Closing supervised consumption services in Alberta will cost lives, warns national public health association
The Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) is calling on the Government of Alberta to immediately halt its decision to close supervised consumption services in Calgary and Lethbridge, warning that the move will lead to preventable deaths.
At a time when Alberta continues to face significant harms from a toxic and unpredictable drug supply, reducing access to supervised consumption services removes one of the most effective, evidence-based tools available to prevent fatal poisonings and connect people to care.
“Closing supervised consumption services in the middle of an ongoing drug poisoning crisis is not a neutral policy choice—it is a decision that will cost lives,” said Ian Culbert, Executive Director of the Canadian Public Health Association. “These services keep people alive. Without them, more Albertans will die from preventable poisonings.”
The scale of impact is clear. Alberta’s supervised consumption and overdose prevention services recorded more than 160,000 visits in 2024, serving approximately 1,700 individuals each month. Across the province, these sites have responded to more than 40,000 adverse events—most requiring life-saving interventions such as naloxone or oxygen, and some requiring emergency medical services. Each of these interventions represents a life that did not become a fatality.
Meanwhile, Alberta continues to experience a substantial burden of opioid-related harms, with hundreds of deaths reported in 2025 alone. In this context, the closure of supervised consumption services will increase pressure on emergency departments, first responders, and communities already under strain.
Supervised consumption services are a critical component of a comprehensive, evidence-informed response that includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery supports, and housing. Removing one part of that continuum without ensuring accessible, equivalent alternatives undermines the effectiveness of the entire system.
“Public health policy must be grounded in evidence and focused on outcomes,” Culbert added. “If the goal is fewer deaths, fewer emergency calls, and stronger pathways to care, then closing supervised consumption services moves Alberta in the wrong direction.”
CPHA urges the Government of Alberta to reverse these closures and to work with people with lived and living experience, front-line providers, Indigenous partners, municipalities, and public health experts to strengthen a coordinated response to the toxic drug crisis.