CACTUS Montréal
CACTUS Montréal is a non-profit community organization founded in 1989 that delivers harm reduction services in Montreal, including needle exchange, supervised consumption, drug checking, and STBBI screening, serving people who use drugs, sex workers, trans people, and vulnerable youth.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1989
- HeadquartersMontréal, Québec, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What CACTUS Montréal does
CACTUS Montréal is a non-profit community organization founded in 1989 that delivers harm reduction services to vulnerable populations in Montreal, Quebec. It serves people who use drugs, sex workers, trans people, and at-risk youth, with an operating team of approximately 80 staff across fixed sites and street-based outreach. The organization has been continuously active for more than three decades and is embedded in Montreal's downtown harm reduction ecosystem.
The organization's core programs include ASTT(e)Q (specialized services for trans people and sex workers), GIAP, PLAISIIRS, Checkpoint (a drug-checking service launched in 2021 using FT-IR spectrometry for chemical analysis of submitted drug samples), supervised consumption sites (SCS), the HCV Project (hepatitis C treatment support), Street Messengers, and Street Work outreach. The Checkpoint workflow is the most technology-intensive offering: it uses Fourier-Transform Infrared spectroscopy to identify substances and adulterants in street drugs, supporting safer use decisions. Under a 2020 partnership with the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), CACTUS also extends telehealth-based clinical access to its service users.
As a non-profit, CACTUS Montréal does not sell services to beneficiaries; all harm reduction, screening, and drug-checking services are provided free of charge. Operating revenue is sourced from individual donations, corporate donations, and government grants, primarily at the Quebec provincial and federal levels. The revenue model is therefore grant-and-donation-funded rather than transactional, and the "customer base" – service users – is geographically concentrated in Montreal, predominantly in the Ville-Marie borough.
CACTUS Montréal firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CACTUS Montréal
- Legal name
- CACTUS Montréal
- Website
- https://cactusmontreal.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1989
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- CACTUS Montréal is a non-profit community organization founded in 1989 that delivers harm reduction services in Montreal, including needle exchange, supervised consumption, drug checking, and STBBI screening, serving people who use drugs, sex workers, trans people, and vulnerable youth.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CACTUS Montréal industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Harm Reduction Services
- NAICS
- Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Substance Use, Addiction & Harm Reduction Health Departments (HLAJAAAM)
Keywords
Where CACTUS Montréal is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Montréal, Québec
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
CACTUS Montréal business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute to support prevention, awareness, and education programs. Tax receipts issued for all donations regardless of amount.
- Corporate Donations: Corporate donors provide financial support enabling the organization to reach financial objectives, develop new projects, and serve more vulnerable and marginalized people.
- Government/Public Funding: As a community organization, receives government funding to support harm reduction programs and services. Services are provided free of charge to clients.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Free Services - All programs and services available at no cost to clients |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
CACTUS Montréal product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CACTUS Montréal is a non-profit community-based organization providing free harm reduction services, including supervised consumption, needle exchange, drug-checking, STBBI screening, and outreach programs. It serves marginalized populations such as people who use drugs, sex workers, trans people, and vulnerable youth in downtown Montreal. The organization also runs housing, food security, art-based interventions, and festival-based harm reduction initiatives.
Product overview
CACTUS Montréal is a community-based harm reduction organization (not a technology product company) offering a comprehensive portfolio of services for harm reduction, prevention of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), and social inclusion. The organization operates multiple interconnected programs: the Fixed Site-SCS provides supervised consumption services, equipment distribution, and medical consultations; GIAP delivers youth-specific peer outreach; ASTT(e)Q serves the trans community; Street Work and Street Messengers provide mobile outreach; PLAISIIRS offers community social involvement; Checkpoint provides substance analysis; and the HCV Project supports hepatitis C treatment. The organization also provides STBBI screening, drug testing, and the Festival d'Expression de la Rue (FER) as community engagement initiatives.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ASTT(e)Q: Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transexuel(le)s du Québec - A program promoting trans health and well-being through peer support, advocacy, education and empowerment.
