SafePoint consumption and treatment site in Windsor will not reopen

It's the end of the road for Windsor's SafePoint consumption and treatment services (CTS) site, as the province has confirmed it will not reopen.

This closure follows the Ontario government’s decision to shut down 10 CTS sites located within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres.

The province also confirmed it will not approve any new CTS sites, including a pending application by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit (WECHU) for funding to keep SafePoint open.

“Across Ontario, there were some [applications] on the table, including one from the City of Windsor. That is not going to be proceeding. That is going to be cancelled and there will be no drug injection site,” said Essex MPP Anthony Leardi, Parliamentary Assistant to Ontario’s Minister of Health.

Federal approval allowed SafePoint to open in April 2023, but provincial approval was needed for funding beyond the health unit’s budget.

In August 2023, the Ford government said it would review all CTS applications after a fatal shooting outside of a Toronto site.

Citing insufficient funding, SafePoint closed on Jan. 1 this year and never reopened.

A sign on the front of 101 Wyandotte Street East shows SafePoint is closed. It’s been that way since Jan. 1, 2024 — eight months after Windsor’s only drug consumption and treatment services site first opened. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)Bilal Nasser, a CTS advocate who led rallies at Windsor city hall urging councillors to approve SafePoint, called the province’s directive "soul-crushing."

“More people in our community and in our neighbourhood are going to die from preventable deaths. There’s never, in the history of Canadian safe injection sites, been a death under supervised consumption,” said Nasser.

Two months before SafePoint opened, Windsor’s city council approved a "compromise" to allow the site at 101 Wyandotte Street East.

It was agreed that a committee, led by downtown councillor Renaldo Agostino, would find a permanent location for SafePoint.

Agostino acknowledged that while the province’s decision will be divisive, it provides a clear direction for the city to address its addiction crisis.

“The only way we find answers is to continue to move forward and try different ideas because everything still seems a little vague. At least now, there’s a path. There’s a direction.”

Windsor’s focus now shifts to 700 Wellington Avenue, a seven-acre site where the city plans to relocate its H4 — Homelessness and Housing Help Hub.

700 Wellington Ave., seen on April 30, 2024, is where the City of Windsor hopes to relocate its Homelessness and Housing Help Hub on a permanent basis. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor) The province is also investing $378 million in 19 new Homelessness and Addictions Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs across Ontario, which focus on treatment and recovery rather than supervised drug consumption.

Communities have until October to apply for provincial funding for HART hubs. Speaking with CTV News on Wednesday, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said he wants the city to pursue that funding for the permanent H4 on Wellington Avenue.

“We’re going to try and align our project with the terms and conditions of what the province is putting out. But we’re excited to see this money made available,” said Dilkens.

“I would rather move forward with treatment for addiction and recovery, as opposed to funding places like a safe injection site. So I think it’s a proper use of money by the province to help deal with the issue.”

According to WECHU, SafePoint saved five lives through on-site overdose reversals and made 237 referrals for mental health and addiction treatment.

“The site’s true impact, however, can best be described through the stories shared by those who accessed services, such as those who were able to reconnect with family or obtain employment and housing as a result of the support they received at SafePoint,” said WECHU CEO Dr. Ken Blanchette in a statement.

“While this announcement is disappointing to us, we have begun exploring what opportunities may be in place for the site and will be reaching out to our partnering agencies to determine the best path forward for our community.”