‘We need every tool possible’: Kitchener, Guelph consumption sites to close amid ban

On Tuesday, the Provincial Government announced that supervised Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) locations within 200 metres of schools and daycares will shut down as of March 2025.

This decision will force safe consumption sites in Kitchener and Guelph to close, and health officials say the decision will leave thousands without access to life-saving services.

In Kitchener, the CTS operated by Sanguen Health Centre at 150 Duke St. will be forced to close, and Julie Kalbfleisch, the Director of Fundraising and Communications for Sanguen, says the sudden change could have a negative effect on their clients.

“We’re always concerned about the population we serve,” she said. “They’re incredibly vulnerable and they’re dealing with a lot of complexities. This type of change will have a lot of impacts.”

Since the site opened in October of 2019 they’ve had more than 53,000 visits, and their monthly visitors has steadily increased from 200 at the time of opening to more than 1,500 last month.

“There has not been one death, although we have reversed some overdoses,” said Kalbfleisch. “We’re providing a service in the community that is needed, and not only needed, but we’re seeing an increase in visits.”

According to Sanguen, there is no evidence that safe consumption services lead to higher rates of substance use initiation or relapse, and that CTS sites do not increase crime in neighborhoods as they’re strategically placed in areas with demonstrated need.

The new guidelines will also close Guelph CTS, prompting a response from the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy. They say they’re “deeply disappointed,” adding that closures of life-saving services will lead to increasing fatalities and further public substance use.

“As drug poisonings continue to intensify in Guelph and Wellington, we need every tool possible,” said the Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy in a statement on X.

Guelph mayor Cam Guthrie took to X to commend the governments decision to “save lives, restore families and improve communities struggling with the stranglehold of addictions.”

“I must speak to the fact that I have personally heard growing concerns from parents, businesses, visitors and others about the current site downtown,” said Guthrie. “There has been legitimate concerns, and I won’t discount or belittle those very real stories that have crossed my desk and have been told to me personally.”

Kalbfleisch added that there’s sensitivity and stigma around drug use, which is why people access healthcare through a CTS site rather than a traditional healthcare setting.

The Ford government also announced plans to to implement 19 Homeless and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hubs across the province, centres with the goal to give access to housing and addiction support for those who are ready to access those types of services, and are investing $378 million in these sites.