Supervised Consumption Services (SCSs) are clinical spaces for people to bring their own drugs to use in the presence of trained health professionals. Canadian and international evidence shows that SCSs save lives, connect people to social services and are pathways to treatment.
SCSs are designed to improve the health status of people who use drugs by having trained health professionals available immediately should a person overdose. They are also a place for people who use drugs to connect with other health and social services, including mental health services. They have been shown to prevent overdose deaths and reduce the spread of infectious diseases. The first SCS in Toronto opened in 2017.
There are ten sites currently providing supervised consumption services in Toronto and six of these sites are provincially designated as a Consumption and Treatment Service (CTS) site. Toronto Public Health operates a SCS site (located at 277 Victoria St.) and inspects the six provincially designated CTS sites in Toronto, as mandated by the CTS Compliance & Enforcement Protocol under the Ontario Public Health Standards. Inspection results are posted here as required by the provincial protocol.
Please note that the hours listed below may change. Contact the locations directly for more information.
| Location | Hours |
|---|---|
| Fred Victor* 139 Jarvis St. (Queen Street East/Jarvis Street) Phone: 416-644-3081 |
Monday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. last call Tuesday to Sunday, 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. last call |
| Moss Park CTS* 134 Sherbourne St. (Queen Street East/Sherbourne Street) Phone: 416-546-3984 Note: Last call is at staff discretion |
Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
| Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre* 168 Bathurst St. (Bathurst Street/Queen Street West) Phone: 416-703-8482 Note: Last call is 30 minutes before close |
Monday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre* 1229 Queen St. W. (Queen Street West/Dufferin Street) Phone: 416-537-2455 Note: Last call is 30 minutes before close |
Monday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday & Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Regent Park Bevel Up CTS Site, Regent Park Community Health Centre* 465 Dundas St. E. (Dundas Street East/Parliament Street) Phone: 416-203-4506 Note: Last call is at 4 p.m. |
Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| South Riverdale Community Health Centre KeepSIX* 955 Queen St. E. (Queen Street East/Carlaw Street) Phone: 416-461-1925 Note: Last call is at 4 p.m. |
Monday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Street Health 338 Dundas St. E. (Dundas Street East/Sherbourne Street) Phone: 416-921-8668 |
Monday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Kensington Market Overdose Prevention Service 260 Augusta (at College St.) Note: Last call is 30 minutes before close |
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Toronto Public Health The Works 277 Victoria St. (Yonge Street/Dundas Street East) Phone: 416-338-7600 |
Monday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Casey House 119 Isabella St. (Isabella/Jarvis Street) Phone: 416-962-7600 Note: For use by Casey House patients only |
Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
*indicates CTS Site
The Integrated Prevention and Harm Reduction initiative (iPHARE) is a multi-pronged effort by the City and community agencies to reduce opioid-related deaths in Toronto’s shelter system. The initiative was established in December 2020 by Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, Toronto Public Health, community health and harm reduction partners, and people with lived experience of homelessness and substance use.
In 2022, iPHARE provided more than nine million dollars in funding for a range of harm reduction supports, including embedded harm reduction workers or visiting harm reduction outreach workers at 23 shelters, respites and shelter hotel locations identified as priority sites, and a mobile program to provide harm reduction support to clients required to self-isolate in shelters experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak, support services for enhanced intensive mental health case management supports and Urgent Public Health Needs Sites in selected shelters across the city.
Consumption and Treatment Service sites (CTSs) are provincially regulated and funded services that have a specific set of provincially established rules and requirements in order to operate and receive provincial funding. They provide a similar range of services to SCSs. The number of CTS sites is determined by the Ministry of Health.
Learn more about the Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) Inspection Program.
Questions, Concerns or Complaints about Infection Control at CTS Sites
Questions, Concerns or Complaints about Public Safety
If there is a concern about a supervised consumption service that isn’t captured by the CTS complaint process, you can call the organization providing the supervised consumption service and speak to a member of their staff.
All needles and biohazards found in City facilities or parks will be removed as soon as possible. To date, there has been no reported transmission of HIV following injuries by improperly discarded needles in the community.
Needles found on or in roads, sidewalks, boulevards, or city laneways can be reported immediately by calling 311 or by submitting an online service request. Needles found in city parks can be reported by calling 311.
The federal government (Health Canada) is responsible for granting exemptions to Section 56.1 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). An exemption is required to operate a supervised consumption service site (clinical space where people bring their own drugs to use in the presence of trained health professionals). All ten sites providing supervised consumption services in Toronto have received such an exemption from Health Canada.
Additional information from Health Canada on supervised consumption services and sites is available on the Health Canada website.
Of the ten supervised consumption services sites in Toronto, six are provincially designated Consumption and Treatment Service sites (CTS). Like other provincially funded health care facilities, CTS sites operate under provincially established rules and requirements.
Organizations (such as a CHC or similar incorporated health care or community based organization) that operate a CTS must complete a provincial application process which includes demonstrating that they have an exemption from Health Canada (see above). The complete list of provincial requirements to operate a CTS and receive provincial funding are outlined in Ontario’s CTS application guide.
The Ministry of Health publishes the Ontario Public Health Standards: Requirements for Programs, Services, and Accountability (Standards), under the authority of section 7 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA). The Standards specify the health programs and services that local public health units, including Toronto Public Health, must provide; under the Standards, there are also Protocols which provide specific operational direction to local public health units.
The Consumption and Treatment Services Compliance and Enforcement Protocol describes the terms under which Toronto Public Health is to conduct routine on-site inspections and complaints-based inspections of the six Consumption and Treatment Service (CTS) sites in Toronto. Inspection results are posted on the City’s website.
Toronto Public Health has no legislative role or authority under the Health Protection and Promotion Act or the Ontario Public Health Standards with respect to the governance or operations of a Consumption and Treatment Service (CTS) site or a Community Health Centre.