Kingston's Drug Site Becomes a HART Hub, a Model Ottawa Should Watch

Ottawa residents who travel Highway 401 toward Kingston on a regular basis are passing a building that switched its entire mission this week, as the city's Consumption and Treatment Services (CTS) site closed on September 30 and reopened October 1 as a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub, at the same address: 661 Montreal Street.

What changed at the site

The switch means safe drug consumption services at that location have ended entirely. The former CTS site, run by Kingston Community Health Centres (KCHC), had reversed more than 2,000 overdoses since 2018 and logged over 26,000 client visits in 2025 alone. That supervised consumption function is now gone. In its place, Addictions and Mental Health Services, Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (AMHS-KFLA) is leading the new HART Hub model, which focuses on treatment, recovery and housing supports rather than supervised drug use.

What the HART Hub offers instead

AMHS-KFLA's Access & Support Centre at the site is open daily from 9:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., offering washrooms, showers, meals, beverages, storage and case management. The organization serves nearly 7,000 individuals annually across its programs. The provincial government is doubling annual funding for the site to $6.3 million as part of the transition, money meant to support the shift from consumption services to recovery-focused treatment.

Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said the city is ready to work with the province and local partners through the change, telling reporters that "Kingston is ready to work closely with the province and local partners to support a smooth transition to a HART Hub." The provincial announcement naming AMHS-KFLA's role came April 10, with the closure and transition dates set out months in advance.

Why it matters beyond Kingston

With over 26,000 visits logged at the Kingston site last year, the closure of supervised consumption services there removes a harm-reduction option that thousands of people used annually, even as the new hub promises wraparound supports in its place.

Kingston sits on the same 401 corridor Ottawa residents rely on for travel to Toronto, Montreal and beyond, and the city has featured in ottown's coverage before, including ottown's earlier report on the search for an escaped inmate from Collins Bay Institution and ottown's earlier report on a fatal crash on Battersea Road. Whether the HART Hub model delivers the same reach as the consumption site it replaced, particularly for people who relied on supervised use to avoid fatal overdoses, remains to be seen as the new program gets underway this month.

Sources: Kingstonist, CHCH News, AMHS-KFLA (official)