Community Needle Retrieval Program

The City's integrated strategies to retrieve drug use equipment coordinates the effort of approximately 60 internal and external partners who represent six distinct retrieval streams.

Needle Hunters – Daily crews patrol the communities of Lowertown, Sandy Hill, Centertown, Somerset W, Hintonburg, Carlington and Vanier to retrieve needles that have been discarded in public spaces.

City of Ottawa staff – With the coordinated support of several City departments, City staff respond to requests for retrieval anywhere on City property with a priority response. Residents can request this service by calling 3-1-1.

Needle drop boxes – With over 75 24/7 publicly accessible locations across the city, needle drop boxes make disposing of drug use equipment convenient and safe.

Harm reduction services and partner agencies – Dedicated to people who use drugs, multiple agencies across the city are available to accept returns of needles and other drug use equipment.

Household Hazardous Waste Depots – Hosting multiple events throughout the year, Household Hazardous Waste Depots collect all kinds of waste that cannot be collected in the regular waste stream, including medical sharps, and drug use equipment

Sharps kits are available to equip individuals with the appropriate tools and training to reinforce personal safety while retrieving needles and other drug use equipment.

What is included in a sharps kit?

Sharps kits contain the full set of tools required for safely retrieving discarded needles and drug use equipment. They include instructions covering safe handling and disposal, needle drop box locations, and what to do in case of a needle stick injury.

Contents:

• Protective work gloves
• Anti-septic swabs
• Tongs
• Sharps container
• Safe handling and disposal instructions

How do I access a sharps kit?

Sharps kits are available for pick-up from participating locations.

• Respect Rx, 45 Montreal Road
• South-East Ottawa Community Health Centre, 600-1355 Bank St
• Ottawa Public Health, 179 Clarence Street
• Centretown Community Health Centre, 420 Cooper Street
• Centretown Pharmacy, 326 Bank Street
• Rosemount Branch - Somerset Community Health Centre, 30 Rosemount Avenue
• Carlington Community Health Centre, 900 Merivale Road

If you would like to request kits for a community clean-up event, please contact healthsante@ottawa.ca.

Is there a cost?

Sharps kits are supplied by Ottawa Public Health and distributed at partner sites. They are available at no cost.

Are sharps kits for everyone?

Sharps kits are to support the safety of residents who are collecting needles on private property and those individuals going above and beyond by retrieving discarded drug use equipment in the community.

Businesses such as tattoo parlours and veterinary clinics that create biohazard waste cannot request a sharps kit for their own operations. For these instances, they must source their own disposal solutions.

How many sharps kits can I request at once?

An individual may collect up to three sharps kits at a time. A larger container can be requested if required. Please speak to the attendant about your needs

If you would like to request kits for a community clean-up event, please contact healthsante@ottawa.ca.

Where can I dispose of sharps kits?

Sharps kits can be disposed at any needle drop box across the city. See the needle retrieval services map the location nearest you.

Sharps kits, like needles, are biohazard waste and cannot be disposed in a garbage or recycling bin.

If I retrieve drug use equipment myself, how will the City be aware of the amount being discarded in my neighbourhood?

Ottawa Public Health relies on reporting from all retrieval streams for program service-planning. When you retrieve discarded needles and drug use equipment, report it through the drug use equipment reporting form. Your reporting identifies the activity in your community.

I have a question that wasn’t answered on this page. Who do I speak to?

Review the Community Needle Retrieval Program webpage for more information on:

• Needle retrieval services map
• Where to dispose needles and drug use equipment
• The City’s integrated approach to discarded needles

For additional guidance on the safe retrieval of needles and drug use equipment you may speak with the attendant at a participating sharps kit distribution location.

All other questions may be directed to Ottawa Public Health at healthsante@ottawa.ca.

Property owners are responsible for removing discarded needles and drug use equipment from their property.

• Non-publicly accessible areas: Property owners are responsible for having the item(s) removed. If they are not comfortable removing the item(s), they should call a private waste removal company to have the hazardous material removed.
• Publicly accessible areas: By-law and Regulatory Services may attend if the item is publicly accessible and poses a risk to the public.

For additional resources, please visit the Mental Health, Addictions and Substance Use Health Business Support Toolkit. The toolkit is here to support local businesses and their dedicated employees, with a suite of practical resources designed to enhance safety, health, and overall community well-being.

OPH is one of many organizations with roles in addressing mental health and substance use. An OPH foundational task is monitoring and evaluating health status and impacts to help inform policy makers and community and health partners in their work. OPH also helps to convene partners and promote coordination. As well, OPH works to provide partners and the public with timely access to information, communications and alerts about emerging trends and issues.

