A recent Alberta-based study on the closure of an overdose prevention site in Red Deer has quickly become a talking point for those seeking to undermine support for supervised consumption services across Canada.
Although serious concerns have been raised about the study’s methods, interpretation, and independence, its findings are already being cited by decision-makers and commentators to create doubt, stall policy support, and help justify defunding or closure efforts.
In that context, easy access to factual information, critical responses, and the broader evidence on SCS is essential.
Contents
Alberta Study: Critiques, responses, and context
FAQs - Quick facts about supervised consumption services
Evidence about supervised consumption services
- Reviews and evidence syntheses
- Health and overdose outcomes
- Service delivery, client experience, and integrated care
- Cost effectiveness and health system impacts
- Program evaluations, reviews, and community engagement reports
- Community impacts, public order, and crime
Policy context, public discourse, and perception
Evidence on the impacts of SCS closures
Unregulated drug supply and toxicity-related harms
- What's happening in the drug supply
- Canadian drug checking services
- Toxicity related harms - Dashboards and surveillance data
Statements
Events and actions
Communication and advocacy toolkits
The Alberta study: Critiques, responses, and context
2026. ODPRN. Critical appraisal of "Healthcare utilization and mortality after overdose prevention site closure: a linked cohort analysis using segmented difference-in-difference time series" (Report)
2026. Cockford, D., Colizza, K., Leary, T., Knight, E., Martell, D. (2026). Overdose prevention site closure: A reply to Day et al. Addiction. (Letter to the Editor).
2026. CATIE. Findings of an Alberta study on overdose prevention site closure in context. CATIE News. April 10, 2026.
April 8, 2026. Canadian Society for Addiction Medicine. The Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine raises concern regarding provincial closure and de-funding of supervised consumption sites (Statement)
March 20, 2026. Berg, E.; Hyschka, E.; Dong, K.; Haines-Saah, R.; Bogosavljević, K.; Salvalaggio, G. Opinion: Flawed study on Red Deer OD prevention centre could put lives at risk. Edmonton Journal.
April 1, 2026. Larson, B. Supervised Consumption Sites Closing - Cancelling Care - Alberta Views
March 11, 2026. Thomson, E. Centre of Recovery Excellence manipulating health information of people who use drugs to undermine their safety. Drug Data Decoded.
April 9, 2026. Thomson, E. Centre of Recovery Excellence attempts to conceal research review council. Drug Data Decoded.
FAQs - Quick Facts
2024. CDPE. Supervised Consumption Sites: Evidence and Resources (Report)
CATIE. Frequently asked questions about supervised consumption sites in Canada (FAQ)
OHTN. The impact of supervised drug consumption services (FAQ)
2021. OHTN. Rapid Response Service. A review of structural, process, and outcome measures for supervised consumption services (Report)
WhySCS. Evidence Brief: Supervised Consumption Services - The Basics; Myths and Facts; A Typical Visit.
2024. CCSA. Supervised Consumption Sites. (FAQ)
2024. WGDS. Consumption and Treatment Services (FAQ)
Take a tour of Moss Park CTS - watch this video.
Evidence about supervised consumption services
Reviews and evidence syntheses
Levengood, T.W., et al. (2021). Supervised Injection Facilities as Harm Reduction: A Systematic Review American Journal of Preventive Medicine. (Peer-reviewed / Global)
Magwood, O., et al., (2020). The effectiveness of substance use interventions for homeless and vulnerably housed persons: A systematic review of systematic reviews on supervised consumption facilities, managed alcohol programs, and pharmacological agents for opioid use disorder. PLOS ONE. (Peer-reviewed / Global)
Garipy, G., et al. (2025). Supervised consumption sites and population-level overdose mortality: a systematic review of recent evidence, 2016–2024. Health Promot Chronic Dis Prev Can (Peer-reviewed / Global)
Dow-Fleisner, S.J., Lomness, A., and Woolgar, L. (2022). Impact of safe consumption facilities on individual and community outcomes: A scoping review of the past decade of research. Emerging Trends in Drugs, Addictions, and Health. (Peer-reviewed / Global)
Keemink, J., et al. (2025). Four decades of overdose prevention centres: lessons for the future from a realist review. Harm Reduction Journal. (Peer-reviewed / Global)
Kennedy, M.C., et al., (2017). Public Health and Public Order Outcomes Associated with Supervised Drug Consumption Facilities: a Systematic Review. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. (Peer-reviewed / Global)
Health and overdose outcomes
Rammohan, I., et al., 2024. Overdose mortality incidence and supervised consumption services in Toronto, Canada: an ecological study and spatial analysis The Lancet Public Health. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Toronto)
