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The Nēwo Yōtina Friendship Centre is now open, becoming the second safe consumption site in Saskatchewan and the first of its kind in Regina.
The site, located downtown on the corner of Osler Street and 11th Avenue, opened its doors May 19.
The site couldn’t come at a better time for Regina. There have been numerous overdose deaths in the Queen City over the last two years, including nearly 130 deaths due to overdose since 2020.
The Friendship Centre’s executive director, Michael Parker, believes the new site will go a long way in bringing those numbers down.
“The numbers in Saskatoon are dramatically lower than Regina right now and I don’t anticipate the numbers in Regina to just immediately drop,” Parker said.
“Over time, I would expect that with a properly supported supervised consumption site in Regina that we’ll see the numbers come down to closer to where Saskatoon’s are.
“This is not a new concept; this has been done in other major centres across Canada. This is a long time coming.”
Saskatoon has had more than 68 overdose-related deaths since 2020, much lower than Regina’s numbers even though Saskatoon’s population is roughly 50,000 people larger than that of the Queen City.
Parker says now that the centre is open, the most important thing is to build trust in the community.
“Something that we’ve seen so far is that there’s sort of this kind of initial hesitancy or cautious. The reaction has sort of been that people are surprised that they can do what they do here,” Parker said. “That is going to be a different experience than a lot of these people have ever had before.
“It creates totally new options for people that have had to deal with a ton of stigma and shame around drug use. They can access appropriate supports and do things in a way that’s safer for them and for the people around them.”
There are some differences between the Regina consumption site and the one in Saskatoon.
The biggest difference is that Regina’s site is only able to operate until September as part of an exemption from the federal government. It will have to apply for a long-term exemption before it will be able to stay open past September.
Prairie Harm Reduction in Saskatoon is the only permanent safe consumption site in the province. It has put in a request to the provincial government for $1.3 million for operational funding — but its funding request has been denied for the last two years.
Despite the fact there hasn’t been any funding from the provincial government when it comes to safe consumption sites in the province, the City of Regina has dedicated $500,000 that will eventually be allocated to different harm reduction services in the city.
“The city has stepped up. They haven’t allocated that to organizations yet but we are anticipating that we’ll be able to utilize some of those funds,” Parker said.
“Longer term, it’s about ‘How do we sustain this?’ But at least we’ve got funds allocated to bring us to the end of September.”
Parker hopes Regina’s safe consumption site will go a long way in reducing the stigma that surrounds drug users in the province.
“What we are doing is not going to increase the drug use; it’s already happening,” Parker said. “It’s about trying to make it safer.
“We can help save money from emergency responses and be able to sort of mitigate some of the risks and burdens on the health-care system.
“I actually live in the same neighbourhood as our centre operates. I have found needles in my back alley, which means people have been using near my house. I don’t want it in my backyard, but come to our centre and do it in a place that’s safe and clean and that offers access to other supports.”
Naloxone kits and referrals to health, mental, addiction, cultural and social services will also be available.
The site is operational Monday to Friday weekly from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.. It’s closed at noon for lunch.
The Nēwo Yōtina Friendship Centre is now open, becoming the second safe consumption site in Saskatchewan and the first of its kind in Regina.