Montreal Safe Injection Site Cuts Hours Due to Funding

0:00It's March 27th. Welcome in. This is Canada News Today, where local news meets AI. I'm Corey with the story. A safe injection site in Montreal, run by the nonprofit Spectre de Rue, is cutting back its hours, starting next week because of funding shortages. The center on Ontario Street East in the village has been a key spot for people struggling with addiction to use drugs safely and avoid overdoses. This place opened around 2017, when the opioid crisis really took hold in the city. It gives users a supervised space away from contaminated street drugs, which can be deadly. Staff say clients often need multiple doses a day, just to manage their habits. Locals in the family-heavy neighborhood have long pushed back against the site. They've complained about discarded needles making it unsafe for kids to play outside, and many businesses and residents want to relocate it, maybe. The team is now directing people to other safe injection spots across town to fill the gap.

1:01While some neighbors welcome the shorter hours as a return to the original limited schedule, the funding crunch highlights ongoing struggles for these. Vital services. Tensions remain high in the area, but the cutbacks underscore the urgent need for steady support to keep harm reduction alive amid the crisis.