Backing Ottawa’s Community Efforts on Drug Crisis
March 4, 2025 | Ottawa, ON | Health Canada
No community has been left untouched by the toxic drug and overdose crisis. Its tragic impacts are felt among our families, friends, and neighbours. Municipalities and Indigenous communities are on the front lines of this public health crisis, each and every day.
Today, Yasir Naqvi, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health, and Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre, announced over $3.9 million in funding from the Emergency Treatment Fund (ETF) to the City of Ottawa for its project to support Ottawa’s most affected neighborhoods.
The project will deliver immediate, life-saving harm reduction services, overdose prevention and response, direct connections to essential support systems and enhance individuals’ access to basic needs, housing assistance, employment and social services and connections into substance use health treatment.
The ETF is part of efforts to help communities rapidly respond to emerging, critical needs related to the overdose crisis faced by municipalities and First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. ETF will provide support for a wide range of urgent interventions to bolster local capacity to support the most affected populations.
The funding announced today will help Ottawa provide immediate support where it is needed the most. There is no simple approach to solving the overdose crisis, and no community can do it alone. We are committed to working with all levels of government, stakeholders, partners, and people with lived and living experience, to protect the health and safety of our communities.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/news/2025/03/supporting-ottawa-community-led-responses-to-the-illegal-toxic-drug-and-overdose-crisis.html