SMITHS FALLS — A new era of addiction care and recovery began in Smiths Falls this week with the official opening of the Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub at the former Willowdale Retirement Centre.
The facility welcomed its first clients Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. It was one of 28 HART Hubs launched across Ontario through a provincial investment of almost $550 million to expand access to treatment, stabilize housing and reduce the pressure on hospitals, police, paramedics and social services.
Mayor Shawn Pankow called the opening “the gift of hope,” noting that for many residents, timely access to detox supports and addiction treatment has been out of reach.
“Addiction is that powerful, isolating force that fractures families and devastates communities,” he said. “For ever, access to low-barrier treatment has been very difficult to obtain. Until today. This new HART Hub in Smiths Falls will save lives.”
Pankow credited property owner Chris Saumure for providing a location that also houses Bridgehouse supportive housing. He said the shared site has allowed dozens of individuals to stabilize in permanent housing and will now serve as an integrated treatment hub.
Three years of work
Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP John Jordan said the model reflects years of partnership between local mental health providers, police, paramedics, the town and more than 50 regional agencies that form the wraparound network.
“Starting Monday, the HART Hub will bring together mental and primary health services, transitional housing and social supports, all under one roof,” Jordan said. “It’ll not only give some of our most vulnerable residents a way out of crisis, but a pathway toward stability and hope.”
Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark praised the work of Lanark, Leeds and Grenville Addictions and Mental Health (LLGAMH), which will operate both the Smiths Falls location and the Brockville site scheduled to open in spring 2026.
“Today is a milestone for providing treatment and hope of a new path forward for individuals and their families whose lives have been disrupted by addiction,” Clark said.
A full continuum of care
Kim Gifford, CEO of LLGAMH, said the opening marks a significant shift in how services will be delivered.
“We are honoured to welcome clients to begin their recovery journey at our HART Hub,” she said. “The model offers our communities low-barrier access to a full continuum of mental health and addictions care that will give individuals a real opportunity for lasting recovery and, in some cases, a pathway out of homelessness.”
According to provincial details, HART Hubs will not include safer supply, supervised consumption or needle exchange programs. Instead, the focus is on treatment, withdrawal management, housing stabilization, employment support and longer-term recovery planning.
The Smiths Falls location will be part of a network that will add close to 900 supportive housing units across Ontario, more than 300 above the original plan.
Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Vijay Thanigasalam said the HART expansion is designed to build “a stronger, more connected system” in communities where addiction-related emergencies have grown rapidly.
“The opening of this new HART Hub will ensure that people struggling with mental health and addictions challenges can get the care they need on their path to recovery, while keeping the community safe,” he said.
The Smiths Falls HART Hub will provide mental health counselling, primary care, withdrawal management and addiction treatment beds, supportive and transitional housing units, peer support and employment and training services
Pankow said the community has worked for years to attract treatment options that match the intensity of need in the region.
“We can leave behind the ghosts of Christmas past,” he said, “and celebrate the possibilities this HART Hub will bring to so many of our loved ones.”
The HART Hub opens to clients Dec. 8. The Brockville facility is expected to follow in 2026.
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