Flood of groups indicate interest in running Ford government addiction hubs [Video]

The Ford government is facing a difficult decision as a deluge of non-profits compete to run addiction recovery hubs that are set to open before a number of supervised consumption sites shut down.

An initial process for groups interested in opening new government-funded addiction centres — nicknamed HART Hubs — closed on Saturday, with just over 80 non-profits indicating they planned to try and get involved.

The government is currently set to introduce 19 new Hart Hubs across Ontario sometime during the winter, with the $378-million project announced to replace 10 supervised drug consumption sites that will have to close by the end of March.

The process to open those hubs formally began at the end of August when the province posted a detailed application for groups interested in running new highly supportive housing and intensive addiction recovery centres.

The document said it would accept applications to run 10 …