Ontario Opens Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub in Sault Ste. Marie

Press Release

December 11, 2025

Province supporting community safety and addiction recovery with 28 HART Hubs delivering care across Ontario

SAULT STE. MARIE — The Ontario government is expanding access to high-quality mental health and addictions care with the launch of a new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub in Sault Ste. Marie. This is part of the province’s almost $550 million investment to open 28 HART Hubs across Ontario to protect the safety of children and families, while improving access to recovery and treatment services for people facing housing instability, mental health and substance use challenges.

“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,” said Vijay Thanigasalam, Associate Minister for Mental Health and Addictions. “The opening of this new HART Hub will ensure that people struggling with mental health and addictions challenges in Sault Ste. Marie, can get the care they need on their path to recovery, while keeping the community safe.”

HART Hubs connect people to a range of comprehensive treatment and recovery services such as primary care, mental health services, addictions care, social services and employment support.

The HART Hub, operated in collaboration with the Canadian Mental Health Association Algoma and its partners, is actively delivering services.

The Hub brings together a collaborative network of clinical, social service and care providers working together to connect individuals with the supports they need, when they need them. Together, these partners deliver services tailored to the needs of the community, such as:

Mental health services
Substance use treatment
Case management for income, social and employment services
Shelter and transitional beds
Mental health and addictions supportive housing
Indigenous services
Mobile outreach

Through Your Health: A Plan for Connected and Convenient Care and building on the Roadmap to Wellness, the province is taking action to connect individuals to integrated mental health and addictions services, where and when they need it.

Quick Facts

The Sault Ste. Marie HART hub delivers services in collaboration with partners including Sault Ste. Marie District Social Services, John Howard Society, Sault Area Hospital, Niigaaniin Services, the Algoma Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic and Algoma Family Services and Nogdawindamin Family and Community Services.
The Sault Ste. Marie HART Hub is located in the Community Resource Centre in Sault Ste. Marie at 721 Wellington Street.
Maamwesying North Shore Community Health Services will lead a second Indigenous-focused hub in Sault Ste. Marie, with services across Blind River and several First Nation communities to ensure the delivery of culturally relevant care for community members.
As of April 1, 2025, nine Consumption and Treatment Services sites successfully transitioned to HART Hubs, delivering expanded recovery and treatment services to ensure timely, high-quality care for vulnerable individuals while keeping communities safe. More HART Hubs are now opening across Ontario.
HART Hubs will also add close to 900 supportive housing units across the province. This is over 300 more than originally planned, helping people transition to stable, long-term housing.
In March 2025, the government announced an investment of almost $550 million to create a total of 28 HART Hubs across the province, nine more HART Hubs than initially planned.
This includes two Indigenous-led Hubs in Kenora and Sault Ste. Marie/Blind River/Sagamok, to deliver culturally relevant care in partnership with Indigenous service organizations.
With a focus on treatment and recovery, HART Hubs will not offer safer supply, supervised drug consumption or needle exchange programs.
Through the Roadmap to Wellness, Ontario is investing $3.8 billion over 10 years to close gaps in mental health and addictions care and build a world-class system. This investment is helping create new services and expand programs across the province.
As part of Budget 2025, Ontario is investing $303 million over the next three years to support community-led and delivered mental health programs.

Quotes

“The Hart Hub in Sault Ste. Marie is a welcome addition to our health and social services in Algoma. It will bring care, support, and connection together in one welcoming space, making it easier for people to find help when they need it most. This is about reaching people in their moment of need and providing hope, dignity, and a path to a stronger future. I am pleased and happy to have supported our government in investing in proven, community- based solutions that connect people with counselling, crisis support, addiction services, in one centralized location. I am grateful for the HART Hub for its leadership in creating safer, healthier communities across the province.”
– Bill Rosenberg
MPP, Algoma—Manitoulin

“The opening of a HART Hub is a significant step forward for the health and well-being of Sault Ste. Marie and the entire Algoma region. It brings specialized, life-saving care to our community, ensuring our residents can access the critical services they need closer to home. I’m grateful for the thousands of Saultites that provided letters of support for our application.”
– Matthew Shoemaker
Mayor of Sault Ste. Marie

“This investment represents an essential milestone in our community’s collective road to recovery. It strengthens a holistic system of care designed to support individuals at the moments in their journey when they need it most. Everyone deserves safety, dignity, and the opportunity for hope. The people in Sault Ste. Marie who are experiencing homelessness, addictions, and mental health challenges are members of our community; they are our neighbours, friends, and family. Through coordinated and collaborative solutions, we are building a compassionate and sustainable network of support that empowers people to regain stability and move forward in recovery.”
– Stephanie Pagnucco
Board Chair District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board

“Sault Ste. Marie is a special place — when someone needs a helping hand here, we offer it. The Sault Ste. Marie Hart Hub, thanks to the support of the Government of Ontario, is empowering because it takes that helping hand, and backs it with the programs, services and professionals that can deliver wrap-around support and care to our neighbours who are struggling. It’s not the whole solution to homelessness, addiction and mental health struggles in the Soo, but it is a critical piece of the puzzle – and something that offers hope for a safer, healthier future.”
– Lisa Case
CEO of Algoma’s Canadian Mental Health Association

“As a community, we can create lasting, positive change for current and future generations. The Sault Ste. Marie Hart Hub is deeply rooted in what our neighbours need to build a healthier, more stable life — a by-community and for-community action that brings together a dozen community organizations to envision a better future, then work together to make it possible.”
– Sandy MacDonald
Algoma Board Co-Chair, Canadian Mental Health Association

Additional Resources

Ontario Opens Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub in Sault Ste. Marie

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