Doug Ford is shutting down overdose prevention sites while expanding policing on the TTC.
TTC doug ford policeThese policies are connected.
Ontario is considering giving TTC special constables the power to order people to stop using illegal drugs in public spaces on transit property.
If someone refuses, officers could arrest and charge them and seize the substances.
These changes are being framed as transit safety.
They are being proposed during an ongoing housing crisis and toxic drug crisis.
Close supervised consumption sites → Reduce shelter capacity → Block new harm reduction services from opening → People are pushed into crisis and public space → Then policing expands in those same spaces.
Ontario passed legislation banning supervised consumption sites within 200 metres of schools or daycares.
Ten sites across the province were targeted for closure by March 2025.
On March 16, 2026 the province confirmed it will also end provincial funding for seven more sites, including two in Toronto.
New supervised consumption sites are also banned from opening.
Supervised consumption sites prevent fatal overdoses.
They connect people to healthcare, harm reduction supplies, and support services.
Removing them does not stop drug use.
It forces people to use alone, in public spaces, or in unsafe conditions where overdoses are more likely to be fatal.
Public health experts have repeatedly warned that closing these services will increase overdose deaths.
Toronto’s most recent Street Needs Assessment estimates more than 15,000 people are unhoused.
The shelter system does not have enough beds for everyone who needs one.
The Better Living Centre at Exhibition Place, which shelters hundreds of people, is closing early to prepare for the FIFA World Cup.
This removes hundreds of spaces from a system that is already operating beyond capacity.
When shelters and warming centres are full, people still need a place to survive.
Transit systems are not officially shelters.
Outreach workers regularly find people using the TTC to stay warm and avoid exposure.
For many people it becomes one of the last indoor public spaces where survival is possible.
Drug use cannot be identified by sight.
Housing status cannot be determined by appearance.
Enforcement decisions rely on interpretation and assumptions.
Advocates warn expanded enforcement will increase profiling and targeting in public space.
Those most at risk include unhoused people, people who use substances, racialized communities, and people experiencing mental health crises.
Arrest powers and weapons will not prevent overdoses.
They will not create housing.
They will not provide healthcare.
They expand the tools used to punish people navigating systemic failures.
When harm reduction services disappear, when shelter capacity shrinks, and when healthcare access is reduced, the crisis deepens.
People are pushed into increasingly dangerous conditions.
Overdose deaths rise.
Exposure deaths rise.
More lives are placed at risk.
Tell the TTC Board to reject tasers and expanded arrest powers for TTC special constables.
commissionservices@ttc.ca
Public safety requires housing, healthcare, and harm reduction. Not more policing.
Ontario has already forced multiple harm reduction sites to close and banned new ones from opening. Now the province is ending funding for more sites across Ontario, including two in Toronto.
At the same time, the government is considering new powers that would allow TTC special constables to order people to stop using drugs in public transit spaces and arrest them if they refuse.
This is happening during a housing crisis and a toxic drug crisis.
When harm reduction services disappear and shelter capacity shrinks, people do not disappear.
They are pushed into public space.
Expanding policing in those spaces does not prevent overdoses, create housing, or provide healthcare. It increases the risk faced by people already navigating multiple systemic failures.
Tell the TTC Board to reject tasers and expanded arrest powers for TTC special constables.
commissionservices@ttc.ca
Resources
Harrison, L. (2026, February 25).
Ontario considers giving TTC special constables new powers to arrest drug users.
CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news
Lim, R. (2026, March 16).
Ontario to end funding for 7 supervised drug consumption sites, province confirms.
The Canadian Press. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news
Toronto Public Health. (2024).
Impacts of supervised consumption service closures in Toronto.
City of Toronto. https://www.toronto.ca
City of Toronto. (2024).
Street Needs Assessment.
https://www.toronto.ca
City of Toronto. (2024).
Toronto shelter system capacity and demand updates.
https://www.toronto.ca
Marshall, B. D. L., Milloy, M. J., Wood, E., Montaner, J. S., & Kerr, T. (2011).
Reduction in overdose mortality after the opening of North America’s first supervised injection facility. The Lancet, 377(9775), 1429–1437.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)62353-7Potier, C., Laprévote, V., Dubois-Arber, F., Cottencin, O., & Rolland, B. (2014).
Supervised injection services. What has been demonstrated? A systematic literature review.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 145, 48–68.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2014.10.012
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