In 2012, a Narconon facility in Trois Rivieres was shut down by authorities, pointing out certain procedures may represent a health risk.

Reid said centres that benefit the community are sometimes put in residential areas, using emergency women's shelter Haven House on Acorn Way, as an example.

“Facilities such as those we oftentimes want in an area that’s residential because it is better for the clients. But not always,” she said.

“This Church of Scientology is a controversial church and the message by which they do drug rehabilitation is also controversial, so it gives me a little concern.”

Diego Pena, who lives in the same subdivision on Equestrian Way, was upset when he was told the Narconon sign went up on the 7 Pointer St. residence last week. He said it was the first time residents heard the home had been leased by owner Rahul Bhimani, a ReMax Real Estate sales representative.

“We don’t know what type of people are going to be coming into the neighbourhood and what type of regulations are going to be there,” Pena said.

“There are a lot of kids playing on that street that will be exposed to seeing bad people in the neighbourhood. We’re worried mainly about the safety of our kids, the value of our homes. If you're going to look into buying a house and you find out they either have a sex offender or drug rehab house in that neighbourhood, would you buy there or probably try to move somewhere else?”

Morfopoulos tried to suppress fears of the rehab facility in an interview with the Times, noting Narconon shouldn’t attract undesirables in the neighbourhood, as there are no drugs at the facility. He also said no person should be denied help.

“According to the Human Rights Code, it’s illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities, and addictions are considered a disability identified as such in the code. So, anybody that’s advocating that discrimination is asking people to break the law,” he said.

“I do understand the person is concerned and there are drug rehabs that work on the principle of harm reduction where they feel the best way to approach addiction is to help the person reduce the amount they're using or substitute some other drugs. However, within the Narconon program, we use no drugs whatsoever, we don’t use drug replacement therapy; they have to be not using drugs to come into the building.”

Morfopoulos added Narconon is not a business, but a “not-for-profit charity service to the community.” He thinks the concern from residents is because they don’t understand Narconon’s process.

“We welcome people to call in to come and see a video of the program, to even have a tour of the facility and just get their questions answered,” he said.

“The Ontario Health Department (Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care) tells us we have 1.2 million people in the province that are suffering from substance abuse. That being the case, you’d expect that every 10th driveway would have a resident that was suffering from substance abuse, that was actually using drugs. So, the idea that a residence where people aren’t using drugs would be a problem is just a little bit odd.”

Morfopoulos said if someone is deemed to need medical rehabilitation, they will be sent to an appropriate facility, but won’t stay at Narconon.

Once the facility is finished, the executive director said it will have seven bedrooms, with the ability to house 10 students, under city bylaws. Morfopoulos and his wife stay in the home as the “host family” with trained withdrawal specialists working with the students. There will always be a one-to-one ratio of specialist to student for rehabilitation, however, the specialists do not live in the home full-time.

In past facilities, the training of the withdrawal specialists has come into question, as some were former students.

In addition, Narconon has come under fire as a way to indoctrinate members into Scientology, which Morfopoulos denied.

“There’s Narconons in Mexico, for example, they’re run by Catholics. There’s Narconons in Nepal run by Buddhists and Narconons in Egypt run by Muslims. It’s a non-religious activity,” he said, before adding there’s a video on the Narconon website explaining the program.

“Although the technology was developed by Ron Hubbard, it’s not a Scientology program and nobody’s asked to become a Scientologist or to change their beliefs in any way. We have 65,000 graduates who can tell you the same thing.”

Morfopoulos said the program costs $32,000 regardless of the length for the student. The program normally runs for 12 to 13 weeks, but can run as long as 18 weeks or as short as 10.

Pena’s frustration isn’t just zeroed in on Morfopoulos, but also on Bhimani for leasing the home to the group.

Bhimani, who brought Narconon in as a tenant in January, said as a homeowner himself, he wouldn’t want something that “is not legal” in his neighbourhood, so a condition on the lease was getting the proper permits from the city.

Bhimani said he spoke to the tenant who said he'd received written approval from the city, permitting the Narconon centre at the location. The fact that it is a drug-free facility was also a factor in the decision, Bhimani added.

“I got a call from neighbours and I said, ‘Listen, unfortunately, I understand your pain, but you need to understand my pain, too … I’m the homeowner. If something is wrong, I’m with you guys. I’m on your side, so whatever you need from me I’m always there for you guys.’

“The best way is to call the city. The city is the one who gives the permission. If tomorrow the city says, ‘OK, they’re not permitted,’ I can give them notice and say the city is not giving permission you have to leave. What else should I do? I did my due diligence, I checked the paperwork and checked with the city. In the end, it’s all the permission from the city.”

Bhimani added the city should have told residents about the centre coming to their neighbourhood if there were concerns.

“I had no idea that people will get offended or frustrated from the decision,” he said.

“They’ve been living here since January — so respectable, so clean all the time, so organized.”