Consumption and treatment sites in Kitchener and Guelph will close this week despite injunction being granted

A judge has ruled the consumption and treatment services (CTS) sites in Kitchener and Guelph can stay open.

But the win in an Ontario Superior Court doesn't mean the local sites will stay open beyond Monday — the day the province has said they must close by.

Sanguen Health Centre, which operates the Kitchener site, said in a social media post on Sunday that they will close. There are two reasons why, the post said. One is because the site's exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act expires on Tuesday. The other is that there is no funding to remain open.

"We find the judge's acknowledgement of the potential harm caused by these closures hopeful," the statement said. "However, the situation is complex. The absence of provincial funding and the expiration of our CDSA exemption present significant barriers to maintaining services."

Melissa Kwiatkowski, CEO of the Guelph Community Health Centre which operates the CTS in Guelph, confirmed they are unable to extend CTS services beyond Monday.

"The government has been clear they will not fund the [CTS] site and will withhold funding from organizations that continue to operate," Kwiatkowski said in an email to CBC News on Sunday.

Last week, advocates from Toronto and Waterloo region took the province to court over the decision to close CTS sites across Ontario. They sought an injunction to stop the closures on March 31, a deadline set by the province. They also argued closing the sites violates both the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution, including the right to life, liberty and security of the person.

On Friday afternoon, Justice John Callaghan of the Superior Court of Justice granted an injunction until he could make a decision on the Charter challenge, which he said will take more time to decide.

A spokesperson for Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said the ruling doesn't change the province's plans to replace the CTS sites with homelessness and addictions recovery treatment (HART) hubs.

"Provincial funding for HART Hubs cannot be used for drug injection services and will be contingent on the organization not seeking to continue those services," Hannah Jensen said in a statement on Friday.

Diana Chan McNally, a Toronto community worker and expert in harm reduction, told CBC Toronto "even though we are not illegal at this moment, it does mean that we will most likely lose services" because of the lack of funding.

Kwiatkowski said the team at the Guelph Community Health Centre "continues with the difficult work of preparing our community for Guelph's CTS service to close on March 31st while we operationalize the government's new HART Hub model."

"Over the last seven months, we have worked diligently with many partners in our community to ensure this program provides urgent help to those who need it. Our HART hub will have some services available as of the 1st of April," Kwiatkowski said.

"While this is not a replacement for [a consumption and treatment site], it does have promise, and we want it to be a success for our community."

CTS closure a 'significant' loss: Sanguen

The site in Kitchener is the only one in Waterloo region. It has operated since 2019 on Duke Street W. near Kitchener's city hall and has offered people a space to use drugs with staff on-site, as well as other support services.

Sanguen has run the site on behalf of the region and reports there has never been a death at the site from an overdose. Staff intervened to prevent an overdose more than 1,000 times since 2019.

In 2024, the site saw more than 15,000 client visits and managed 79 on-site overdoses.

In its post on Sunday, Sanguen said the organization "remains absolutely committed to re-establishing fully funded and legally exempt supervised consumption facilities in our community."

"These services are integral to harm reduction efforts aimed at mitigating overdose risks and are a fundamental component of the health care we believe everyone is entitled to," the statement said.

Sanguen said they would reopen immediately "if we had the necessary exemption, facility and funding."

Advocates who are part of the Waterloo Region Drug Action Team are hoping to convince local politicians to find that funding.

In a letter sent to Waterloo region's MPPs and regional councillors on Sunday, and shared with CBC News, the drug action team urged the politicians to help keep the site in Kitchener open.

"One of the applicants in the court challenge is a resident of Waterloo region. The court has accepted the high risk of death and injury to CTS clients should CTS sites close, including the risk of death to the Waterloo region applicant. We do not want your constituent, or other CTS clients, to die," the letters said.

"The lives of constituents locally and beyond very much hang in the balance. Time is of the essence, obviously, and the community is unclear about how area MPPs are facilitating an emergency response."

HART hubs to open Tuesday

The province announced in August 2024 it would close consumption and treatment sites it deemed were too close to schools or daycares.

The sites in Kitchener and Guelph will be replaced by HART hubs, with HART standing for homelessness and addiction recovery treatment.

The biggest difference will be that drugs will not be allowed inside HART hubs. That means people cannot use or have drugs tested on site.

In Kitchener, the HART Hub will be located at 44 Francis Street S. and will be operated by the organization Community Healthcaring Kitchener-Waterloo. It is still slated to open on Tuesday with provincial funding.

It will offer services including mental health, addictions, transition beds and help with housing, identification and employment.

In Guelph, the HART Hub will remain at the Guelph Community Health Centre, although staff say not all services will be available right away as the provincial funding is worked out.

Kwiatkowski previously told CBC News services like crisis and withdrawal recovery beds and supportive housing units will be placed on hold for now.

"I know how much we asked for, but we don't know how much we're getting," she said in an Interview with CBC News. "We can't spend money we don't have."

In an email to CBC News, Ontario's Ministry of Health said it continues to work with HART Hub partners to collect information for their multi-year budgets.

The Ontario government is investing $529 million to create a total of 27 hubs across the province. Nine of those hubs are expected to be open by Tuesday.