By Jonathan Reynoso
As of April 1, Bill 223 is set to permanently close ‘The Works’ safe consumption site (SCS) located at 277 Victoria St.
The closure comes as a result of Bill 233’s Community Care and Recovery Act. The act aims to close SCSs within a 200-metre radius of certain education institutions, child and family centres and other designated premises, as outlined by the bill’s regulations.
The site’s close proximity to Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) has left students like third-year marketing student Apiraam Neethirajah fearing for their safety when walking through Victoria St.
“It feels like a race to get to the [Victoria] building,” explained Neethirajah.
Despite the common notion of unsafety around the site, many studies support the positive effects it has to offer to stigmatized and vulnerable populations.
Now, individuals who used this site—along with those from four other closed sites—are left to rely on the three SCSs that remain open in Toronto: Street Health (338 Dundas St. E.), Fred Victor (139 Jarvis St.) and Parkdale Queen West Community Health Centre (1229 Queen St. W.).
Since opening its first SCS in 2017, Toronto has expanded the program to more than 10 locations across the city. A Lancet Public Health study found that “overdose mortality within 500 metres of these sites decreased by 67 per cent between 2017 and 2019, saving approximately two lives per 100,000 residents annually.”
“You have individuals that are losing a sense of space or community where they can go and talk to individuals and not use in isolation, which decreases the chance of overdose,” said Arifah Yusuf, a social worker and founder of Lifted by Purpose, a Toronto-based organization supporting racialized youth with addictions.
Second-year business management student Maya Campagnolo shared her observations about safety concerns on campus. “There’s been a lot of times where I’ve been trying to come to class in the morning, and there’s been fights in front of the building, and security had to come,” she said.
Some experts say SCSs like ‘The Works’ do more than preventing overdoses—they connect people to care. A 2024 Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction report found regular users are more likely to access withdrawal support and health services than those who don’t use these sites.
Additionally, The Ontario Drug Policy Research Network report supports that the site’s removal will lead to negative impacts on the community, predicting that closure of the five sites—including ‘The Works’—will lead to “increased public drug usage, overdoses, and overdose deaths.”
The lab found that, across all SCS sites slated for closure in Toronto, an estimated 526 of the 561 affected clients would lose access, as they are located more than 500 metres from any remaining open site. That represents a 38 per cent loss in the 1,366 people who use these services monthly.
Among the safety concerns, Campagnolo realizes the value SCSs contributes to the community’s overall well-being.
“I do kind of feel bad that they’re shutting it down because I know it did help a lot of people, and maybe there’s not a lot of resources out for them,” said Campagnolo.
With the removal of the ‘The Works,’ the true impact its absence will have on the TMU community remains unknown. Yusuf stated that closing a site like ‘The Works’ presents a risk to both those who need it and the community’s welfare.
“It’s unsafe for them, but it’s also unsafe for the community as well,” she said.
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