Province's hubs plan validates work done by London on homelessness, mayor says
London supervised consumption site also spared closure under new provincial rules
A plan by the province to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in support hubs to combat homelessness and addictions validates the work London has been doing on the file, the city's mayor says.
London, Ont., mayor Josh Morgan was reacting to an announcement Tuesday by Ontario's health minister, Sylvia Jones, that the province will spend $378 million to open 19 homelessness and addiction recovery treatment, or HART, hubs in Ontario.
Speaking at the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), Jones singled out London as being an early adopter of the model.
Last year, the city announced it would open up to 15 hubs providing 24/7 wraparound services, and open 600 highly supportive housing units, as part of a larger community response to homelessness plan.
Two hubs have opened, with one run by Youth Opportunities Unlimited and another by Atlosha, geared toward the Indigenous community.
Morgan said he suspected the province would roll out a plan of its own, noting city and ministry officials met privately to talk about the work the city was doing.
"We had gathered some data for them... and my expectation through that is that they were very closely looking at the work that we had done to build a model that they could roll out," Morgan said.
"For a while now, the City of London, Ontario Big City Mayors, and AMO have been asking for the provincial government to put operating dollars on the table," he added.
Morgan said the city would apply for funding, adding it was well positioned given its previous experience. He noted the minister had alluded to applications beginning this month.
"The province recognizes we've been helping people, we are producing results, and they've included relative flexibility for municipalities to go down this path in ways that are right for their community," he said.
The hubs will bring 375 new highly supportive housing units to the province, Jones says. As of mid-July, 143 such units had opened in London, or were in the process of opening, according to a city report.
London supervised consumption site to stay open
News of the hubs came as the province unveiled new restrictions on Ontario's supervised consumption facilities that will see 10 in the province shuttered.
London's facility, known as Carepoint Consumption and Treatment Services, won't be closed under the new rules, but proposed changes would see it subject to tighter scrutiny.
Supervised consumption facilities, also known as consumption and treatment sites, allow people to take their own drugs under supervision to reduce the risk of overdose.
On Tuesday, Jones announced such facilities would be banned from operating within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres. The province also plans to table legislation to block municipalities from opening new ones.
Carepoint opened last year at 446 York St. and is around 200 metres from H.B. Beal Secondary School, and 260 metres from a daycare on King Street, according to Google Maps.
The move, Jones said, came amid public safety and security concerns. It also follows two government-ordered reviews of the sites after a shooting near a Toronto facility left one woman dead.
In October, the province paused the approval of new facilities pending the review.
At the time, Michael Tibollo, Ontario's associate minister of mental health and addictions, said the province wasn't looking at shutting down any facilities.
"When so many Ontarians and their loved ones have been affected by the opioid epidemic, we should use every tool we have to save lives," Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles said in a post on X.
"Ford's decision to take away proven supports during this crisis is callous, and utterly fails to meet the moment we're in."
WATCH | Supervised consumption sites have 'not solved the problem,' minister says
No one from Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, which operates Carepoint, could comment Tuesday, but agency officials have previously disputed claims the site has a negative impact on crime levels.
Carepoint and other remaining facilities will be subject to additional measures, including new policies for reporting complaints and incidents, discouraging loitering, and enhanced reporting to the ministry of safety and security concerns.
They'll also have to work with local police to update safety and security policies and undertake an environmental design assessment every three years aimed at crime prevention.
Closed facilities will be encouraged to transition into HART Hubs, which will see no supervised consumption, needle exchange programs, or safer supply offered.
Jones was asked if the province had estimated how many deaths could result from the closures based on the number of overdoses they prevented.
"People are not going to die," she told reporters. "They are going to get access to service."
London's Carepoint recorded over 16,000 visits in 2023, prevented 173 overdose deaths, and made more than 16,000 referrals, according to a report tabled before the region's board of health in May.
The province says it also plans to table legislation blocking municipalities from participating in the federal safer opioid supply program, and from requesting drug decriminalization from the federal government.
An official with London InterCommunity Health, which runs London's safer supply program, declined to comment.
CBC News has also reached out to the Middlesex-London Health Unit for comment.
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With files from The Canadian Press