dec. 4, 2024, the Ontario Legislature passed the  “Community Care and Recovery Act,” which bans supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools and day-care centres. This ban means that five sites in Toronto, including one in Kensington Market, could be closed by the end of March.

In response, the Neighbourhood Group — a social agency that runs the Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site on 260 Augusta Ave. — filed a lawsuit claiming that the Act violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that it is unconstitutional.

Toronto's Board of Health met on Jan. 20 to discuss how the closure of supervised consumption sites will impact services offered by Toronto Public Health, and how the city can get involved in the lawsuit.

Many community members spoke about the overwhelming harm this new legislation will cause, and how it will worsen the overdose and drug toxicity crisis in the city. No one in attendance opposed the efforts to keep supervised consumption sites open. 

  • Community organizers Callum Houston and Justine Neira Ariza from the Harm Reduction Advocacy Collective called on the Board of Health to establish an “Emergency Table” by the end of January to respond to the emergency health crisis that will result from the closure of supervised consumption sites. 
  • Community worker Diana Chan McNally stated that the closure of supervised consumption sites will result in drop-in centres being overwhelmed as the new “de facto overdose prevention sites.”

What was the outcome of the discussions? 

The Board of Health met in a closed session to discuss how the city can support the Neighbourhood Group in its lawsuit against the provincial government. Though the details are confidential due to solicitor-client privilege, the board passed a motion to request and authorize Wendy Walberg, the city solicitor, to intervene on behalf of the Board of Health in the lawsuit. 

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