Kelowna Mayor Requests Closure of Supervised Consumption Site

Mayor Tom Dyas and the Kelowna City Council are requesting that Health Canada deny the 2027 renewal of the federal authorization for the Outreach Urban Health supervised consumption site on Pandosy Street. In a letter dated August 26 addressed to Health Minister Marjorie Michel, Dyas argued that the facility's impact on the downtown core has become unsustainable.

Since the site opened in 2021, the city reports 3,466 RCMP calls for service, 371 medical incidents, and 24 outdoor fires in the immediate area. The city also cited reports of gang activity, drug trafficking, and weapons-related assaults, noting that 89 percent of 133 local businesses rated the site's impact as bad or very bad in a 2023 survey.

Interior Health's chief medical health officer, Dr. Sue Pollock, defended the facility as a life-saving service, noting it saw 37,000 visits last year and responded to 75 overdoses without fatality in 2025. While acknowledging a toxic drug crisis that has caused 37 deaths in Kelowna this year, Dyas maintains the current model fails to provide pathways to recovery and is calling for a regional mandatory care facility in the Okanagan.

British Columbia Health Minister Ravi Kahlon confirmed the province received the city's concerns. Kahlon stated he looks forward to meeting with Dyas at the Union of BC Municipalities convention to work together to address the issues and improve care in Kelowna.