The Harm Reduction Nurses Association (HRNA) condemns the Government of Alberta’s decision to close supervised consumption services in Calgary and Lethbridge by June 30, 2026.

This decision will cost lives.

Alberta remains in the midst of a toxic drug crisis, with approximately five people dying each day from preventable poisonings. These deaths are not inevitable. They are the result of a contaminated drug supply—and of policy decisions that remove access to proven, life-saving care.

Supervised consumption services are not optional or peripheral programs. They are essential healthcare. Across Alberta, these sites have supported hundreds of thousands of visits and intervened in tens of thousands of overdoses. Without them, many of those overdoses would have been fatal.

Nurses see the impact of these services every day. We reverse overdoses, treat infections, and build relationships that connect people to care. We also see what happens when services are removed: people use alone, overdoses go unwitnessed, and deaths increase.

The government has framed these closures as a shift toward treatment and recovery. This is a false choice. Harm reduction and treatment are not competing approaches—they are interdependent. People cannot access recovery if they are no longer alive.

We are also deeply concerned by the misuse of limited and inconclusive research to justify these decisions. Recent analysis from the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE) examined a small group of individuals over a short period and did not assess broader community or system-level outcomes. Even within the study, these limitations are acknowledged. It does not provide a credible basis for dismantling services that are supported by decades of peer-reviewed evidence.

Closing supervised consumption services will not resolve homelessness, poverty, or unmet mental health needs. It will intensify them. It will shift harm into public spaces, increase pressure on emergency services, and deepen inequities across communities.

Calls to Action

The Harm Reduction Nurses Association calls on the Government of Alberta to:

  • Immediately halt the closure of supervised consumption services in Calgary and Lethbridge;
  • Maintain and expand access to naloxone and harm reduction supplies across all communities;
  • Ensure all drug policy decisions are grounded in the full body of peer-reviewed public health evidence;
  • Publicly acknowledge the significant methodological limitations of the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence (CoRE) study and immediately cease using it to justify policy decisions affecting supervised consumption services;
  • Engage meaningfully with people who use drugs, harm reduction workers, nurses, and affected communities;
  • Invest in a comprehensive continuum of care that includes harm reduction, treatment, mental health services, and housing.

As nurses, we will not accept policies that increase preventable death. These services save lives every day. They must remain open.

 

Media Contact: Corey Ranger, President, Harm Reduction Nurses Association | hrna.aiirm@gmail.com

Sign the open letter in support of supervised consumption services in Alberta: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbxWuzLBx06cMDwD6pMB61wnbZpaYUjCb7IzXB5vyQWCkb5Q/viewform