Robinson, T., Forrokhyar, F., Fischer, B. (2024). The associations of supervised consumption services with the rates of opioid-related mortality and morbidity outcomes at the public health unit level in Ontario (Canada): A controlled interrupted time-series analysis Drug and Alcohol Review. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario)
Scheim, A., et al. (2021). Supervised consumption service use and recent non-fatal overdose among people who inject drugs in Toronto, Canada. International Journal of Drug Policy. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Toronto)
Service delivery, client experience, and integrated care
Seo, B., et al. (2026). Perceived impacts of Supervised Consumption Sites (SCS) on key service aspects and settings: Reports from Canadian National Questionnaire on Overdose Monitoring (CNQOM). International Journal of Drug Policy. (Peer-reviewed / Canada)
Ali, F., et al. (2023). Client experiences using a new supervised consumption service in Sudbury, Ontario: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE (Peer-reviewed / Ontario)
Zolopa, C., et al., (2026). Characteristics of supervised injection site clients and factors associated with requiring overdose intervention, Montreal, Canada, 2018-2022. International Journal of Drug Policy. (Peer-reviewed / Quebec)
Nassau, T., et al. (2022). Service utilization patterns and characteristics among clients of integrated supervised consumption sites in Toronto, Canada. Harm Reduction Journal (Peer-reviewed / Ontario)
Bardwell, G., et al. (2020). “That's a double-edged sword”: Exploring the integration of supervised consumption services within community health centres in Toronto, Canada. Health and Place. ( Peer-reviewed / Ontario)
Scheim, A., et al. (2021). The Ontario Integrated Supervised Injection Services Cohort Study of People Who Inject Drugs in Toronto, Canada (OiSIS-Toronto): Cohort Profile Journal of Urban Health. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario)
Kerman, N., et al. (2020). “It’s not just injecting drugs”: Supervised consumption sites and the social determinants of health. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. (Peer-reviewed)
Lettner, B., et al. (2023). Rapid hepatitis C virus point-of-care RNA testing and treatment at an integrated supervised consumption service in Toronto, Canada: a prospective, observational cohort study. The Lancet. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Toronto).
Greenwald, Z.R., et al. (2022). Integrated supervised consumption services and hepatitis C testing and treatment among people who inject drugs in Toronto, Canada: A cross-sectional analysis. Journal of Viral Hepatitis. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Toronto).
DelVillano, S., et al. (2019). At-a-glance Supervised Injection Services: a community-based response to the opioid crisis in the City of Ottawa, Canada. Health Promotion, Chronic Disease Prevention Canada. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Ottawa).
Cost effectiveness and health system impacts
Khair, S., et al. (2022). Supervised consumption site enables cost savings by avoiding emergency services: a cost analysis study. Harm Reduction Journal. (Peer-reviewed / Alberta)
How Vital Are Supervised Consumption Sites? (TVO Today - Nov. 15th, 2024). Watch video
"The Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre provides harm reduction services, a supervised consumption site, and general healthcare to all community members. Take a tour of the site and listen to what employees and clients said to get a better picture of how supervised consumption sites work, and how vital they are to saving lives in our communities."
Program evaluations, reviews, and community engagement reports
Campbell, J. (2024). South Riverdale Community Health Centre: Consumption and Treatment Services - Supervisor Report. (Report / Ontario - Toronto)
Unity Health Toronto. (2024). South Riverdale Community Health Centre Consumption and Treatment Service Review. (Report / Ontario - Toronto)
Unity Health Toronto. (2024). Community Engagement Report - a companion document to the SRCHC CTS Review. (Report / Ontario - Toronto)
Kolla, G., Penn, R., and Long, C. (2019). Evaluation of the Overdose Prevention Sites at Street Health and St. Stephen's Community House. (Report / Ontario - Toronto)
Middlesex-London Health Unit. (2019). Saving Lives. Changing Lives. Findings from a Process and Outcome Evaluation of London's Temporary Overdose Prevention Site (TOPS) (Report / Ontario - London)
WDG Public Health. (2019). Guelph Overdose Prevention Site Evaluation: Key Findings (Report / Ontario - Guelph)
Community impacts, public order, and crime
Werb, D., et al., (2025). Investigating the spatial association between supervised consumption services and homicide rates in Toronto, Canada, 2010–2023: an ecological analysis. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Toronto)
Panagiotoglou, D., et al. (2025). Toronto’s Supervised Consumption Sites and Local Crime . JAMA Network Open. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Toronto)
Allen, B., et al., (2026). Neighborhood impacts of overdose prevention centers on real estate prices in New York City. American Journal of Epidemiology. (Peer-reviewed / USA).
