A supervised consumption and treatment (CTS) site in downtown Peterborough is set to close after the Ontario government announced it will end funding for several sites across the province.

The Simcoe Street facility, which first opened in June 2022, is among seven supervised consumption sites located in communities that also have a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment hub — known as a HART hub.

The province announced on Monday that funding will instead be directed toward treatment and recovery programs.

In February 2022, the province said it would commit $1.35 million annually for the CTS.

Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith said the change reflects a focus on helping people move away from substance use.

“I think that it would be very safe to say that we’re better off to have someone embark on a path to sobriety than to have them continue using whatever substance they were using,” Smith told Global News on Monday following the province’s announcement.

The Peterborough CTS is operated by Fourcast. Executive director Donna Rogers said the decision is disappointing, but not unexpected.

“I just think it’s a regrettable decision,” she said.

Rogers added that the province has taken a clear philosophical position in how it plans to address addiction and homelessness.

“I don’t think that this is a surprise. There’s clearly a philosophical position that the province has taken around its strategies for intervening with problems related to opiates, homelessness, and the general increase of addictions visible in the community,” she said.

According to Fourcast, up to 320 people use the Peterborough site annually. Staff also perform an average of 18 life-saving interventions every month.

Rogers said the closure raises questions about where people will go once the site shuts down.

“So when the CTS closes, the question would be: Where will those 320 injections take place?’” she said.

Lakelands Public Health, the region’s public health unit, says between January 2023 and August 2024, Peterborough’s CTS recorded over 15,000 visits and “successfully managed” 104 drug poisonings without a single death.

In December 2025 alone, 896 individuals (including repeat visitors) used the Peterborough site.

The health unit says 28 per cent of those visits were for services other than the consumption of drugs,  including substance use support and treatment, housing, health services, and mental health resources.

“Continuity of services that support people who use substances is an important component of protecting community health, particularly at a time when many communities continue to experience the impacts of the toxic drug supply,” the health unit stated.

“Lakelands Public Health will continue to collaborate with local drug strategies to understand the impacts of this change and to support individuals who may be affected.”

The province says organizations now have 90 days to prepare for a CTS closure and those who currently rely on the site will be connected with other supports through the local HART hub.

Smith said the transition period will allow the community to consider how services can be redirected.

“We have 90 days now to look at all of the other services that are provided and how do we pivot that to something else in the community,” he said.

He pointed to existing supports such as a local detox and rehab services and outreach groups that help clean up drug paraphernalia in the city.

“We’ll take the next 90 days to look at what would be the best approach as we move forward,” he said.

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