- GIAP
- PLAISIIRS
- Checkpoint
- HCV Project / Projet VHC
- Street Messengers / Messagers de rue
Products and services
- Fixed Site-SCS (Supervised Consumption Service) Fixed-site supervised consumption service allowing people who use drugs to inject in a safe, supervised environment with nursing staff trained to intervene in overdose situations. Open 7 days a week, including holidays.
- Checkpoint (drug analysis service) Drug-checking service that identifies the composition of substances brought in by users, using an FT-IR spectrometer complemented by colorimetric reagents and detection strips to detect fentanyl, benzodiazepines, and other dangerous substances.
- ASTT(e)Q Support, accompaniment, and referral program for trans people, including help with administrative procedures, name/sex designation changes, and access to gender-affirming surgeries.
- Street Work (Travail de rue) Street-based outreach program providing harm reduction equipment, active listening, referral, and accompaniment to marginalized populations in their own environments.
- Street Messengers (Messagers de rue) Peer-driven outreach program where workers with lived experience engage people who use drugs and are difficult to reach through conventional approaches.
- GIAP (Youth program) Support and accompaniment program for vulnerable youth facing addiction, prostitution, delinquency, self-harm, and homelessness, with prevention, education, and integration activities.
- HCV Project (Hepatitis C Virus) STBBI screening program focused on hepatitis C, with an on-site specialist nurse offering FibroScan for liver assessment, treatment initiation, and follow-up.
- PLAISIIRS Sex workers' accompaniment program providing support, prevention materials, and outreach directly in their work environments.
- Festival d'Expression de la Rue (FER) Annual street festival organized for and by community members, providing a space for artistic expression, harm reduction resources, and social inclusion.
- Equipment Distribution (Distribution de matériel) Free distribution of new sterile injection, inhalation, and snorting equipment, plus overdose prevention and safer sex supplies, to reduce STBBI transmission among people who use drugs.
- STBBI Screening Free, confidential, anonymous screening for sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections including HIV, hepatitis C, and syphilis, available without appointment.
- Trans Surgery Support Program Accompaniment program for trans people before, during, and after gender-affirming surgery, including pre-operative and post-operative support.
Companies that use CACTUS Montréal
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
CACTUS Montréal technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
CACTUS Montréal partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- CHUM (Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal)corePartnership established in 2020 to provide telehealth services for opioid addiction treatment. CHUM collaborates with CACTUS to expand access to addiction treatment for marginalized populations.
- Spectre de ruecorePartner organization for fixed supervised consumption sites (SCS) in Montreal. Spectre de rue operates its own SCS location, and CACTUS refers clients to their services as part of the broader SCS network.
- DopaminecorePartner organization in the Montreal supervised consumption site network. Dopamine operates an SCS location that CACTUS works with as part of the regional harm reduction ecosystem.
- AnonymecorePartner organization providing supervised consumption services in Montreal. Anonyme is part of CACTUS's network of SCS partners for referrals and collaborative harm reduction efforts.
- Trans Patient UnionminorCollaboration with Trans Patient Union to provide specialized post-surgery support for individuals recovering from gender-affirming surgeries in Montreal. Priority given to individuals without adequate community support.
- Table de concertation Jeunesse-ItinéranceminorGIAP participates in this regional table of organizations working with highly vulnerable youth to foster communication and coordinate responses to youth homelessness and marginalization.
- Table de concertation du Faubourg Saint-LaurentminorGIAP participates in this local stakeholder table to foster communication and dialogue regarding neighbourhood safety issues in the downtown Montreal area.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves9 records
Expansion highlights5 records
CACTUS Montréal competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Insite (Vancouver Coastal Health): North America's first sanctioned supervised injection site, operated by Vancouver Coastal Health. Comparable as the most established Canadian supervised-consumption operator and a structural peer to CACTUS's Fixed Site-SCS and SIS at 1244 Berger Street.
