Toronto condo sues church for $2.3 million over allegations of drug trafficking and violence

A condominium corporation in Toronto has filed a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against a neighbouring church, alleging it has become a “free-for-all haven” for illegal activity, including drug use, trafficking and violent altercations.

“Despite its representations as providing community services to marginalized persons, the Sanctuary has routinely engaged in and/or permitted illegal, illicit, disruptive, interfering and egregious conduct to occur on its property,” alleges the statement of claim, which was filed on behalf of CASA Condos in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice last week. CASA Condos “has repeatedly appealed to the Sanctuary to take meaningful action,” the lawsuit says, calling police and speaking with local councillors “in an effort to compel the Sanctuary to take meaningful action, all to no avail.”

The 46-storey glassy high-rise is located at 33 Charles St. East, next door to the Sanctuary. The building was completed in 2010 and was hailed shortly after as “one of the first towers to transform the South Bloor East cityscape.”

The claim alleges that condo residents and staff have been yelled at and chased by Sanctuary patrons armed with hammers, steel rods and pipes, and that the church’s property has become a dumping ground for garbage, human waste and drug paraphernalia. The church has also allegedly allowed tent encampments on its property.

Sanctuary Ministries of Toronto is a “church and a community,” according to its website. It hosts Sunday services, community meals, health clinics and other outreach programs for marginalized people. The registered charity declared nearly $2 million in revenues in 2023. Over half of its annual income that year came from “receipted donations,” according to the Canada Revenue Agency.

Sanctuary first opened its doors at 25 Charles St. East in 1992 with a mission of helping people “who are poor and excluded to be the heart and centre of our community,” and purchased the building in 1999.

CASA board president Peter McDonald said the condominium is not seeking to remove the church or people in need of services from the community.

“Our goal remains the same: ensuring the safety of our condo residents and the neighbourhood. If Sanctuary can commit to being a responsible neighbour and work to implement the safety measures we’ve suggested over the years, we would be satisfied and our neighbours would be relieved,” McDonald told the Post in a statement on Tuesday.

“Sanctuary’s operations have created ongoing safety risks for residents and employees,” which, at times, “required repeated police interventions and added security measures,” he said.

The condominium corporation has requested an injunction to prevent Sanctuary guests and occupants from trespassing, creating a nuisance, or threatening occupants of the residential building. The lawsuit is also seeking more than $2.3 million in damages, including compensation to cover property damage, ongoing security services as well as punitive damages.

Rachel Tulloch, the organization’s pastoral director, said in an interview with Spacing magazine  last December that there have been campaigns to shut down the church’s outreach programs.

“These tensions are symptoms of a larger systemic problem,” Tulloch said. “We’re not creating issues — we’re attempting to mitigate them.”

Outside the church last Friday, Sanctuary’s executive director, Gil Clelland, declined to comment on the lawsuit, but he sent a statement via email on Tuesday evening that said the organization is prepared to defend itself in court.

“Sanctuary, and the community we serve, are part of the neighbourhood and have been for decades. We’ve now been sued by the condominium next door because they feel inconvenienced by the homelessness that they see,” Clelland wrote. “A lawsuit won’t solve the housing crisis. We urge the condominium to drop the suit.”

The church has not yet filed a statement of defence. None of the allegations have been tested in court.

A handful of people were milling around outside the main entrance to the church last Friday. They spoke about the importance of the institution in downtown Toronto and said there are few alternatives for them.

“I mean, for me, personally, it’s a huge support in terms of meals, clothing,” Ryan Hayashi told National Post. “With the current climate, the surrounding places that used to provide meals, harm reduction they’ve been shut down.” Hayashi said he could understand where condominium residents were coming from, though he felt they didn’t wish to see the whole picture.

“I do, but I don’t think that they’re really willing to see it from our perspective as well.”

Rob Dods said he’d been coming to Sanctuary for nearly ten years and that it’s become one of the few places in the city he feels comfortable returning to for help. “What Sanctuary does, what I feel, (it) gives you a sense of community, gives you a sense of friends,” he said.

Dods has been homeless three or four times in his life, and spoke of a troubled past beginning with his first time in jail at the age of 16. “I did something stupid,” the greying Dobs said. “Everybody who’s gonna hear this has problems, right?” He credited the Sanctuary with helping him and other homeless people survive the brutal Toronto winter months. The non-profit also helped him find furniture for a place he was living in at one point and arranged transportation for people attending funerals for family members outside the city.

He believes the condominium’s complaint against the Sanctuary overlooks the broader issue affecting homelessness and social services across Toronto. “People are focusing on one issue when it’s not going to fix the issue,” Dods said. “Even if we fix this place, you have every other place.”

Clelland said Sanctuary is “proud to serve the most marginalized in our community and will continue to do so.”

McDonald called the condo’s lawsuit “a last resort,” the culmination of several failed attempts to address the issues through non-legal means.

“This is about accountability for persistent illegal and dangerous activity outside the Sanctuary that has raised serious safety concerns,” he said. “We are asking Sanctuary, together with the City and the Police, to balance service delivery with basic neighbourhood safety.”

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