A key part of OPH’s work is prevention of harm by supporting and fostering resilient communities that support children and youth. OPH’s training to reduce stigma and OPH's harm reduction strategies that engage people who use drugs are activities that can result in more people linked to care and treatment. Lastly, OPH coordinates the Ontario Naloxone Program locally and helps to protect the community through programs such as needle retrieval and disposal.

Ottawa Public Health operates the Harm Reduction Program that provides sterile injection and inhalation devices to promote safer drug use practices. The main goal of this program is to prevent the spread of communicable diseases, primarily HIV and Hepatitis C, and minimize the risks associated with substance use in the greater community. Our Public Health professionals also educate intravenous drug users on how to safely dispose of needles, sharps containers and other biohazards; as well as provide general health information and connect people to community support.

For more information, please visit the Harm Reduction Program webpage.

The Community Needle Retrieval Program retrieves all forms of drug use equipment and any other everyday items that are suspected of being used to consume substances. Everyday items are suspected of substance use when they are found alongside other drug use equipment like needles and glass pipes. Watch the safe retrieval training module or visit the Ontario Harm Reduction Program webpage to learn how to identify drug use equipment in the community.

Drug use equipment is handled with precaution and treated as biohazard waste because of the potential that the item has come into contact with bodily fluids. While Ottawa Public Health takes every possible precaution to remove drug use equipment from public spaces, it is important to note that the risk of transmission of a blood borne pathogen from drug use equipment found in the community, such as needles, is very low. For more information visit What to do in the case of a needle stick injury and what are the risks?

Review the safe handling and disposal guidelines and training module for detailed instructions on how to dispose of needles and drug use equipment - Printable instructions (pdf - 348 KB)

Materials required

• Gloves (i.e. latex, rubber or leather gardening gloves). Gloves are meant to protect against fluid contamination, take precautions as no gloves are puncture proof.
• Tongs, pliers, or tweezers. Be sure to clean and disinfect the instrument afterwards.
• Sharps container or hard plastic bottle (i.e., pop bottle).
• Ottawa Public Health supplies the tools for the safe handling and disposal of drug use equipment through the Sharps Kit Pilot Program.

Instructions

1. Prepare yourself with gloves, tongs, and a hard plastic container. Do not make direct contact with the item when disposing of it.
2. Using tongs, pliers, or tweezers, pick up the item so that the sharp end is pointing away from you.
3. Place the hard plastic container on a stable surface. Put the needle point down into the container and secure the container shut. Do not hold the container in your hand while placing the needle inside.
4. Dispose of the container at a needle drop box. Do not flush needles down the toilet, and do not put them in the garbage or recycling bin.
5. Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.
6. Report what you disposed of to Ottawa Public Health through the drug use equipment reporting form

Children should never touch needles, glass pipes or other drug use equipment. If a child finds drug use equipment, teach them to report it to a trusted adult who can arrange for the item to be dealt with safely.

Training module

Disposing of needles, drug use equipment, or medical waste in the garbage or recycling is illegal (By-law 2024-453 Schedule E - Non-Collectable Waste Materials). The City, along with its partners, offers accessible options for the proper disposal of biohazard waste. Please refer to the list of safe disposal options below.

Option 1: Needle drop boxes

For items less than 2L in size - Needle drop boxes provide Ottawa residents with secure and tamper-proof drop boxes located at approximately 75 locations across the city to allow for the safe and convenient disposal of needles, drug use equipment and medical waste. See the needle retrieval services map below to find the needle drop box nearest you.

Needle drop boxes are not available for commercial use and businesses that create biohazard waste in their general day-to-day operations must source their own disposal solutions.

Option 2: Harm reduction partner agencies

Dedicated to people who use drugs, there are multiple partner agencies in Ottawa who encourage and accept returns of drug use equipment. Visit OPH’s Harm Reduction webpage for a list of participating partners.

Option 3: Participating pharmacies of the HPSA take-back program

Sharp containers for safely disposing of medical waste can be collected and returned to pharmacies participating in the Health Products Stewardship Association's free take-back program. Visit the HPSA website to find the nearest participating pharmacy.

Option 4: Household hazardous waste event days

The City’s Solid Waste Services host several events throughout the year where members of the public can drop off their waste at a Household Hazardous Waste Depot. Find the next event date on the Hazardous Waste and Special Items webpage.

