ACT Closure: What This Means for HIV Services in Ontario
September 25, 2025
The Ontario AIDS Network (OAN) is saddened to learn about the upcoming closure of one of our members, the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). ACT is a historic agency in the HIV sector as the
country’s first AIDS Service Organization (ASO) and a pillar of support for people living with HIV in Toronto. This is a huge loss for the community, and we send our appreciation and thanks to all the staff, volunteers,
and leaders who dedicated themselves to this work.
What Does This Mean for the HIV Sector?
While we process the significance of this moment, it is important that this closure not be misinterpreted as a sign that HIV is no longer an issue. While advances in medication have transformed HIV into a manageable condition for many, HIV remains a chronic, highly stigmatized illness, and new transmissions continue. Ontario sees over 700 new HIV diagnoses each year, and progress toward “getting to zero” has slowed, especially for equity-seeking communities.
Medications Are Better, but Are They Accessible?
Ontario is still one of the few provinces in Canada that does not provide universal coverage for prevention or treatment of HIV. So, despite the availability of advanced treatments, navigating the system to access them is difficult. This means that access to medications for treatment and prevention remain uneven. ASOs play a critical role in providing guidance and hands-on support to help people living with and at risk of HIV work through our fragmented system.
How Does Stigma Still Impact HIV?
While our understanding of HIV has grown tremendously, education is still lacking in many circles. This gap, along with persistent misinformation, continues to fuel HIV stigma and discrimination. Stigma has real consequences: it discourages people from getting tested, prevents them from seeking treatment, and ultimately leads to poorer health outcomes.3 ASOs are essential in this work by providing education, accurate information, and critical support services for those most in need to combat stigma and build healthier communities.
We hope the United States will reconsider and we look forward to engaging in constructive dialogue to maintain the partnership between the USA and WHO, for the benefit of the health and well-being of millions of people around the globe.
Increase Not Only In Service User Numbers, but Complexity
Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) continue to experience the highest numbers of people living with HIV in Ontario. While ACT’s closure is a significant loss, community-based HIV services in the GTA continue to adapt and respond to urgent needs, welcoming newcomers, addressing housing crises, supporting queer and trans youth, and responding to the ongoing drug toxicity crisis.
• Toronto People with AIDS Foundation (PWA): service users increased by 20% in the last year.
• Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP): service users at risk among Black newcomers increased by 300% in the past year.
• Women’s Health in Women’s Hands: sexual health visits increased 590% from 2022 to 2025 (1,652 → 11,390).
• HQ Toronto: sexual health visits increased by nearly 40% in one year (2023–2024); 471 confirmed positive HIV tests since opening.
• CAYR Community Connections (York Region): registered service users increased by 313% (52 →
215 in five years).
Across Ontario, community-based HIV services are seeing steady and sometimes dramatic growth in demand. From 2021–2024, HIV support services delivered by ASOs to unique clients living with HIV increased by 13%.4 Many programs are now serving nearly double the number of people they supported just a few years ago.
• CAYR Community Connections (York): 313% rise in service users.
• AIDS Committee of Durham Region: 68% jump in client households in just 18 months.
• Thrive HIV Prevention & Support (Waterloo): nearly doubled caseload with a 96% increase.
• Positive Living Niagara: 26% increase in clients accessing HIV support within the past year.
• Moyo Health & Community Services (Peel): 261% increase in new HIV diagnoses (public health
data).
• AIDS Committee of Ottawa: up to 10% increase in service users.
• The Gilbert Centre (Simcoe/Muskoka): growing demand in smaller urban and rural settings.
• Bruce House (Ottawa): doubling of service users since 2019.
Agencies with stable user numbers note that complexity of needs (housing, food, immigration) has increased sharply. Across Northern Ontario, ASOs remain critical given limited availability of specialists and the large geographic catchment they serve. HIV prevalence remains significant, particularly among Indigenous communities, and without ASOs, many people would have little to no access to HIV-specific services.
Together, these trends point to a clear reality: HIV service organizations remain essential, and the pressure on them is rising.
Invest in Community-Based HIV Care
HIV is not over, and in fact, given the rising rates of new HIV diagnoses and gaps in treatment coverage, ASOs are more vital than ever. In fact, a provincial study has shown that investment in ASOs is costeffective by averting new transmissions and saving the healthcare system billions of dollars.
HIV Service Organizations (ASOs) are community-rooted, trusted, and essential to ending the epidemic in Ontario. HIV is not over6, and neither is our fight.
About the Ontario AIDS Network (OAN)
The Ontario AIDS Network (OAN) is a provincial coalition of community-based organizations dedicated to supporting people living with and affected by HIV and ending the HIV epidemic in Ontario. Established in 1986, the OAN unites and strengthens the collective voice of Ontario’s HIV sector.
Contacts: Nasra Smith, Executive Director: nsmith@ontarioaidsnetwork.ca
Contact:
Nasra Smith
nsmith@ontarioaidsnetwork.ca
Ontario AIDS Network
Source: Ontario AIDS Network:
https://ontarioaidsnetwork.ca/act-closure-what-does-this-means-for-hiv-services-in-ontario/
ACT_Closure_ What_This_Means_for_HIV_Services_in_Ontario-Ontario_AIDS_Network.pdf
"Reproduced with permission - Ontario AIDS Network"
Ontario AIDS Network
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