KITCHENER -- Cambridge council is one step closer to approving a consumption and treatment services site in the city.
The site has been in the works for several years and has received pushback from parts of the community.
Two possible locations for the site will be presented to Cambridge council on Tuesday night.
Here's a look at the history of a possible site in the city:
2018: Following a feasibility study in 2017, officials in Waterloo Region recommended putting safe injection sites in downtown Kitchener and the Galt core. The study presented to regional council in February 2018 said there was "substantial support" for establishing sites in the region.
Following pushback from Cambridge council in the spring, regional council announced in December 2018 it was considering putting safe injection sites in hospitals instead of downtown cores. They asked staff to consider putting the sites at Grand River Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital and Cambridge Memorial Hospital.
2019: Cambridge opened the idea of safe injection sites up for public consultation, allowing residents to express thoughts and concerns about potential locations for the sites.
In March, council passed a bylaw restricting developing safe consumption sites in the downtown core. The bylaw was extended to March 26, 2020, preventing consumption and treatment services (CTS) sites from opening within the downtown core, or within 500 metres of the area.
City officials announced they wouldn't put forward an application for provincial funding for a CTS site in April 2020. That same month, the region announced plans to open a CTS site at 150 Duke St. West in Kitchener.
In June 2019, councillors agreed to look for a new location for the site.
Council voted to keep CTS sites out of the downtown core in September 2019.
Kitchener's CTS site opened its doors in November 2019.
2020: At the beginning of 2020, staff released a new study about the future of CTS sites in Cambridge. The study recommended choosing any location in the city, including downtown cores in Preston, Galt and Hespeler. It also suggested a veto option for council to turn down any location. In February, council voted to have more control over the location of the site.
In November 2020, Cambridge council voted in favour of an option allowing them to build a site anywhere in the city. The vote also gave council the power to overturn any site application that doesn't work. Councillors also said they didn't want to have a site in the downtown core.
2021: City staff narrowed the search for a CTS site to two possible locations.
The sites are located at 15 Easton St. and 8 Oxford St. Councillors will discuss the possible locations at a meeting on Tuesday night.
In July, hundreds of residents gathered at the Oxford Street site for an anti-CTS rally, which was met by a counter-rally by those in support of it.
Following community consultation in mid-October, city council rejected both of the addresses previously established, but instead pushed forward with a motion for 150 Main Street. Despite not receiving an unanimous vote, the preferred location was set.
2022: Cambridge MPP Belinda Karahalios was accused of sending residents misinformation about the proposed CTS site via pamphlets.
"Many of our residents are struggling, and we've lost 100 people in the City of Cambridge over the last four years to preventable overdoses," said Cambridge Mayor Kathryn McGarry. "This is a health-related issue, and the community doesn't weigh in on any other issues about where our health centres are being placed. But in this case, harm reduction is being weaponized by a small vocal minority."
In May, it was announced the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area was applying to the province to run the CTS site.