The Windsor-Essex Health Unit has finalized a lease agreement for a safe injection site in downtown Windsor.
This week, the health unit will be making an application to Health Canada to set up the urgent public health need site at 101 Wyandotte Street East.
"That would allow us hopefully a quicker approval so that we could actually get started and open the doors sooner, while we wait for the more lengthier application," said WECHU CEO Nicole Dupuis. "We hope to take over the site in May, look at the space, and start making the adjustments we need to to get it ready."
This was one of two locations identified during community consultations on the safe injection site. Originally, a site on Goyeau Street was identified as the preferred location because of its larger footprint. However, the health unit was unable to reach a lease agreement for the site.
The urgent public health need site application gives the health unit a time-limited exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for the consumption and treatment service.
The health unit will also be making an application for a long-term consumption and treatment service site at the same location. This application will need approval from Windsor City Council.
"That, we believe, should be a formality given [the two locations] are side-by-side, the consultation is identical and really the plan, the security plan, everything is the same," said Dupuis.
It's unclear how long it will take for either application to be approved.