- The Works (Toronto Public Health): Toronto Public Health's harm-reduction program offering needle exchange, supervised consumption, and drug-checking services. Comparable as a Canadian public-sector peer delivering the same core services (harm reduction, STBBI screening, drug checking) at a larger municipal scale.
Direct peers
- L'Anonyme: Montreal harm-reduction organization operating a supervised consumption site and explicitly listed as a partner of CACTUS in the Montreal SCS ecosystem. Comparable in mandate, geography, and target population (people who use drugs, sex workers, and trans people).
- Dopamine: Montreal supervised consumption site operator and CACTUS partner within the regional harm-reduction network. Directly comparable as a peer SCS operator serving the same urban core population with similar services.
- Spectre de rue: Montreal-based community organization that operates its own supervised consumption site and is a direct referral partner of CACTUS within the same Montreal SCS network. Comparable because it serves the same population of people who use drugs and sex workers in the same city, with overlapping harm-reduction service offerings.
- TRIP! Project: Toronto-based peer-led harm-reduction program serving youth and young people who use drugs, closely mirroring CACTUS's GIAP and outreach programs. Directly comparable on peer-led youth harm reduction in a Canadian urban context.
- RÉZO: Montreal community health organization focused on the health and well-being of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men, including harm reduction and STBBI prevention. Comparable because it operates the same STBBI screening, prevention-supply distribution, and community-outreach model in downtown Montreal.
Regional players
- San Francisco AIDS Foundation: San Francisco-based nonprofit providing harm-reduction, STBBI screening, naloxone distribution, and substance-use services to marginalized populations. Comparable as a non-profit peer delivering a similarly integrated harm-reduction and STBBI portfolio, but in a different geography.
Emerging players
- AQPSUD (Association québécoise pour la promotion de la santé des personnes utilisatrices de drogues): Quebec-wide association of people who use drugs that advances the 'by and for' peer model in harm reduction. Comparable because it shares CACTUS's peer-led philosophy and operates in the same provincial policy environment, addressing overlapping populations.
Others
- Canadian AIDS Society: National advocacy and umbrella organization for community-based HIV/AIDS and STBBI response in Canada. Comparable as an ecosystem peer that channels federal funding, convenes community organizations like CACTUS, and shapes the policy environment for harm reduction and STBBI prevention.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
CACTUS Montréal social profiles
Digital presenceCACTUS Montréal financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CACTUS Montréal leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
CACTUS Montréal subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries7 records
CACTUS Montréal funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CACTUS Montréal M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about CACTUS Montréal
What does CACTUS Montréal do?
CACTUS Montréal is a non-profit community-based organization providing free harm reduction services, including supervised consumption, needle exchange, drug-checking, STBBI screening, and outreach programs. It serves marginalized populations such as people who use drugs, sex workers, trans people, and vulnerable youth in downtown Montreal. The organization also runs housing, food security, art-based interventions, and festival-based harm reduction initiatives.
Is CACTUS Montréal a public or private company?
CACTUS Montréal is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was CACTUS Montréal founded?
CACTUS Montréal was founded in 1989. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is CACTUS Montréal based?
CACTUS Montréal is headquartered in Montréal, Québec, Canada, in the North America region.
How does CACTUS Montréal make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are corporate Donations and government/Public Funding.
Who are CACTUS Montréal's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Insite (Vancouver Coastal Health) and The Works (Toronto Public Health). Direct peers are L'Anonyme, Dopamine, Spectre de rue, TRIP! Project and RÉZO. San Francisco AIDS Foundation is listed as a regional player. AQPSUD (Association québécoise pour la promotion de la santé des personnes utilisatrices de drogues) is listed as an emerging player. Canadian AIDS Society is listed as an others.
Does CACTUS Montréal have an API?
No public API is recorded for CACTUS Montréal.
What industry is CACTUS Montréal in?
CACTUS Montréal's product category is Harm Reduction Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAJAAAM, Substance Use, Addiction & Harm Reduction Health Departments. Its NAICS code is 8133 and its SIC code is 8300.