OTTAWA — Canada’s efforts to stem overdose deaths seem to be bearing fruit, but officials warn the problem is still significant.
On Monday, Health Canada released new numbers on Canada’s drug overdose problem, showing deaths from opioid overdoses fell 23% over 2025, with 5,608 such deaths reported to health officials between January and December. That’s around 15 deaths per day, on average.
Hospitalizations related to opioid-related poisonings were clocked at 4,920 in 2025, 12% lower than the previous 12 months. There were also 23,291 emergency room visits related to opioids in 2025, a five per cent decrease from 2024. EMS call-outs related to opioid use, however, were up in 2025 compared to the previous year — with 39,403, or an average of 108 per day, reported last year.
Most (78%) opioid-related deaths were reported in British Columbia, Alberta or Ontario, with 73% of them being male. Fifty-six per cent of opioid deaths in 2025 were caused by fentanyl. Eighty-two per cent of those deaths involved opioids obtained illicitly without a prescription, and 70% of deaths also involved a stimulant.
Deaths and Hospitalizations Down for Stimulant Use
Deaths and hospitalizations related to stimulant use were also down in 2025 — with deaths down by 31% over 2024, and hospitalizations falling by 11%.
Progress Encouraging but ‘Fragile’
During a news conference on Monday, Health Minister Marjorie Michel said such deaths have seen year-over-year declines. “This builds on the 17% decline seen in 2024, compared to 2023,” she said. “Those declines are real progress, but deaths remain higher than a decade ago.” Michel said stemming deaths are behind the government’s plans to disrupt fentanyl distribution networks in Canada.
“In December, we launched the national wastewater drug surveillance dashboard, to provide near real-time detection of drug use, both legal and illegal, and enable community-level action, including local drug alerts, so people are informed of what is circulating in their community,” she said.
Following warnings from U.S. President Donald Trump over Canadian-distributed fentanyl ending up in his country — as well as the imposition of hefty tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) — Canada enacted a $1.3-billion plan to fortify its border with the U.S., Canada’s largest-ever investment in border security.
Chief Public Health Officer: ‘Far From Solved’
Chief Public Health Officer Joss Reimer said that while the numbers are encouraging, the good news does not offset the scope of the problem. “It is fragile — we’ve seen a decrease for two years in a row, but that follows many years of increases,” she said, adding that overdose deaths are still higher now than they were before the pandemic. “While it is encouraging, it is far from over, we’ve far from ‘solved’ this issue.”
