Social Justice and Advocacy

Provincial Issues and Advocacy

2026 Provincial Budget Response. 

The 2026 Ontario Budget was released on March 26, 2026. Read our 2026 Budget Response, prepared in collaboration with the College of Bishops. Additional resources for engaging with your MPP will be added soon!

Read our 2026 Pre-Budget Submission.

Speak up against the planned de-funding of supervised consumption sites in Ontario!

On Friday, March 13, the provincial government suddenly announced the cessation of funding for ALL provincially-funded supervised consumption sites in the province (including three in our Diocese – two in Toronto and one in Peterborough.)

This announcement comes despite a nearly 50% increase in paramedic calls in Toronto for suspected overdose over last year and the increasing contamination of street drugs with the veterinary tranquilizer medetomidine, which does not respond to naloxone. Provincewide, paramedic calls are up 69.5% and emergency room visits are up 67% since the closure of more than half of Ontario’s supervised consumption sites in 2025. 

Supervised consumption sites offer drug checking and have the trained staff and equipment to respond to more complex overdoses. Their closure forces more people to use outdoors and in public spaces and puts a greater strain on paramedic and emergency medical services, increasing delays and wait times and making those services less available for everyone who relies on them.

Despite the rollout of the HART Hub model last year, frontline workers say there has not been an increase in the availability of detox beds, treatment, and supportive housing options. (Watch this press conference to hear frontline workers speak out about the impact of supervised consumption site closures.)

Bishop Andrew has sent this letter to the Premier, Health Minister and Associate Minister of Mental Health & Addictions, urging them to continue funding for supervised consumption sites. A customizable template is available for you or your parish to send your own letter to the Premier, these Ministers, and/or your local MPP. If your parish passed last year’s Social Justice Vestry Motion on preserving and expanding harm reduction in Ontario, please consider sending such a letter.

You can send emails to Premier Ford at [email protected], to health minister Sylvia Jones at [email protected] and to associate minister Vijay Thanigasalam at [email protected].

You can find mailing addresses and contact details for your local MPP on the Legislative Assembly of Ontario website.

Federal Issues and Advocacy:

Stop cuts to refugee healthcare!

“When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress them. The foreigner who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the foreigner as yourself.” Leviticus 19:33-34

“I was a stranger, and you welcomed me…I was sick and you took care of me” Matthew 25:35-6

Starting May 1, 2026, the federal government will implement cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) which will force refugees and asylum-seekers to pay out-of-pocket for essential health care, including prescription medications, dental care, mental health counseling, vision care, and physiotherapy.

Under these cuts, refugees will face a $4 fee every time they pick up a prescription, and a 30% co-payment on dental, vision, counseling, and other supplemental care. Refugees often arrive with complex medical needs made worse by conflict and persecution and neglected during time in refugee camps.  When they arrive in Canada, they cannot work until they receive work permits, which are often delayed.  Those who do find work are usually working minimum wage with no benefits.  Even though the co-payments may seem nominal, those struggling to rebuild their lives in a new country are likely to find them beyond their means. They will avoid filling prescriptions, going to the dentist, or getting the counselling they need after surviving trauma. They will get sicker and end up in emergency rooms that cost taxpayers far more than preventative care.

Similar cuts to the IFHP in 2012 were challenged by doctors and other healthcare worker. A federal court found the cuts amounted to “cruel and unusual treatment” – a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms – and reversed them.  We must take this opportunity to speak out for the needs of vulnerable people fleeing war and persecution.

Our Social Justice & Advocacy Committee recently wrote to the Prime Minister and Minister of Immigration urging them to reverse the planned cuts.  You can use our letter as a template, and copy your local MP.  You can also send a message here to speak out against these cuts.