Livingstone, J., (2021). Supervised consumption sites and crime: scrutinizing the methodological weaknesses and aberrant results of a government report in Alberta, Canada. Harm Reduction Journal. (Peer-reviewed / Alberta).
Policy context, public discourse, and perception
CDPC, HIV Legal Network, Pivot Legal Society. (2025). It's not a crime to save a life: the legal implications of operating an Overdose Prevention Site in Ontario and protections for operators and patrons. (Report / Canada)
Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. (2024). Performance Audit. Implementation and Oversight of Ontario's Opioid Strategy.
HIV Legal Network. (2024). Scaling up supervised consumption services: What has changed in Canada? (Report / Canada)
Canadian Public Health Association. (2024). Framework for a public health approach to substance use. (Report / Canada)
Russell, C., et al., (2020). ‘Small communities, large oversight’: The impact of recent legislative changes concerning supervised consumption services on small communities in Ontario, Canada. International Journal of Drug Policy. (Peer-reviewed commentary / Ontario).
Mrazovac, A., et al. (2019). Public Knowledge of and Support for Supervised Injection Sites in a Metropolitan Canadian Region. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. (Peer-reviewed / Ontario - Waterloo).
2026. Holtom, A. What harms are associated with injecting in public spaces? CATIE Prevention in Focus. (News / Canada).
Watch: Harm reduction under threat: Defending public health in a shifting landscape - a webinar held by CATIE and CanHepC featuring speakers Jason Altenberg (Dr. Peter Centre), Ahmed Bayoumi (U of T), Douglas Belanger (SRCHC), and Barb Fornssler (U of Sask). April 20, 2026.
Evidence on the Impacts of Closures
2026. Kolla, G and Gomes, T. What the evidence says about defunding Ontario's remaining supervised consumption sites. (Evidence Review / Ontario)
2025. Ontario Node, Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters (CRISM) Research Team. Toronto Public Health’s Supervised Consumption Site Closure: A Pre- and Post-Closure Evaluation. Ontario Node, CRISM, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research (IMHPR), Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). (Report / Toronto)
2025. Wellington-Guelph Drug Strategy. Consumption and Treatment Services Closure Report. (Report / Ontario - Guelph)
2024. Bayoumi, A.; Wu, M.; Pogacar, F., Wang, T., and Gomes, T. Estimating the effects of closing supervised consumption sites in Toronto. Use of Services. (Report / Ontario)
2026. Ontario's Drug Checking Community. Ontario's Drug Checking Community and Supervised Consumption Site: Generating critical evidence on Ontario's unregulated drug supply. (Report / Ontario)
Unregulated drug supply and toxicity-related harms
What's happening in the unregulated (illegal) drug supply?
2026. Ontario's Drug Checking Community. Ontario’s Drug Checking Community and supervised consumption sites: Generating critical evidence on Ontario’s unregulated drug supply. (Memo / Ontario)
2025. CATIE. What makes Canada's drug supply so dangerous? CATIE Prevention in Focus. (News / Canada)
2025. CATIE. Reported drug toxicity deaths dropped in parts of Canada in 2024 – But what’s behind the numbers? CATIE Prevention in Focus. (News / Canada)
2025. CCSA. Substance use trends: Recent Trends in Opioid-Related Toxicity Deaths in Canada: Examining a Potential Decrease (Newsletter / Canada
2025. CATIE. Monitoring and responding to the unregulated drug supply. (Webinar / Canada).
2023. CCSA. Do Drugs Contain What We Think They Contain? Results from CUSP: The Community Urinalysis and Self-Report Project (Infographic)
Government of Canada. (2025). Multi-drug involvement in apparent opioid and stimulant toxicity deaths in Canada from 2018 to 2023. (Report / Canada)
Gonzalez-Nieto, P., et al. (2026). Not just fentanyl: Understanding the complexities of the unregulated opioid supply through results from a drug checking service in British Columbia, Canada. International Journal of Drug Policy. (Peer-reviewed / British Columbia)
Canadian drug checking services
Toronto Drug Checking Service: Toronto’s Drug Checking Service offers people who use drugs timely and detailed information on the contents of their drugs, helping them to make more informed decisions.This service also shares information on Toronto’s unregulated drug supply to inform those who cannot directly access the service, as well as community health workers, clinicians, first responders, public health units, policy makers, researchers, and others.Every other week, results from samples checked by Toronto’s Drug Checking Service are combined and presented on their website. They also have a "drug dictionary", information about different types of drugs, resources, tips, and reports.
