Twelve Mile Recovery calls on Ontario to license private rehabs after Muskoka Recovery collapse

ST. CATHARINES, ON, Oct. 8, 2026 /CNW/ — Twelve Mile Recovery, owned by Freeport Recovery Group, is asking the Ontario government to license private addiction treatment centres, after the collapse of a Muskoka rehab left former clients waiting on a receiver and the courts.

On August 6, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice put Muskoka Recovery Inc., which ran a private residential rehab in Gravenhurst, under a court-appointed receiver. The court heard that the business stopped operating in late 2025. The company is a defendant in about nine lawsuits, including a proposed class action by former clients. None of the claims has been proven in court.

Ontario licenses and inspects retirement homes. It requires no licence to run a residential addiction program. After a 2024 Toronto Star investigation into Muskoka Recovery, the province said regulation wasn’t needed because the nurses, doctors and therapists in these programs answer to their own colleges. The province doesn’t check whether a centre employs the people it advertises.

Alberta, by contrast, licenses residential addiction treatment providers, requires the licence to be posted at each site and online, and can suspend or cancel it. Quebec requires addiction residences to be authorized by the province before they open, and publishes a list of those that are.

“I’ve spent more than 20 years in addiction treatment, community services and education, and the status quo is unacceptable. Families are investing in care that, in many cases, is not subject to meaningful provincial oversight,” said Erin Kernohan, chief compliance officer of Freeport Recovery Group. “At Twelve Mile, we are accountable to CARF’s rigorous accreditation standards and survey process. We believe every treatment centre in Ontario should be held to a clear, consistent standard of accountability and oversight.”

Twelve Mile Recovery is asking the province for:

• a licence for any program that houses people for addiction treatment, with inspections and the power to close any program that falls short
• a public register, so families can check a centre before they pay
• a rule that what a centre advertises, including medical care and staff credentials, has to be true and checkable

“As a firefighter for more than 23 years, and as a person in long-term recovery from addiction myself, I’ve seen what’s at stake from both sides. Families searching for treatment are often in crisis, and they deserve to know that the place they choose meets real standards. Ontario should require regulation and independent accreditation for every private residential treatment centre. People’s lives depend on it,” said Chris Howe, co-founder and program director of Twelve Mile Recovery and a fire captain.

“People who seek private addiction treatment often come to us at one of the most vulnerable points in their lives, ready to invest in recovery. Private treatment centres owe their clients, and the public, honesty about what they can and cannot provide, and full transparency about the care they offer. Making false promises to people in crisis is predatory. Operating without proper oversight, sound risk management, and a deep understanding of what safe, effective residential care requires is irresponsible, and can be fatal. Families shouldn’t have to guess at which centres are safe and which are not,” said Joanna Duarte, co-founder and program director of Twelve Mile Recovery.

Until Ontario acts, Twelve Mile Recovery suggests families:

• check accreditation on the accreditor’s own website, such as CARF International (carf.org/find-provider). A badge on a centre’s own site proves nothing.
• ask for the names of the nurses, doctors and therapists who would provide care, and look each one up on their college’s public register
• ask who manages withdrawal, and where. A centre that doesn’t provide medical withdrawal management should say so and tell you where it happens.
• get a written contract that lists what’s included and what happens to your money if treatment ends early
• call ConnexOntario at 1-866-531-2600 to hear about publicly funded programs before paying for private care

Twelve Mile Recovery’s residential program holds a Three-Year Accreditation from CARF International, valid through January 2029 at both of its residences.

About Twelve Mile Recovery

Twelve Mile Recovery and its parent company, Freeport Recovery Group, were set up to raise the standard of addiction care in Ontario. The program was developed by people in long-term recovery, and its priorities are its clients’ priorities. Twelve Mile Recovery provides residential treatment for adults with substance use and mental health concerns at two residences in St. Catharines, Ontario: Rodman Hall and Lake Street. twelvemilerecovery.ca

SOURCE Freeport Recovery Group