The federal government is stepping in after the province announced that two supervised drug consumption sites in Toronto must close as of Monday.

A third site, run by the city, was left in limbo by the province, but will also remain open for now.

Amid a continuing overdose crisis in the province’s capital, the Ford government did not explain the sudden closures.

The press release, which was posted to the province’s website at 3 p.m. on Friday but not initially sent to journalists, said the province would be approving only 15 sites after Minister of Health Christine Elliott earlier promised a review.

An accompanying list left off a total of six proposed sites across the province, four of which were already operating.

Those that were in operation include the Street Health location at Dundas and Sherbourne Sts. and the site at St. Stephen’s Community House in Kensington Market.

“We just had a brief call with the ministry this afternoon and basically as of Monday morning, they expect us to shut our doors,” said Kelly White, the overdose prevention site co-ordinator at the Street Health site.

“We expect that clients will be showing up on Monday morning with drugs in hand expecting to use our services and the ministry has advised us to turn them away and send them to other sites.”

But after that “gutting” call, White said executive director Kapri Rabin contacted the federal government and learned that an application to stay open on an emergency and temporary basis was granted — even without provincial support — but it’s on them to come up with the money.

It means they can continue to offer the services for just one month because their board approved emergency funding in anticipation of a “worst case” scenario.

“If we can get the money, we could continue up to a year. But we have to find the funds ourselves,” said Rabin. “It should be funded by the minister of health. This is a health service.”

Rabin said when they spoke with the province just hours earlier and asked them what they were expected to do, it quickly became apparent that there was no interim plan and no thought had been given about how to handle the transition. “It was close your doors. It is dangerous for people.”

White said their staff have overseen about 1,600 visits since opening in June and about 60 per cent of the clients they serve are women. She said they work hard to build relationships with their clients in a non-clinical space.

The minister’s office said sites were chosen based on new criteria, including “providing evidence of community support and demonstrating a commitment to ongoing community engagement” and considering proximity to other similar services, child care centres, parks and schools.

“Our government takes the opioids crisis very seriously,” says Elliott in the government’s release.

“That’s why we’ve created a new consumption and treatment services model that will continue to save lives by preventing overdoses and connecting people to primary care, treatment, rehabilitation, and other health and social services to ensure those struggling with drug addiction get the help they need.”

At St. Stephen’s on Friday afternoon, executive director Bill Sinclair said they were “in shock” after receiving the call from the province.

But before 6 p.m., they learned their request to remain open on an emergency basis had also been approved by the federal government.

That means they too can stay open, for now — as long as they can find the money to operate.

“We’re going to move around some fundraising dollars to meet urgent community need,” Sinclair said.

St. Stephen’s had been operating on temporary provincial funding for their site as of last year, and had hoped to change to a permanent site, said Sinclair.

“It’s been proven beyond a doubt that overdose prevention sites improve lives and prevent overdoses on a daily basis,” said Sinclair. “We have been proud of the work we are doing and wanted to continue doing that work. We feel we are a benefit to the community and we hoped to continue being a benefit.”

Councillor Joe Cressy, who chairs the city’s board of health, and Mayor John Tory both condemned the province’s decision Friday.

“In the midst of this deadly crisis, we should be opening new sites, not closing the limited number we already have,” said Cressy. “Overdose deaths are preventable. The evidence is clear — supervised consumption sites save people’s lives.”

Tory — who backed the opening of the first sites in Toronto — called the decision by the province “extremely disturbing.”

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“We are in the midst of an overdose epidemic in our country and supervised consumption services are one of the best tools we have right now to help save lives and I am deeply troubled by this sudden announcement,” he said.

Toronto Public Health’s The Works on Victoria St. was also left off the list. Hayley Chazan, the minister’s spokesperson, clarified that site has been “put on hold pending further review.”

A spokesperson for Toronto’s medical officer of health Dr. Eileen de Villa said the office had just received the update from the province about The Works and said they are still in talks with the ministry.

“In the meantime, TPH will continue to offer its current supervised consumption services (SCS) and other harm reduction services,” said the spokesperson in an email.

“The overdose emergency in Toronto is a serious public health issue and remains urgent.”

The Works was one of the first sites to open in the city and has permission to operate from the federal government, unlike the other two Toronto sites that are now without provincial support. It is, however, also receiving funding from the province.

Since opening in August 2017, they have supervised 40,017 visits and have treated 748 overdoses, the TPH spokesperson said, “making it the busiest supervised consumption service in the city.”

De Villa noted that preliminary data for 2018 indicated there were 193 opioid toxicity deaths in Toronto in the first nine months of the year.

“This number is expected to increase as the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario completes additional death investigations,” she said. “Too many people are dying and these are preventable deaths.”

Gillian Kolla, a co-ordinator with the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society (TOPS), pointed to data posted on the city of Toronto website that shows that in the last three months paramedics have responded to 915 suspected overdoses. Of that, 45 were fatal.

“I don’t think the government understands the scope of what is going on on the ground right now,” said Kolla. “The fact they are walking back the funding on any of these sites is reprehensible.”

The minister’s spokesperson also said they will continue to accept applications “on an ongoing basis,” but it is unclear if they are willing to approve or fund any additional sites in Toronto.

Two more sites in London that were not yet open are also on hold, Chazan said. A third site outside of Toronto has also been ordered to close, but its location is unknown.

Two men outside The Works on Friday afternoon said these sites are saving lives and should be encouraged for the sake of everyone.

“There aren’t any overdose deaths in places like this, and the (staff) are really dedicated to their jobs,” said a fentanyl user who gave his name as Rod. “I should be doing other things (than drugs), but when I’m here I feel safe.”

Asked where he would shoot up if there was no safe-injection site available, he said: “Bridges, alleys, parks, the bathroom of Five Guys, while your family is there eating burgers and fries.”

With files from Tony Wong and David Rider