Substance Drug Checking: Substance is located in Victoria BC, with sites in other locations on the island. Visit their website to find out about their services and locations, and read their blog to read results.
BCCSU Drug Checking: BCCSU Drug Checking has the DrugSense dashboard, which provides drug checking results from tests in BC and Yukon.
Watch this video to learn about drug checking services.
Toxicity-related harms - dashboards and surveillance data
Government of Canada. Opioid- and Stimulant-related Harms in Canada (National data)
BCCDC. Unregulated Drug Poisoning Emergency Dashboard. (BC)
Government of Alberta. Substance Use Surveillance Data. (Alberta)
Government of Manitoba. (2026). Manitoba Substance Use-related Harms Surveillance Report (Manitoba)
ODPRN. Ontario Opioid Indicator Tool. (Ontario)
Public Health Ontario. Substance Use and Harms Tool. (Ontario)
Government of Nova Scotia. Numbers and rates of substance-related fatalities in Nova Scotia. (Nova Scotia)
Government of Prince Edward Island. Opioid-related harms in PEI. (PEI)
Statements
March 16, 2026. HIV Legal Network and HALCO condemn Government of Ontario's deadly decision to defund Consumption and Treatment Services.
March 17th, 2026. Canadian Public Health Association. Ontario's decision to defund supervised consumption services risks lives and undermines a comprehensive response to the toxic drug crisis.
March 27th, 2026. Canadian Nurses Association. CNA concerned over Ontario and Alberta's decision to close supervised consumption services.
March 20, 2026. Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Statement on Supervised Consumption Sites.
March 23, 2026. Street Health Ontario. Statement about the Defunding / Pending June 13th Closure of Supervised Consumption Sites (SCS) in Ontario.
March 25, 2026. SUHN. Statement from the Substance Use Health Network on Supervised Consumption Services.
Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre. Statement on the Government's Decision to End funding for Life-Saving Consumption Treatment and Supervised Consumption Sites (CTS/SCS).
March 16, 2026. Breakaway. Breakaway's Statement on the closures of SCS in Ontario.
March 18th, 2026. Prairie Harm Reduction. Statement on the Closure of Supervised Consumption Services in Ontario.
March 27, 2026. Canadian Drug Policy Coalition and HIV Legal Network. Alberta's decision to close supervised consumption sites will result in needless death.
March 31, 2026. Moms Stop the Harm. MSTH Statement regarding defunding of SCS's in Ontario.
CATIE Statement on the Need for a Spectrum of Substance Use Services and CATIE statement on the distribution of a full range of harm reduction supplies as an evidence-based approach to reducing a range of preventable harms
April 13, 2026. CPHA. Government must maintain a full continuum of care in response to the toxic drug crisis.
April 13, 2026. Saskatchewan Union of Nurses. Statement on Saskatchewan's Harm Reduction Services
Events and calls to action
March 30, 2026. HIV Legal Network. Open Letter Re: Defunding of All Supervised Consumption Sites in Ontario
March 2026. RNAO. Action Alert: Closing supervised consumption services sites will cost lives, Premier!
Saturday April 11th, 2026. 2 pm ET. Rally to Save Our Supervised Consumption Sites. Moss Park and Fred Victor. Organized by CUPE 5399, Harm Reduction Advocacy Collective, and Toronto Overdose Prevention Society. Corner of Queen St E and Sherbourne St.
Monday, April 20th, 2026. 1 pm ET. CATIE Webinar. Harm reduction under threat: Defending public health in a shifting landscape. Speakers: Jason Altenberg, Ahmed Bayoumi, Douglas Belanger, Barb Fornssler. Watch the recording of the webinar.
Thursday, April 23rd, 2026. 12 pm ET. SUHN Research Spotlight Webinar. What Happens When Care Gets Cut Off? Preliminary Findings from Supervised Consumption Sites Studies. Speakers: Farihah Ali, Uzma Ahmed, Zoe Dodd, and Gillian Kolla. Info and Registration.
Ongoing. Moms Stop the Harm Call to Action. Urgent Action Needed: Stop the Rollback of Harm Reduction Services!
Communication and Advocacy Toolkits
CATIE. Anti-stigma toolkit. Communication resources about harm reduction and supervised consumption services (fact sheets, key messages, etc.)
Vital Communities. Building Safe and Healthy Communities: A messaging playbook for proven solutions to homelessness, addiction, and mental health.
Canadian Medical Association. Advocacy Toolkit: Tips for engaging your elected representative.
Find Members of Parliament - Contact info for MPs. No postage is required to send a letter to your MP addressed to House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1A 0A6
