Ontario opens Brampton HART Hub as Thunder Bay model remains key test of recovery-first addiction policy

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Ontario has opened a new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub in Brampton, expanding a provincewide network aimed at connecting people facing homelessness, mental health challenges and substance use issues with treatment, housing and social supports.

The Brampton site is part of Ontario’s more than $560-million investment to open 29 HART Hubs across the province. The government says the model is intended to support recovery, improve access to care and strengthen community safety.

For Thunder Bay readers, the announcement is not distant. Thunder Bay is already part of the HART Hub system, with NorWest Community Health Centres operating a local hub at 409 George St., across from Shelter House, in one of the city’s most visible areas of homelessness, addictions and street-level poverty.

Province says Brampton hub will bring services together under one roof

Vijay Thanigasalam, Ontario’s associate minister of mental health and addictions, said the new Brampton hub is part of a larger push to build a more connected mental health and addictions system.

“We are building a stronger, more connected system of mental health and addictions care that better reflects the needs of communities and focuses on lasting recovery,” Thanigasalam said.

He said the Brampton HART Hub will ensure people in Peel Region can access services “that prioritize their path to recovery and strengthen community safety.”
The Brampton hub will offer mental health services, addictions care, primary care, vocational services, case management, basic needs support such as food, showers and clothing, and supportive housing connections.

CMHA Peel Dufferin leads Brampton site

The Brampton HART Hub is being led by the Canadian Mental Health Association Peel Dufferin, in partnership with the Region of Peel and local service agencies. It is located at 10 Peel Centre Dr. and is co-located with regional services.

David Smith, CEO of CMHA Peel Dufferin, said the hub is designed to make help easier to reach.

“By working together across sectors, we are reducing barriers and making it easier for people to access the supports they need, when they need them,” Smith said.

He said the Brampton site reflects “a collective commitment to a more integrated system of care in Peel, with services that are coordinated, responsive, and grounded in community need.”

Thunder Bay’s HART Hub already operating on George Street

Thunder Bay’s HART Hub is operated by NorWest Community Health Centres at 409 George St. The service listing describes it as person-centred, trauma-informed support for people facing substance-use challenges.

The Thunder Bay hub offers addictions support, including addiction medicine, withdrawal management, addictions counselling and safer-use education. It also provides system navigation and housing support, including help with housing applications, identification, financial supports, legal-aid connections and treatment applications.

Mental health supports include counselling referrals, crisis support, peer support and psychiatry referrals. Health-care services include wound care, prescriptions, vaccinations, nursing assessments, screening and testing. The Thunder Bay hub also lists Indigenous health and well-being supports, including cultural support, traditional healing and ceremonies, cultural programming and referrals to Indigenous health services.

The local HART Hub is open Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, and no appointment is required. The listed phone number is 807-695-5033.

Who Thunder Bay’s hub serves

The Thunder Bay service is listed for adults and youth aged 16 and older living in Thunder Bay who have multiple health conditions, including moderate to severe mental health or addictions challenges, and who are experiencing homelessness, at risk of homelessness or require intensive services to maintain housing.

The Ontario Care Network listing for the NorWest HART Hub clinic says clients can self-refer or walk in, and referrals are also accepted from health-care providers, including doctors, nurse practitioners, social workers and peer support workers. It says most patients can be seen the same day or within a few days, depending on scheduling.

That low-barrier access matters in Thunder Bay, where homelessness, addictions and mental health pressures are concentrated in the south core but draw on a wider regional catchment that includes remote and northern communities.

Province says HART Hubs will not offer supervised consumption

Ontario says HART Hubs are focused on treatment and recovery and will not offer safer supply, supervised drug consumption or needle exchange programs. The province says the 29-hub network will also add close to 900 supportive housing units across Ontario.

That policy choice is central to the debate in Thunder Bay and other Ontario communities.

Supporters argue the HART model connects people to treatment, housing and recovery services.

Critics of the broader provincial shift have warned that removing supervised consumption options may increase overdose risk for people who are not yet ready or able to enter treatment.

Brampton MPPs frame hub as public safety and care investment

Charmaine Williams, MPP for Brampton Centre, said the new hub is meant to help families access care closer to home.

“The opening of the Brampton HART Hub marks an important step in ensuring that individuals and families in our community can access the care and support they need, close to home,” Williams said.

She said bringing mental health, addictions and social services together in one location will help create “a more coordinated and responsive system focused on recovery and long-term stability.”

Amarjot Sandhu, MPP for Brampton West, said the Brampton hub will help residents access “the right care, at the right time, close to home.”

Why Thunder Bay will be watching outcomes closely

For Thunder Bay, the province’s HART Hub rollout is more than a policy announcement from southern Ontario. The local hub is now part of the city’s front-line response to homelessness, addictions and mental health crisis pressures.

The key measure will be whether the model can move people from emergency survival into treatment, stable housing, primary care and long-term supports. In Thunder Bay, that also means ensuring Indigenous clients, youth, people leaving hospital or jail, and people without identification or income support can actually get connected before they fall through service gaps.