The province is closing a supervised drug consumption site at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton next month.

In an email to CBC News, Recovery Alberta confirmed the Dec. 16 closure was directed by the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction.

Mental Health and Addiction Minister Rick Wilson said the site wasn’t used enough to warrant continued operation.

“There's only like one or two people max, new inpatients per day,” he said. “So the use was pretty low.”

According to Wilson’s press secretary, 154 unique clients visited the Royal Alexandra site 1,472 times in 2024. He said 1,212 visits “resulted in a consumption event.”

The site, which opened in 2018, offers drug users who are inpatients a place to use substances under medical observation. Nurses are available to administer lif

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