Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre

08/20/2026

From 2017-2025, Toronto’s supervised consumption sites managed 4,334 overdose cases with ZERO deaths on site. Every one of those people lived to continue their journey thanks to harm reduction.

When Toronto’s largest supervised consumption site closed in March 2025 nearly half of former clients reported higher overdose risk. The people who relied on it still need a safe place to go.

The province's current model for addiction recovery and supportive housing includes an estimated 540 new supportive housing units across 27 sites province-wide. Toronto's own MHA supportive housing wait list is at 28,936 people, and growing. That list has more than doubled since 2018.

The average wait time is over 8 years in Toronto, while only 2-3% of people on Ontario wait lists get placed each year.

Harm reduction keeps people alive and connected to essential services. For many, it may be the first step toward recovery. But we need accessible pathways to the next stage of care. When treatment beds, housing, or support services are unavailable, the failure lies in the system, not in the harm reduction approach itself.

PARC provides safety today and a path toward stability tomorrow.

Sources:
Toronto Public Health, Toronto Overdose Information System dashboard; Ontario CRISM/CAMH, TPH Supervised Consumption Site Closure Evaluation (2025); Addictions and Mental Health Ontario, Unlocking Solutions (2025).

08/19/2026

This Saturday PARC member artists are setting up right outside our drop-in at 1499 Queen St W. From 2 to 5 PM, come browse original paintings, crafts, and handmade goods, all made by our members. Every sale goes directly to the artist who made the piece.

We're tabling as part of the Parkdale Music Crawl & Street Festival, running 11 AM to 9 PM along Queen St W from Dufferin to Roncesvalles. Live bands, food vendors, buskers, and neighbourhood sidewalk sales fill the strip all day. Stop by our table and explore!

08/06/2026

Two things: housing need, and a need for support to keep that housing.

The people waiting to access supportive housing don't look the way most Torontonians picture them. Between 13 and 33 per cent of people on Ontario's mental health and addictions supportive housing wait lists are over the age of 65 (AMHO, 2025). Nationally, 38 per cent of people with disabilities say they don't get the help they need to live independently, including help with bathing, cooking, cleaning, and shopping (Canadian Human Rights Commission and Office of the Federal Housing Advocate, 2024). That's the gap supportive housing fills, and why it should be invested in.

Seniors. People with disabilities. Newcomers. Youth leaving care. People discharged from hospitals, jails, and long-term care. The model works across all of them, because what it provides is housing plus the supports that make housing hold.

The problem is how few homes exist. At least 28,936 people are on the wait list for mental health and addictions supportive housing in Toronto, and the average wait is 8.1 years (AMHO, 2025).

Building more supportive housing means shorter waits and healthier homes for everyone on that list.

Sources
Addictions and Mental Health Ontario (2025). Unlocking Solutions: Understanding and Addressing Ontario's Mental Health and Addictions Supportive Housing Needs.

Canadian Human Rights Commission & Office of the Federal Housing Advocate (2024). New data highlights troubling housing inequalities for people with disabilities.

08/05/2026

Last month PARC partnered with The Dale Ministries to host a memorial BBQ for community members we have lost. Our community loses people too often and too early. Making space to grieve collectively is part of the care our members extend to one another, and it belongs alongside our daily work.

The gathering brought together stories of the people we have lost and music from the neighbourhood, shared over a meal with our neighbours. It's such a gift when the Parkdale community has the opportunity to gather.

We are grateful to Breakaway Community Services for leading grief activities and to the Parkdale Musicians Collective for sharing their music. Our thanks to the Indigenous Elders who welcomed the community and offered comfort throughout the day.

We would also like to thank the Arthur and Audrey Cutten Foundation whose funding made this day of remembrance possible.

08/04/2026

PARC's August Activities Calendar is live!

Our annual PARCabana celebration will take place Friday August 28th (12:30pm-4:30pm)!

Drop-in hours:
Monday-Thursday: 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Friday: 12:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday & holidays: 11:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

To support PARC's programs and activities: https://parc.on.ca/donate/

07/28/2026

$17,677 RAISED! Thank you to everyone who made this a massive success - every ticket purchased, every poster and t-shirt sold, every donation will help PARC continue providing affordable supportive housing and the wraparound supports that help people rebuild their lives.

To the bands, DJ Meg, the volunteers, vendors, raffle prize donors, , and every single person who came out - thank you. An extra special shout out to , and for all the work to bring the bands together, spreading the word and making the show a reality!

We are so grateful to our community for making this such a great night.

Musicians:and.remy
h.i.t.p.o.s.t.ing




Vendors:
sang





Raffle donors:



parkdaletonic

07/28/2026

We're still basking in the glow from last week's benefit show at Parkdale Hall!

A huge thank you to Exclaim! for this thoughtful review, which perfectly captured what the night was really about - community, solidarity, and a reminder that in difficult times, Toronto's music scene is a community that cares.

Thank you to everyone who played, volunteered, donated, attended, and helped make this night possible.

Read the full review here:

Parkdale Hall, July 23

07/27/2026

Our Memorial BBQ will take place tomorrow. Join us as we honour the memories of members we've since lost. Thank you to The Dale Ministries for their support.

Join us for Spirits in the Sky, a Memorial BBQ hosted by The Dale Ministries and Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre.

Together, we will remember and honour those we have lost in 2026, as well as loved ones who have been gone for many years.

Through shared stories, music, reflection, ceremony, and a meal, we'll create space to grieve, remember, and be together in community.

We are deeply grateful to Breakaway for leading grief activities and creating space for reflection, the Parkdale Musicians Collective for sharing their music, and our Indigenous Elders who will begin our gathering with a Welcome.
A heartfelt thank you to the Arthur and Audrey Cutten Foundation for funding this important event and helping make this day of remembrance possible.

And yes, there will be good food too.

Everyone is welcome.

07/27/2026

Our benefit concert at The Parkdale Hall on July 23rd brought our community together in support of PARC's work in Parkdale.

Proceeds from tickets, merchandise, and a community raffle go directly toward PARC's drop-in services, harm reduction programs, and supportive housing work.

Thank you to everyone who performed, set up a table, donated a prize, or bought a ticket. Events like this keep PARC's programs running.

Thank you to our bands:
Diatribe
Duchess
Siyahkal
S.H.I.T
9 Million

Thank you to our raffle donors:
The Duchess Tattoo Shop
Made You Look Jewellery
Pandemonium Books & Discs
Blue Tile Lounge Skateboard Shop
Lost Tonic
Lil'Demon Guitarists' Pro Shop
Three Dollar Bill - Parkdale

Thank you to our partners:
NOT DEAD YET
Licentia Zines
SHOUT!

Thank you to our vendors:
Stuntin
Little Ghosts Books
Whimsy Henna
Sick Flat Designs
Diyen Sang
Tsekeui Stitches

07/22/2026

Last week we gathered at 55B Brock Avenue for the opening of Pat Capponi Parkette, a permanent tribute to one of Parkdale's fiercest advocates.

Pat joined PARC in 1981 as our first psychiatric survivor staff member. She reshaped what PARC could be, moving us toward a member-led model and putting housing quality and the politics of poverty at the centre of the work. As a psychiatric survivor herself, she used her writing and her advocacy to make sure people with lived experience helped shape the mental health system rather than being shaped by it.

The parkette opened on July 14, Mad Pride Day. It is hard to imagine a more fitting date for Pat.

We are honoured to be part of Pat's legacy. It carries on in every member who finds community here.