According to the B.C. Coroners Service, 89.9 percent of the province's 914 illicit-drug overdose deaths last year occurred indoors.

Of those, 26.8 percent of these fatalities took place in hotels, motels, rooming houses, and shelters.

This has prompted City of Vancouver staff to recommend that council spend up to $220,000 on peer-based initiatives to address the overdose crisis in single-room occupancy hotels, also known as SROs.

In a report going to next Wednesday's (February 8) council's city finance and services committee, staff recommend that this money be allocated "in the form of grants to eligible non-profit organizations".

This type of financial support requires the support of two-thirds of council (eight votes) under the Vancouver Charter.

The Straight has previously reported that social-housing operators are already creating consumption rooms for tenants worried about fentanyl.

The city staff report also calls for the funding to be targeted on areas of the greatest need and be based on consultation "that includes people with lived experience", as well as housing providers, and incorporates indigenous and gender perspectives.

An additional $150,000 is recommended to "enhance health and wellness supports for first responders". This, too, requires eight votes to pass.

“The fentanyl opioid crisis is a horrific public health emergency in Vancouver with an unprecedented overdose death toll,” Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a news release. “Community groups and volunteers at pop-up sites have been heroic in their tireless efforts to save lives but the intensity and frequency of these emergency calls is putting a severe strain on all our front-line workers."