The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) has expressed “great disappointment” for the province’s decision to cancel the planned overdose prevention site slated for 900 Helmcken in Downtown Vancouver.
First Nations individuals, families, and communities continue to be disproportionately affected by the toxic drug crisis, with First Nations people experiencing a toxic drug poisoning death rate that’s 10.2-times higher than other residents of the Vancouver Coastal region in 2025, according to FNHA data.
“First Nations people in B.C. continue to be overrepresented within the toxic drug crisis public health emergency and each year provincially, we lose several hundred community members who were loved and valued,” Dr. Nel Wieman, FNHA chief medical officer, in a media release.
“One life lost is too many. This is why reducing life-saving harm reduction services, including overdose prevention sites, is so discouraging from a public health perspective. Substance use disorder is a complex, chronic, relapsing condition that for some, having one episode of residential treatment will not result in life-long abstinence. We need the entire spectrum of substance use care: prevention, harm reduction, detox, treatment, aftercare and ongoing recovery supports as well as substantive aid in the social determinants of health including housing,” said Wieman.
In early May, Vancouver Coastal Health announced that services would soon open for the proposed overdose prevention site in Vancouver’s city centre. But after pushback from residents, local businesses and the City of Vancouver, the Ministry of Health put the harm reduction site on pause.
The B.C. government confirmed on Aug. 24 that the planned overdose prevention site was cancelled.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said he was “incredibly grateful” upon receiving official word that the harm reduction site in Vancouver’s downtown was not going ahead.
“I want to thank the province for listening to Vancouverites,” said Mayor Sim in a media release.
“I look forward to working personally with Minister Kahlon and the province as we move forward to increase secure treatment and involuntary care capacity, including 100 beds Vancouver desperately needs, which we called for through the Public Safety Plebiscite,” Sim continued.
Emily Lowan, Leader of the BC Greens, said Minister Kahlon “caved to pressure from Mayor Ken Sim.”
“Ravi Kahlon’s first decision as Minister of Health is to put politics ahead of people,” said Lowan. “This out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach to a public health emergency will do the exact opposite: force people further onto the streets and break from the path to healing.”
Following Brenda Bailey’s decision to take a leave from serving as minister of finance for cancer treatment and recovery, the B.C. Government appointed Kahlon as minister of Health on Aug. 14 and Josie Osborne moved to minister of Finance.
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) said the lease for the space at 900 Helmcken Street began on June 1, 2026, and runs for a term of two years at a cost of $179,000 annually.
“(We) will work with the Ministry of Health and the City of Vancouver to develop alternative programming for this location that meets the needs of the community, including treatment and recovery supports and long-term wellness programs,” said VCH in an email.
“These services would support other ongoing work within VCH to expand access to evidence-based, timely, and quality treatment and recovery services, such as Road to Recovery and Access Central,” said VCH.
B.C.’s Road to Recovery initiative establishes a “seamless continuum of care for addictions from detox to treatment and after care.”
Access Central is a phone line which enables same-day clinical assessment and a personalized substance use care plan for those living in the VCH area.
In 2025, over half (62 per cent) of the 87 First Nations people who died from toxic drug poisoning in the Vancouver Coastal region were male, according to FNHA data.
Of the 821 toxic drug poisoning “events” experienced by First Nations people in 2025, 63 per cent were reported as being a First Nations male, according to FNHA. Most toxic drug poisoning “events” are non-fatal and represent instances where paramedics were called.
First Nations people make up 2.1 per cent of the Vancouver Coastal region’s population, notes FNHA.
Harm reduction leader Cody Hunt works at Culture Saves Lives in the Downtown Eastside. He says he’d like to see more investment in men and young boys to make sure they have access to mentorships and healthy connections.
“It’s no secret, anybody that is dealing with addiction is dealing with severe trauma and they’re doing their best to cope with it. For the majority of people that are in abuse cycles, the majority of people that perpetuate them are men,” said Hunt.
“We love our women and we want the best, but most people don’t understand that the way to support our women is to invest in the man. You are only as strong as the weakest link in our community,” he said.
