Rally for PHR held in Saskatoon following safe consumption site closure

(Hallee Mandryk/CTV News)

The impacts of Prairie Harm Reduction’s closure prompted a rally on Sunday, as community advocates spoke to their fear following the closure of the safe consumption site.

“This government has blood on their hands. There’s going to be more kids in foster care...There’s going to be more deaths. There’s going to be more [overdoses], it’s just horrendous,” Fran Forsberg, one of the rally organizers, said.

Around 100 people showed up to protest the closure, and many criticized the provincial government’s stance against supervised consumption sites.

“We know that people are dying every single day from drug toxicity poisonings or suicide. We know that’s happening every single day. This has been a crisis that the Sask. Party has created for the last 20 years. And this was caused by underfunding mental health [services],” Betty Nippi-Alright, NDP MLA for Saskatoon Centre said.

PHR announced the immediate closure of its services on Thursday, following significant financial issues. The on-site supervised consumption facility shut down late last month when the financial challenges first came to light. Soon after, Health Canada suspended the exemption that allowed it to open its doors to illicit drug users without threat of criminal prosecution.

While the broader organization has only been shut down for four days, those who work in the community have shared that the impacts are already visible.

Forsberg is part of a community group called Feed the People, alongside Claire Card. Card shared that the demand for their services has already seen a significant increase since PHR’s closure.

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“We come down here every week and we provide food, sandwiches, soup to people, clothing that we get donations from. It’s been very difficult to watch the numbers of people on the street growing and growing and growing. And it gets harder and harder for people every day,” Card said.

Forsberg added that she is anticipating a number of additional issues will arise within the community as a result of PHR’s closure.

“I saw it already today. There was more people here to feed. There was more people on the street. They’re going to see more crime because this place has been shut down... So far today, people are appalled, even people that live in this area are saying Prairie Harm needs to be open,” Forsberg said.

The rally featured speakers who have supported, used, or worked with PHR over the years. Many took the opportunity to criticize the province’s “recovery oriented” system of care, which greatly differs from the safe consumption model.

“You cannot force treatment. It does not work. It’s been proven over and over again. But we can be there to save lives and help the people that are ready to do it,” Forsberg said.

Nippi-Albright echoed these sentiments, adding that safe consumption sites are intended to create a safe space for those struggling with addiction, with the goal of eventually helping them when they wish to seek treatment.

“Recovery oriented system of care is a theory that is idealistic, but we need... solutions that are based on evidence. And recovery-oriented system care is an ideology. And when we know that individual.....when they want services, there’s that small window of opportunity for us to act. And if there’s no treatment, beds available for people to address their substance use issues, then we’re going to see more people die out there...You’re not going to force someone to go and get treatment, they have to want it. You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink,” Nippi-Albright said.

In a previous statement, the Ministry of Social Services said it maintained contracts with Prairie Harm Reduction to provide specific services to Child and Family clients.

“The ministry paid Prairie Harm Reduction in full on April 1, 2026, to deliver those contracted services for the month of April... There will be no disruption of services to the youth in care who are receiving services through our contracts. We are transitioning all youth to alternate care options that will meet their needs and ensure their uninterrupted access to services.”

And the Ministry of Health previously told CTV that the Saskatchewan Health Authority and other community-based organizations continue to offer take-home naloxone services in the community.

“Currently, there are 177 locations in the Saskatoon area where take-home naloxone is provided.”

CTV has reached out to the province for further comment following the rally.

“It’s horrible. It’s horrifying because Prairie Harm’s main function was to keep people alive and get them connected with services. Prairie Harm helped people with health care. These are people who are marginalized, who are vulnerable, who often live on the street, and they were a great support to get people a better situation in life, and closing that is putting people in harm’s way,” Card said.

Card shared that events like this rally are an opportunity for community members to join together in the hope of creating change.

“Civil society needs to change things. That’s what we need to do. We need to mobilize, come together. Businesses want this cleaned up, we want people in housing. Let’s make people healthier. Let’s change it... It’s going to kill people. There’s no question about it. The drugs that we have today on the street are so much worse than when I was a child. They are so much more deadly and are taking so many more people,” Card said.