In response to new requirements and regulations from the Ontario government, Ottawa Public Health and the City of Ottawa are supporting two applications for the new Homelessness, Addiction, Recovery and Treatment (HART) hubs as the city prepares for the impending closure of the Somerset West Community Health Centre safe consumption site.
In August, the Government of Ontario announced new requirements for Consumption and Treatment Service (CTS) that will force the closure of the Somerset Street West Community Health Centre’s (SWCCHC) CTS program and partner efforts, which has been operating as a safe consumption site.
Under the new regulations, which come into effect March 31, 2025, CTSs within 200 metres of schools and childcare centres are prohibited. This affects 10 of the 17 existing CTSs in Ontario, including the one on Somerset St. W.
To fill the gap, the province has announced the new HART hub program includes a $378-million investment to create 19 hubs, which is funded in partnership with multiple Ontario ministries, and is a three-year demonstration project.
A memo from OPH’s medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches and Clara Freire, general manager of community and social services at the City said the expected provincial contribution is up to $6.3 million per year per hub. $1.3 million in annual funding is allocated specifically for supportive housing.
New or full building renovations, CTS, safer supply and needle exchange services will not be funded through this initiative or be accepted in the current call for proposals.
According to the memo, Ottawa’s population health data supports the need for multiple HART hubs throughout the city with wrap-around, “intensive” mental health and substance use care.
Two HART hub applications have been submitted for Ottawa and would address prevention and early intervention for those at risk of losing housing as well as services for people requiring support accessing and retaining housing.
One of the applications has been submitted by SWCHC to provide support to serve Ottawa’s downtown residents facing substance use and homelessness. The other comes from the Pinecrest Queensway Community Health Centre on behalf of 25 collaborating partners and aims to provide integrated support to people in the Ottawa West Four Rivers geography facing housing instability as well as addiction, substance use and health challenges.
The memo said the new HART hub model “provides an opportunity to deliver wraparound support in supportive/transitional housing spaces in the community through partnerships with established community and supportive housing providers in Ottawa” and aligns with the City’s 10-Year Housing and Homelessness Plan.
OPH is continuing to work closely with the Overdose Prevention and Response Task Force in the wake of the announcement that the safe consumption site would be closing, the memo continued, and are working to mitigate the impacts of the closure.
“Open substance use in public spaces in Ottawa will continue unless people have somewhere safer to use substances, whether inhaling or injecting, and unless people have access to mental health and addiction treatment when they need it,” the memo read. “OPH will continue to advance our work in overdose prevention and response and will work with and alongside partners to address the toxic drug crisis.”
