Sunshine House mobile drug site in limbo after RV totalled

The Sunshine House drug testing and supervised consumption services, which operated out of an RV, have ground to a halt since the vehicle was totalled in a hit-and-run July 2.

Sunshine House was given an ambulance by the Salvation Army, but federal regulations require it to be approved.

“We’re following all the guidelines and rules around this type of service, but because we’re the only service in the province that does this, there is a sense of urgency to find a solution,” executive director Levi Foy said Friday.

The Mobile Overdose Prevention Site would help, on average, 500 people per day by giving them harm-reduction supplies, supervising their drug consumption and testing their drugs on a mass spectrometer.

The RV needs a federal exemption from drug laws to be operable. Supervised consumption sites require an exemption under section 56.1 of the federal Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, Health Canada says.

Foy is concerned that approval could take another month; he’s heard anecdotes from staff and community members that overdoses have gone up since the RV left the road.

Foy said he has been told there have been negative reactions to substances being sold as meth, but without the mass spectrometer, there’s no way of knowing what is causing the effects.

“We don’t really have a back door option and we don’t really have any other ability to deliver services,” Foy said.

In July, supervised consumption site advocate Safer Sites issued a drug alert warning the public a substance tested at another location came back positive for para-fluorofentanyl, a synthetic opioid, and was connected to five overdoses.

Another notice stated a substance sold as the street drug “down” was suspected to be related to 19 emergency calls requiring the use of naloxone over a 24-hour period on July 29.

A review of city data shows the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service responded to 249 calls where naloxone was administered 438 times, down from June’s 330 calls and 612 administrations.

In its most recent annual report, the mobile overdose van recorded more than 26,000 visits from Oct. 28, 2022 to Oct. 31, 2023. There were 7,086 visits to consume drugs, which resulted in 20 overdose incidents, four trips to the hospital and no deaths.

Arlene Last-Kolb, co-founder of Overdose Awareness Manitoba and a member of Moms Stop the Harm, worries about what could happen to the downtown core if services are interrupted long-term.

“We know our supply is so toxic that having a safe consumption site… to me, is essential,” she said.

Preliminary data from the province shows there were 570 suspected substance-related deaths in 2024.

In the first two months of 2025, 81 people died owing to suspected substance-related deaths.

Foy said that without the supervised consumption service, drug users can only do so nearby and staff can check on them or offer them space in the ambulance afterward.

The gap in service underscores the urgent need for the supervised consumption site promised by the NDP government, Last-Kolb said.

“If I had a child, I’d be very worried right now,” she said.

In early July, Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith said the province is “moving toward” having a site operating in Winnipeg by year’s end.

Health Canada lists the Winnipeg application as being in the “review” stage and “awaiting key information before decision can be taken.”

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca