Calgary committee to make ‘symbolic’ vote on supervised consumption site closure

People wait to enter the Safeworks supervised consumption site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary, Thursday, Aug. 26, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

CALGARY — Members of Calgary’s city executive committee are expected to vote today on whether to support the closure of the city’s sole supervised consumption site.

The vote would move the motion of support to city council for review. A successful vote would be symbolic, as municipal health care is a provincial responsibility but strays from the neutral position on the site taken by the past city council.

The Alberta government said in December that it planned to close the Safeworks Supervised Consumption Site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre this year in exchange for a treatment program.

Recovery Alberta, a mental health and addictions section of the province’s health care service, didn’t provide details about the proposed treatment centre. A city document says it would include counselling and treatment planning, links to community pharmacists, and other addiction treatment services and HIV screening.

Opponents of the existing site say it worsens safety in the area and impacts businesses.

Proponents say the site, like other harm reduction facilities, provides a safer space for drug users to use substances under medical supervision in downtown Calgary and shuttering them could lead to a rise in overdose deaths.

“It’s not only a bad decision if you’re looking to continue to reduce drug poisoning deaths, but it’s also likely going to place additional strain on a really overtaxed health-care system,” said Elaine Hyshka, a Canada Research Chair in health systems innovation and an associate professor of public health at the University of Alberta.

The Alberta government’s most recent data shows the Safeworks site was visited more than 12,500 times in the third quarter of 2025. There were an average 542 different monthly visitors in that time.

Hyshka said details of the expected replacement site are scarce but called trading out the site for a treatment centre a “bit of a red herring,” because supervised consumption sites are required to connect clients to treatment programs.

Hyshka expects that without the site there will be more drug use in public spaces and a rise in calls to first responders for overdoses.

Nathaniel Schmidt, the councillor for Ward 8 where the site is located, said Tuesday’s vote would be a “symbolic” support of the province’s decision.

Schmidt didn’t take a concrete position on the site’s expected closure but said the priority has to be on residents in the community.

He said he frequents businesses around the current site and is sympathetic to them and the people who aren’t receiving help.

“We’ve seen that businesses are suffering, the community is suffering and that people are dying because of the mental health and addictions crisis,” he said.

Schmidt said he puts responsibility on the government for a long-term fix while hoping the city and province can work together.

“I think that putting in place all solutions would ultimately be the best but, again, that would fall on the province to fund everything correctly and sufficiently,” he said.

The United Conservative Party government under former premier Jason Kenney announced it would close the Safeworks site in 2022. That never came to fruition.

Kenney openly opposed similar sites and had assembled a panel to probe their impact on crime, property values and safety. The review panel found people felt less safe in the area, which reportedly lowered property values and affected businesses.

Calgary’s past council voted against taking an official position on the site. Former mayor Jyoti Gondek and several councillors argued the issue is outside city jurisdiction.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 3, 2026.

Dayne Patterson, The Canadian Press