Understanding the data: Supervised consumption sites

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What the data can tell us

Supervised consumption sites offer harm reduction services that are central to the Government of Canada's response to the opioid overdose crisis. SCS data can provide early warning signals by detecting changes in:

• drug use and harms
• demographics of people using drugs
• types of drugs used

What we track

This page provides national data as well as data for each supervised consumption site (SCS). We don’t include data from other sites, such as urgent public health needs sites (commonly known as overdose prevention sites).

We track:

• total number of visits to SCSs
• number of different clients
• client demographics (gender, age)
• number of drugs consumed by drug type
• number of referrals to health and social services
• number of overdoses and drug emergencies
• number of overdoses requiring the use of naloxone
• number of calls to emergency medical services (EMS)

Definitions of indicators

Total visits

Total number of times people used a site during the reporting period.

Unique clients

Number of different people using a site during the monthly reporting period. A person will only be counted once by a site each month, but the same person could be counted more than once when looking at data covering a period longer than one month.

Non-fatal overdoses

Number of drug overdoses that took place in an SCS during the reporting period and which did not result in death. To date, nobody has died of an overdose in an SCS in Canada.

Total service referrals

Any referral made to health or social support services that are offered within the SCS, in a connected onsite location, or offsite in a different location.

Service referrals provided within the SCS

Any referral made to health or social support services not directly related to drug consumption, that are offered within the SCS space (for example, a nurse holding a clinic within the space). This can include:

• wound care
• testing for STBBIs (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections)
• primary health care
• mental health care
• food and shelter services
• legal aid
• employment assistance
• other service referrals

Service referrals provided onsite

Any referral made to health or social support services not directly related to drug consumption, that are offered within the same building as the SCS, but not in the SCS space (for example, an SCS which is attached to a community health centre). This can include:

• wound care
• testing for STBBIs (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections)
• primary health care
• mental health care
• food and shelter services
• legal aid
• employment assistance
• other onsite referrals

Service referrals provided offsite

Any referral made to health or social support services not directly related to drug consumption, that are offered at a different location than the SCS or the building that the SCS is located in. This can include:

• wound care
• testing for STBBIs (sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections)
• primary health care
• mental health care
• food and shelter services
• legal aid
• employment assistance
• other off-site referrals

Average visits per day

Total number of visits to all sites divided by the total number of days sites were operating during the reporting period.

Average new clients per month

Total number of clients new to a particular SCS, summed for all sites and divided by number of sites reporting in the monthly reporting period.

Drugs used

Number of times a certain drug was consumed in the sites during the reporting period.

Overdoses requiring naloxone

Number of drug overdoses that required the use of naloxone (a fast-acting drug that can temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses).

Emergency medical services

Number of times EMS services (ambulance/paramedics) were called during the reporting period.

Other medical services

Number of other medical emergencies (not related to overdose events) that occurred during the reporting period.

Law enforcement

Number of calls made for police services, which could be for any number of reasons and are not necessarily related to a crime or violence.

Other internal services

Number of times services internal to the SCS were offered to clients during the reporting period.

Data limitations

Each SCS provides a standardized data report to Health Canada every month. Prior to March 2020, the reporting data wasn’t completely standardized. Therefore, for the sites operating at any point prior to March 2020, we can’t report on some data due to missing or inconsistent reporting, including:

• site-level data
• data on trends
• client demographics
• type of drug used
• calls for help
• services within the site

There is a delay of about 2 months between when we receive data and when we post it. This allows us time for data entry and validation.

Individual SCS may interpret each category of services and referrals differently. For this reason, use caution when interpreting totals for each category.

Related links

• Supervised Consumption Sites Pandemic Impact Survey: Results at a glance
• Supervised consumption sites and services
• SCS currently offering services
• Data, surveillance and research on opioids and other substances
• Federal actions on opioids to date