Eric Hoskins, Health Minister of Ontario says the provincial government will invest $222 million over three years to improve access to harm reduction services and addiction treatment amid an opioid crisis in the province.
The announcement comes a day after more than 700 health care workers called on ON Premier Kathleen Wynne in an open letter to declare a provincial emergency due to a "disturbing" increase in overdose deaths.
Hoskins said he decided not to declare a provincial emergency because the Ontario government already has the tools it needs to fight the opioid crisis, but has "answered that call with a highly substantial increase in funding.