Manitoba reveals second proposed site for supervised drug-consumption facility Businesses near Henry Avenue location express safety concerns; community consultation sessions scheduled next week By: Carol Sanders Posted: 1:42 PM CST Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 Last Modified: 6:13 PM CST Friday, Dec. 5, 2025 Updates

Businesses located close to what could be Manitoba’s first supervised drug consumption site downtown say they’re worried it will add to “trouble” and safety concerns in the area.

A provincial government source confirmed 366 Henry Ave. is the proposed site for people to use illegal drugs under the supervision of staff who can respond to overdoses and guide people toward treatment and other health and social services.

The site intended to save lives is a single-storey building north of Logan Avenue, west of Main Street, and surrounded mostly by automobile-repair shops and other businesses.

Area businesses are already struggling with safety concerns, said Kelly Miranda, manager of Pampanga Restaurant and Banquet Hall across the street at 349 Henry Ave. She said she’s worried a supervised consumption site nearby would make the situation worse.

“There’s already some trouble. Because of the location, where we are and what’s near us, I already lose business,” Miranda said Friday.

Siloam Mission is a short walk from the restaurant, and a supervised consumption site may create more issues for people in the area, including the homeless.

“How is that helping this community here?”

“Now you have people doing all kinds of drugs, and they’re close to people who are homeless or maybe don’t even want to be near drugs.… How is that helping this community here?” Miranda said.

Community members in the area have been invited to take part in consultations about the proposed site next week, the province said. Two sessions will facilitated by Prairie Research Associates Inc.; in-person Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at Siloam Mission and virtually on Thursday via Zoom from 6 to 8 p.m. Attendees are asked to RSVP.

Miranda said she didn’t receive an invitation, and didn’t know about the proposed site until contacted by the Free Press.

Ed Gallos, owner of Master Roofing nearby at 302 Lizzie St., complained about the short notice.

“It seems unfair that this has sprung on us and we’re next-door neighbours. I don’t want to be the (not in my back yard) person here, but… why couldn’t you have let me know earlier? I don’t know how they can call this a proposal, because it seems like a done deal,” Gallos said.

The provincial government “very recently” purchased the 15,538 square-foot building at 366 Henry, said Emily Coutts, principal secretary to Premier Wab Kinew. It has an assessed value of $1,047,000, the City of Winnipeg’s website says.

The area has seen a spike in theft and vandalism in recent years, according to Gallos, who erected metal sheeting around his property. He said he worries about a rise in crime with the proposed site.

“Over the years we’ve had the whole smash-and-grab thing from the cars. Is that going to go up? Is that going to happen on a more regular basis? I don’t know. It’s a collection of unknowns,” he said.

“I don’t know how they can call this a proposal, because it seems like a done deal.”

Winnipeg Police Service Chief Gene Bowers said Friday that the WPS is there to ensure the safety of the community.

“That’s what we’re going to be engaged with, a plan for security with other partners in the community to help, once that facility opens,” Bowers said when asked for his thoughts on the site, and whether officers will be stationed nearby or patrolling the area.

“We’re working out those different details and how that looks… with our partners and us, but definitely there’s discussions going on.”

The proposed site, being developed with Aboriginal Health and Wellness Centre, is located where people need the services, Housing, Addictions and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith said in a prepared statement Friday.

“It is well beyond 250 metres from any school or registered child-care facility. Open drug use is happening in the streets, in parks and the bathrooms of local businesses,” Smith said.

“When people use drugs in public, their safety and the safety of the community is being compromised. The supervised consumption site is an important part of the harm-reduction approach that will connect people to health care and addictions treatment support.”

Opening a facility was one of the NDP’s 2023 election campaign promises. While in opposition, the party criticized the governing Tories for failing to open a supervised consumption site to address a rising number of overdose deaths.

More than two years into its mandate, the NDP hasn’t opened a facility, but pledged to open one in January.

A previous proposal to use the building at 200 Disraeli Fwy. in Point Douglas was abandoned in September over concerns it was located too close to schools and child-care facilities.

Kinew promised that a new site would include a minimum 250-metre buffer zone from any schools or daycares. Victoria Albert Elementary School on Ellen Street and Dufferin School on Alexander Avenue are located about 800 and 850 metres from 366 Henry, respectively.

The province also said it would resubmit an application to the federal government for a Criminal Code exemption to allow for a supervised drug-use facility. Exemption applicants are required to provide evidence of local conditions supporting the need for the site and to conduct community consultations and report on them.

“I’m glad to see the province starting public consultations,” Mayor Scott Gillingham said. “It’s an important step, and it will give the neighbourhood an opportunity to ask questions about how the facility would work and how the province will support safety in the area,” he said in a prepared statement.

Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Loren Remillard expressed a similar opinion.

“It is important that those most directly impacted are consulted in a meaningful, authentic way, their concerns are heard and, to the extent possible, are acted upon,” he said.

Tory housing, addictions and homelessness critic Jeff Bereza (Portage la Prairie) asked why the province didn’t notify the public about next week’s consultations until Friday. “This is something that is being rushed through,” he said.

With files from Malak Abas, Nicole Buffie and Joyanne Pursaga.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca