Supervised consumption site in Sudbury delayed until at least April, says service provider

A planned supervised consumption site in Greater Sudbury that was supposed to be completed by mid-March has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Neil Stephen, the manager of consumption and treatment services with Réseau ACCESS Network, which will operate the site, said they are now expecting construction to be completed by late April.

"Unfortunately, in the month of March, we had a couple of delays that cropped up that pushed the deadline back," Stephen said.

Last year, Sudbury councillors committed up to $800,000 to build the site at a property on Energy Court in the city's downtown.

Stephen said they have already hired a full-time nurse and two social workers to work at the site.

"Once we receive that provincial approval, then I can definitely go ahead with hiring more peer harm reduction workers," he added.

Last December, councillors voted to remove $1.1 million earmarked for the site's operational budget, and instead bet the province would pick up that cost.

Sudbury Mayor Brian Bigger said at the time he had very promising conversations with Michael Tibollo, Ontario's associate minister for mental health and addictions, who expressed support for the project. 

Stephen said once the site is built it will need to pass a Health Canada inspection before it can start offering basic services as an "urgent public health needs site."  

"They tend to work fairly well with us," he said. "Theoretically, we could be offering services any time within two or three weeks after that assessment." 

They will then need to go through a provincial application process in the hopes of receiving provincial approval and funding. 

In an email to CBC news City of Greater Sudbury spokesperson Maggie Frampton said the city continues to work with Réseau ACCESS to complete construction of the site.

"We are currently evaluating and reviewing the information around the construction timeline and any delays," the email said.