Canada Records More Than 8,000 Opioid-Related Deaths in 2023

Opioid-related deaths continue to rise in Canada, averaging approximately 22 lives lost each day in 2023, an ongoing trend since the pandemic, according to government data. There were 8,049 deaths due to opioid poisoning in the country last year, a 7 percent increase over 2022, according to a newly released report from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). While opioid-related deaths have been climbing since 2016, they rose dramatically in 2020, the height of the pandemic, and have remained high ever since, say the co-chairs of the federal, provincial, and territorial Special Advisory Committee on Toxic Drug Poisonings. The majority of the opioid overdose deaths—87 percent—occurred in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario, and were largely due to fentanyl use. Eighty-two percent of overdose deaths last year were linked to fentanyl, an extremely potent pain reliever that is typically used in a hospital setting....