Three months after Safeworks closure, Calgary observers report drug use spreading across the city
Since the supervised consumption site shut down June 30, some residents and service providers describe increased public drug use and overdoses, though others note improvements in specific areas.
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Three months after Calgary's Safeworks supervised consumption site closed on June 30, the city shows starkly different accounts of what has followed—some residents reporting increased public drug use and overdoses across multiple neighborhoods, others describing relief in the Beltline area where the site operated.
Safeworks, located at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in the Beltline, ran for nearly a decade before the provincial government shut it down as part of a shift away from harm reduction toward recovery and treatment models. The Alberta Recovery Model, funded at $350 million, aims to establish 11 addiction recovery communities across the province; four have opened, including one in Calgary.
Drug poisoning deaths in Calgary fell to 13 in June 2026 from 62 in June 2023—a distinct downward trend the government attributes to its recovery-treatment approach. But Dr. Monty Ghosh, a substance abuse researcher and clinician who periodically walks Calgary's inner-city streets, observed a different reality. In an East Village parking lot just shy of three months after closure, Ghosh found a man injecting drugs and a woman lying motionless on autumn leaves. When Ghosh checked on her, she stirred and attempted to get up. The man in the lot, speaking in a slurred voice, said: "Now it's all over the place . . . it's all over the streets."
A woman named Rain, interviewed about the changes, said: "It's more garbage in the streets, more needles that are used, people doing it in front of kids." She noted that supervised sites "are there for people to use discreetly." Social agencies and nearby businesses declined or refused to comment, with some expressing fear of retribution.
A business manager near the former Safeworks site reported a dramatic decline in loitering drug users since closure—"like night and day"—though he attributed the change partly to increased policing that moved street people along. Another observer said the area "seems much, much better now, there's less of those guys around" and that the park across the street felt safer.
Whether drug use has worsened overall or simply dispersed remains unresolved: observers describe it spreading beyond the Beltline to East Village and across the city, while others credit the closure and heightened enforcement with visible improvements in specific zones.
Has overdose prevalence increased city-wide since Safeworks closed, or has it simply shifted location?
What metrics is the provincial government tracking to measure whether the Alberta Recovery Model's addiction-treatment approach is reducing harm?
Are the four operating recovery communities equipped to serve the volume of people Safeworks once accommodated?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
The facts
When did Safeworks close?
Safeworks closed on June 30, 2026.
Where was Safeworks located?
Safeworks was located at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary's Beltline neighbourhood.
How much funding was allocated to the Alberta Recovery Model?
The Alberta Recovery Model received $350 million in funding.
How many drug poisoning deaths occurred in Calgary in June 2023 versus June 2026?
Drug poisoning deaths in Calgary fell from 62 in June 2023 to 13 in June 2026.