The Community Needle Retrieval Program manages the collection data for the City of Ottawa’s integrated response to discarded needles. Reports from residents and business owners who recover and dispose discarded drug use equipment on their own accord play a vital role in the collection data. Data analyses and community feedback guide the program and the allocation of services.

Advise Ottawa Public Health when you have personally retrieved and disposed of a needle or glass pipe by using the drug use equipment reporting form.

What to do in the case of a needle stick injury

The following instructions also apply to injuries occurring from other potentially contaminated objects in the community - printable instructions (pdf - 118 KB). This document is currently not in an accessible format. 

Instructions:

• Allow the wound to bleed freely. Do not squeeze the wound. This may damage the tissues and increase the risk of infection.
• Wash the wound with soap and water. Do not apply bleach or alcohol to the wound.
• Go to your local emergency department immediately for follow-up care.
  • An assessment will be done to determine the need for post-exposure prophylaxis (e.g., medications and/or vaccinations to further reduce the risk of transmission). The effectiveness of these medications decreases with time since the injury occurred, making it important to seek assessment as soon as possible.
  • Baseline blood tests for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) will be done at this visit, with follow-up blood tests to be done over the next three months to make sure none of these viruses have been transmitted. Provide your healthcare provider with a link to OPH’s information for healthcare professionals webpage during your visit.
  • Your healthcare provider may also recommend tetanus vaccination.

What are the risks associated with needle stick injuries that have occurred from community exposure?

When a needlestick injury occurs, concerns arise about exposure to blood-borne viruses, particularly human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), and hepatitis C virus (HCV). The risk of getting these viruses via a community needle stick injury is extremely low and can be further reduced with prompt medical attention. If previously vaccinated for hepatitis B, the risk of HBV transmission is virtually zero, and individuals are encouraged to ensure they are up to date on this and other vaccines

The risk of transmission of HIV, HBV and HCV via a needle stick injury acquired in a community setting is far less than in a healthcare setting because:

• The injury does not occur immediately after needle use.
• The needle rarely contains fresh blood.
• Any virus present has been exposed to drying and environmental temperatures.
• Injuries are usually superficial.

Why was the dashboard created?

The dashboard was created to,

• Consolidate the data of the program’s six retrieval streams into a centralized source of information.
• Enhance reporting with on-demand access to the most current program data.
• Enable users to dynamically explore the data through a specific lens with options to view the data by stream, time period, ward, neighbourhood or to the nearest intersection.
• Provide detailed information on the data methods, processes and sources involved in creating the dashboard.

How often is the data updated?

The data is updated based on the reporting frequency of each retrieval stream.

• Harm reduction partners and household hazardous waste data are reported to Ottawa Public Health annually. The previous year’s data for these streams is available on the dashboard by the end of Q1 each year.
• Needle drop box, needle hunter, city staff and resident/business data are updated on a quarterly basis. New data is available approximately six weeks after the previous quarter’s end, accounting for the time required for processing and reporting.

How is the data used?

The data is used by the Community Needle Retrieval Program to monitor evolving community needs and program service planning. The data also informs partners and volunteers of local activity who are dedicated to retrieving discarded drug use equipment in the community.

Is medical waste included in the data reported through the dashboard

Yes, the Community Needle Retrieval Program aims to safely dispose of all personal drug use equipment, including medical waste, as biohazard waste in an environmentally responsible manner. Data from the household hazardous waste and needle drop box streams include both medical needles and those used for substance consumption. While other retrieval streams may also collect small amounts of medical waste, their primary focus is on waste from substance use.

I have suggestions or feedback on the dashboard. Who can I contact?

If you would like to make a suggestion or provide feedback on the dashboard, please contact healthsante@ottawa.ca.

The dashboard is available at the end of this webpage for use by anyone with an internet connection. For the best experience, it is recommended that you view the dashboard using a desktop computer or a tablet with a keyboard.

Before viewing the data for the first time please,

1. Read through the Methodology and Data Sources page which shares information required for interpreting the data.

2. Access the user guide for detailed instructions on navigating the dashboard.

• User guide – printable instruction

3. Bookmark this webpage to your web browser for future use.

The datasets that feed the dashboard are shared for download through Open Ottawa. To access the datasets,

1. Open the datasets on Open Ottawa by selecting the links below.

• Needle Drop Box Data by Month
• Recovered Needles and Glass Pipes

2. Read through the ‘Full details’ of each dataset that you wish to download.

3. Select ‘Download’ once and then select ‘Download’ again to choose the desired file format.