Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
The Government of Ontario has announced plans to close five of 10 sites in Toronto by March 2025, and another site is likely to close after its lease expires. This report estimates the impact of site closures on potential and actual use of supervised consumption sites.
Findings/Key points
Findings suggest that each month, 636 people (47% of supervised consumption site current clients) would lose access if six sites close in Toronto. These estimates will change depending on how many sites stay open, how far people are willing to travel to go to an alternative site if their preferred site closes, and how much capacity sites that remain open will have to accommodate new clients. The remaining supervised consumption sites will be more than 500m from where over 90% of people who use opioids or stimulants are located in Toronto.
Design/methods
Researchers analyzed data under varying assumptions of how many sites will remain open and each supervised consumption site’s service radius (the distance clients would travel to access services, analyzed at 500, 1000, and 2000m). This study used administrative health data, data reported by supervised consumption sites to the Ontario Ministry of Health, and data reported directly by supervised consumption site operators.
