After a month-long break, Victoria’s city council is meeting this week for the first time since July 31st, and one item on the agenda concerns harm reduction and decriminalization of small amounts of illicit drugs.
A three-year exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act was granted to the Province of BC by Health Canada, which temporarily decriminalized possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.
That exemption comes to an end as of January 31st, 2026.
Currently in Victoria, possessing small amounts of certain illicit drugs for personal use is legal, though it is illegal to use these substances in open public spaces.
At this week’s committee of the whole meeting, Councillor Marg Gardiner will bring forth a motion which requests the Province to not seek an extension to this exemption, and for the federal government not to grant one.
According to data from the BC Coroners Service, after decriminalization came into effect in 2023, toxic drug deaths in BC decreased by nearly 11% in 2024.
Thus far in 2025, statistics show that toxic drug deaths are down by an average of 25% when compared to 2024’s numbers.
These figures indicate that the Province’s exemption and other harm reduction-based efforts have been effective in reducing the number of toxic drug deaths over the last three years in BC.
While Gardiner’s motion points to the fact that during this period, services such as outreach workers and recovery supports were put in place as a replacement to legal consequences, she also says that it has created “no go zones” on Victoria’s streets.
Regardless of the statistics, Gardiner added that the exemption has been harmful to Victoria’s vulnerable population, those with mental health conditions and to the unhoused.
“They have been put in harm’s way by the acceptance and normalization of open drug use on our streets and places sanctioned for illicit drug use such as low barrier housing and other provincial government funded facilities,” reads Gardiner’s motion.
She added that while the people of Victoria are not insensitive to the plight of those suffering from addiction, she believes that the “social reengineering” has been disruptive to the general public of the city.
“‘Harm reduction’ is an obscene phrase that obscures the harm done by illicit drug use,” wrote Gardiner.
“The attendant social pathologies of illicit drug use are threatening to damage the economic wellbeing of our city and the reputation of Victoria as a safe place to live and work.”
Despite Gardiner’s views on harm reduction, this method is decidedly essential to the work being done to end the toxic drug crisis that has been ongoing since April 2016.
According to a Chief Medical Officer of Island Health Dr. Réka Gustafson, harm reduction is effective in preventing substance use deaths.
“Preventing these deaths requires actions beyond health services including investment in the social determinants of health, like housing, income, education and social connection, which shape people’s vulnerability to substance use,” said Dr. Gustafson in commemoration of International Overdose Awareness Day.
“Continuing to focus on equitable and accessible prevention, harm reduction, and treatment services is also required.”
Councillor Gardiner’s motion specifically calls on her colleagues to vote in favour of requesting Mayor Marianne Alto to send a letter to communicate that the City of Victoria does not support the renewal or extension of the exemption.
She would have the letter be sent to Marjorie Michel, Minister of Health Canada; BC Premier David Eby; Josie Osbourne, BC Minister of Health; Niki Sharma, BC Attorney General; Nina Krieger, BC Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General; Grace Lore, Victoria MLA; Darlene Rotchford, Esquimalt-Colwood MLA; and Will Greaves, Victoria MP.
This motion will be discussed, debated and voted upon at this week’s committee of the whole meeting on Thursday, September 4th.
Though the exemption end-date is coming up, the Province has given no inclination of whether they seek to extend or renew the initiative.
