Minutes Confirmed on April 1, 2025

This meeting of the Board of Health was conducted with members participating in person and remotely.

The Board of Health:

1. Re-opened Item HL21.3, headed "2025 Board of Health Committees and Appointments".

2. Replaced Part 4 with the following revised Part 4:

4. Appointed Charles Ozzoude to the Association of Local Public Health Agencies' (alPHa) Board of Directors and Board of Health Section for a term of office ending December 31, 2025, and until a successor is appointed and pay expenses for attending Association of Local Public Health Agencies' 2025 meetings and semi-annual meetings/conferences within Toronto Public Health's 2025 Approved Operating Budget.

At its last meeting on January 20, 2025, the Board of Health appointed Charles Ozzoude to the Association of Local Public Health Agencies' (alPHa) Board of Directors and Board of Health Section for a term of office ending December 31, 2025, and until a successor is appointed. Staff recommended that the expenses for attending alPHa's 2025 meetings and semi-annual meetings/conferences be paid within Toronto Public Health's 2025 Approved Operating Budget. It has come to my attention that this recommendation was inadvertently omitted from this motion. By re-opening this item, I am requesting that the Board of Health make a technical amendment in order to adopt this recommendation.

Item HL22.2 was withdrawn from the agenda and will be considered at a future meeting date.

Last year, as part of their announcement that new legislation would force the closure of safe consumption sites across the province, the Provincial government introduced funding for the creation of new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. Supervised Consumption Service sites impacted by the legislation, including the site operated by Toronto Public Health, were invited to apply to transition their services into Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs. Toronto Public Health, in partnership with multiple City Divisions, hospital, health, and community partners, applied to the Ministry of Health to establish the Downtown Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub and received approval on January 2nd.

While the Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub model does not replace the need for supervised consumption services, the treatment, mental health, social and primary care services that will be offered through the Hub are valuable and much-needed in the downtown core.

The Government of Ontario legislated new requirements for operating supervised consumption services that will lead to the closure of five sites in Toronto by March 31, 2025. This includes the closure of the supervised consumption service operated by Toronto Public Health (The Works), currently located at 277 Victoria Street.  

Supervised Consumption Service sites impacted by the legislation, including the site operated by Toronto Public Health, were invited to apply to transition their services into Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. Toronto Public Health, in partnership with multiple City Divisions, hospital, health, and community partners, applied to the Ministry of Health to establish the Downtown Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub.

The Downtown Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub will aim to improve health of City residents by facilitating access to health care services for people who use drugs, including improved access to treatment and recovery services, and integrated pathways to wrap-around supports such as mental health care and housing. Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub services can include some interventions that can help prevent the spread of bloodborne infections in the community.

On January 2, 2025, Toronto Public Health received confirmation from the Ministry of Health that the City of Toronto's Downtown Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub has been approved 'in principle.' This report provides an overview of plans to establish the City of Toronto's Downtown Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub.

Announcements

The Chair acknowledged that the Board of Health was meeting on the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. The Chair also acknowledged that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

The Chair further acknowledged that not all people came to these lands as migrants and settlers, and specifically acknowledged those who came here involuntarily, particularly those brought to these lands as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery. In support of the City of Toronto's ongoing efforts to confront anti-Black racism, the Chair paid tribute to those ancestors of African, Caribbean and Black origin and descent.

Where the Directors of the Board of Health listed in the attendance for this meeting participated remotely, they were counted for quorum as permitted by Section 189(4.2) of the City of Toronto Act, 2006, and the Board's Procedures, as amended.