Island Health is making progress towards establishing a much-needed Sobering and Assessment Centre for Vancouver Island’s west coast region.
Located in Tofino, the six-bed facility will offer shelter and assessment for inebriated clients for up to 24 hours.
“Island Health is committed to increasing access to the health and care services people need, where and when they need them. Island Health and our valued local partners recognize the need for a Sobering and Assessment Centre for the West Coast region and we can confirm work is underway to establish these services in Tofino,” said Island Health.
Faye Missar, Alberni-Clayoquot community health promoter, said there has been a lot of work with community partners to secure a location close to the Tofino General Hospital.
“One of the reasons the Sobering and Assessment Centre needed to be close to the hospital was in case someone went into a withdrawal state. (Withdrawal) is a complex medical state and things can happen quickly,” said Missar.
“(The centre) will provide a safe space for someone who needs sobering and ideally within that stay, they also make a connection with a worker who then, if they are feeling ready, can connect them to other community-based services and support their recovery process,” said Missar.
The Sobering and Assessment Centre builds on Community Alcohol Strategy (CAS) work that started over a decade ago and comes at a time when data from the BC Centre for Disease Control shows substance use disorders in the Alberni-Clayoquot region have increased by nearly 40 per cent over the past 15 years, primarily due to alcohol.
“Tofino’s unique context, including seasonal tourism, a strong hospitality sector, limited health and emergency response resources, and close relationships with First Nations, means that alcohol use can affect the community in different ways,” said the District of Tofino.
According to the district, alcohol-related hospital admissions among west coast residents are significantly higher than the Island Health average and the alcohol-related death rate in the region is higher than both Island Health and provincial averages.
In 2024, after multiple tragic losses in the small community of Ahousaht First Nation, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council declared a state of emergency in response to the mental health and opioid crisis that is disproportionately affecting First Nations communities. The state of emergency included all 14 Nuu-chah-nulth nations.
“Alcohol is like a sickness. A sobering centre is definitely needed,” said Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation Chief Councillor Elmer Frank.
He said the West Coast sobering centre will support Tla-o-qui-aht’s Saasin House, which opened in 2022 in Ty-Histanis with 20 beds for long-term substance use recovery.
“You have to be sober to be at the (Saasin House),” said Frank. “Sometimes home is not the best place to come back to after treatment because you could fall back into the same friends, back into the same pattern.”
In 2024, the Province of British Columbia supported a request from Ahousaht First Nation leadership to limit liquor purchases at Tofino’s government-owned liquor store in order to reduce alcohol-related harms and impacts on remote communities.
Currently, customers at the BC Liquor store in Tofino can only buy up to four bottles of hard liquor at a time if the alcohol is sold in plastic containers.
“We have bootlegging going on in my nation and there’s cases by cases every Friday coming in, sometimes three or four from certain individuals,” said Ahousaht Tyee Ha’wilth Richard George (Hasheukumiss) when announcing the new purchase limit.
Over a year after the new purchase limits were put in place, Hasheukumiss says full cases of vodka are still coming into Ahousaht that are purchased from other liquor stores. Ahousaht is a small village of about 1,000 people located a 30-minute boat ride away from Tofino.
Chief Frank and Hasheukumiss sit on a steering committee with other community leaders, including representatives from Island Health, Tofino RCMP, Westcoast Community Resources Society, Coastal Coalition Community Response Network, Tourism Tofino and the District of Tofino. The team is encouraging Alberni-Clayoquot residents, business owners, workers, and anyone who feels connected to the Tofino community to help inform the CAS by taking a short survey or participating in one of several upcoming engagement sessions.
“We will be going to Ahousaht and Ty-Histanis and hosting a meal,” said Missar. “The survey is a listening tool aimed at the whole region. We want to assess where the awareness level is and what the issues are.”
The public survey is open until April 23 and takes about five to 10 minutes to complete. It can be accessed by visiting: https://talktofino.ca/alcohol.
Everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a $100 prepaid credit card.