TORONTO — A great shift is underway in Toronto months after the closures of several supervised consumption sites, as their users seek alternatives and drop-in centres see an alarming jump in overdoses.
Some segments of the city's homeless population have resettled near remaining consumption sites, but fluctuating intakes have been reported at different locations.
The Toronto Drop-In Network said there has been a nearly 300 per cent increase in overdoses at its 10 locations since the spring closures. At the same time, paramedics in the city are responding to significantly fewer overdose calls and the number of provincewide overdose deaths has markedly dropped.
These changes have eased tensions in some parts of the city, while sparking anger in others.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government banned consumption sites within 200 metres of a school or daycare in legislation that came into effect on April 1, targeting 10 sites across the province.
The Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Site in Toronto launched a Charter challenge of the new law in court, and in late March a judge granted an injunction to keep them open. However, the other nine sites chose to convert to the province's new abstinence-based model — homelessness and addiction recovery treatment, or HART, hubs – and closed.
At the Kensington Market consumption site, which receives all of its funding from private donors, traffic is up by 35 per cent, said supervisor Felipe Diaz.
"It's not what we hoped for, we thought we would be a lot busier," Diaz said, noting that staff are handing out many more harm reduction kits. There have been wild oscillations in site use, he added.
In May, 168 people used the consumption site but that dropped to 68 in June, Diaz said. Traffic is up for other services, which include an on-site doctor and nurse.
The site is growing, signing up about 12 new people a month, he said. But like several experts and drug users who spoke with The Canadian Press, Diaz said the practice of smoking fentanyl or meth instead of injecting the drugs is on the rise.
On a recent visit to the Kensington Market site, Michelle Marshall popped out of the consumption room after injecting fentanyl.
"It's sad," said Marshall, who has been sleeping in alcoves, parks and alleyways after being kicked out of a hotel shelter in the spring and splitting with her partner.
"There's too many of us out on the streets now. It's busier here then ever."
About a 20-minute walk down the road leads to Lois Dellert's home, which backs onto a graffiti-lined alley that connects on one end to a now-closed supervised consumption site that was converted to a HART hub. The area also has other services for homeless people and a new shelter.
Dellert said she is not opposed to consumption sites and wants people to get the help they need. But she is against the drug use just outside her home and had been concerned about crime after seeing people sleeping on her property, fights, drug deals and discarded needles.
The site's closure has calmed the area somewhat, Dellert said, and the alley appeared much cleaner last week.
"There's still drug use, but it's less and pretty much contained to the entrance near the laneway," she said.
The Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre, a 20-minute drive farther west, has seen tremendous growth since the new consumption site rules came into effect – especially since its sister site near Dellert's place closed. It has 180 new clients and recorded 1,731 visits from April to July, up from 1,220 in the same time period last year.
A parkette next to the site has exploded with activity in recent months, partially because the city cleared a nearby encampment and erected a fence to prevent another one from popping up. Other encampments in the area were also recently cleared.
"We are seeing the absolute fallout of the decisions to close consumption sites," said Angela Robertson, executive director of the health centre.
"We are seeing a migration from the closed sites and cleared encampments to now occupying public space in the parkette space adjacent to us and that has created a great deal of upheaval."
When The Canadian Press visited the location last week, two dealers arrived on bicycles, sold drugs to two people and quickly left. No one was doing drugs outside the health centre but many visitors admitted to smoking drugs in the parkette or on nearby streets. Several security guards kept watch as site staff checked on people.
Neighbourhood group Residents for a Safe Parkdale said their concerns are being ignored and the centre's hired security does little to crack down on the "chaos and disorder" in the area.
"The centre failed to state how it would address neighbourhood safety concerns with concrete, effective measures to end hard drug intoxication causing the criminal and anti-social conduct on and around the outdoor portion of this site," the group wrote in a recent email to Robertson that was also sent to the premier, other politicians and police.
"The entire neighbourhood is littered with drug paraphernalia such as used syringes, bloody alcohol swabs and smashed glass crack pipes that you give away," the group wrote.
But Robertson said the centre's job is not to remove people from the parkette.
"That's not our role," she said. "If we see something illegal, we will engage the neighbourhood community policing team. But it is a significant challenge."
The centre has been promoting smoking over injecting drugs as a harm reduction strategy, Robertson said. She and others believe that is one reason behind a notable drop in overdose complications and deaths.
Toronto Paramedic Services said they've seen a "general decline" in overdose calls since May 2024. In June, they responded to 181 non-fatal overdoses compared to 354 non-fatal overdoses in June 2024.
Provincewide, there were 609 suspected drug-related deaths from April to June, according to the latest data from the Office of the Chief Coroner. That is an 11 per cent decrease from the previous three months and a 41 per cent drop from the same time frame last year.
Back at the Parkdale health centre parkette, Lexi Murdoch settled into a chair after smoking fentanyl down the street.
"I hate this stuff," she said, adding that she was considering treatment that previously helped her get off opioids for years.
Murdoch said the government's move to shut down consumption sites is "already bringing chaos out in the open."
"We need a closed-in area where we can smoke," she said. "I don't want to be out here, but unfortunately a lot of people are homeless."
A young person began nodding off on a nearby bench before falling unconscious. Another ran to the centre for help.
Laila Bellony, a harm reduction manager at the site, sprang into action along with members of her team to administer oxygen.
A few minutes later, the young person regained consciousness.
"It's been a busy few months," Bellony said with a deep sigh.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 7, 2025.
Liam Casey, The Canadian Press
