Saskatoon’s Prairie Harm Reduction reduces operating hours

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A Saskatoon community organization providing a safe drug consumption site and supports for people with addictions is reducing its operating hours.

Citing “a massive increase in the number of people accessing services,” executive director Kayla DeMong of Prairie Harm Reduction said the organization can’t afford the staffing necessary to continue operating from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.  and will instead be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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PHR would typically get “20 to 30” new people visiting its drop-in centre at 1516 20th Street West every month, DeMong said. Numbers began to spike last fall; in November, 180 new clients sought help at the facility.

DeMong said they’re now seeing around 350 people a month coming through the building, which creates challenges both for staffing and with maintaining a safe environment amid cramped conditions.

There is “some speculation” that high housing costs are driving an increasing number of people to seek services who previously hadn’t needed them, DeMong said, adding that PHR is one of several service providers reporting large increases in the number of people in need.

Earlier this year, city council heard that a warm-up location run at St. Mary’s Church was seeing an average of 130 people a night, when it was only meant for up to 80.

DeMong said PHR is “quite transparent” about the fact that it gets provincial funds for a few of its programs. However, the province has consistently declined to fund its core operations since the safe consumption site first opened in 2020.

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The province has recently made moves away from harm reduction policies, including an announcement in January that it would no longer pay for clean drug pipes used at safe consumption sites, or instructions on how to mitigate harm while consuming drugs. DeMong said that decision has added around $24,000 to PHR’s operating costs, which creates a significant challenge for an organization that relies heavily on small foundation grants and community donations.

PHR set its operating hours to run until 10 p.m. back in 2021. At that time, the decision to stay open later was made in light of the overdose deaths of clients who couldn’t access the facility. With financial pressure now forcing a return to a shorter operating day, DeMong said “the scariest thing” for her and the rest of the staff is the knowledge that unnecessary deaths will almost certainly occur as the illicit drug supply in Saskatoon becomes increasingly toxic.

DeMong called for the province to do more, whether or not it chooses to partner with PHR.

“I’m not asking them to fund the drop-in centre. I’m asking them to support the people that are living in our alleys and that are dying of overdoses. That doesn’t necessarily mean the money comes to us, but we need housing, we need mental health supports, we need proper resources for people that are using substances so that we can keep them alive,” she said.

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