Opioid-related drug deaths in Canada declined by 23 per cent from 2024 to 2025, but remain elevated above pre-pandemic levels, according to data released by the federal government on Monday, June 15.
Across Canada, an average of 15 people per day died as a result of using opioids illegally in 2025, for a yearly total of 5,608. Deaths had spiked from 3,598 in 2019 to a pandemic-era high of 8,040 in 2023, but have been declining steadily since.
Officials at least partly credit increased naloxone use for the progress.
“The progress we are observing reflects combined efforts on several fronts, including expanding access to naloxone and improved surveillance of illicit drug supplies,” Dr. Joss Reimer, the federal chief public health officer, told reporters in Ottawa. “But the progress remains fragile. Illegal drug supply remains toxic and unpredictable.”
The government reports that stimulant-related deaths have also decreased year-over-year by 31 per cent. This progress is very uneven across Canada, with many regions seeing those deaths now outpacing opioid-related fatalities. This is the case in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories.
Officials say there is still a long way to go.
“Too many cities and communities are haunted by stories no one should have to tell,” Health Minister Marjorie Michel said. “Those stories demand our attention and action. People are calling for more results, better support, and real hope for recovery.”
Michel put the economic cost of substance use in Canada at $50 billion per year, and $7 billion for opioids alone.
The majority of 2025’s opioid-related deaths, 78 per cent, occurred in Ontario, Alberta or British Columbia.
Of those three provinces, Ontario led the year-over-year decline in deaths, with a 38.3-per-cent drop to 1,398. B.C. was second with a 21.6-per-cent decline to 1,841 deaths, while Alberta saw only marginal gains, with a 4.4-per-cent drop to 1,145 deaths.
Despite deaths decreasing, emergency response calls are on the rise.
There were “significant” increases in emergency medical responses related to drugs in Alberta and Saskatchewan, with a nine-per-cent rise in call-outs nationally.
The vast majority of opioid-related deaths in Canada, 82 per cent, involved non-pharmaceutical drugs, while 72 per cent also involved a stimulant. Seventy-three per cent of those who died were males.
The federal government’s research also showed an increase in benzodiazepine involvement. In 2018, it was a contributing factor in eight per cent of deaths. By 2024, that had risen to 34 per cent.
Michel highlighted government initiatives trying to combat the crisis, including added funds for treatment, efforts to stop synthetic opioids at the border and programs to track chemicals being found in the illegal drug supply.
“However, there is no silver bullet to solve this crisis,” she said. “Dogmatism and one-size-fits-all approaches are not the right approaches.”
To help track the drug supply, the government has opened drug analysis centres in Vancouver and Toronto, and launched a national wastewater surveillance dashboard.
The federal government has also taken action at the border — partly in response to complaints from the U.S. government — but officials pushed back on the notion that Canada is allowing drugs to flow southwards.
“I’ve said from the beginning that Canada isn’t a major source of fentanyl to the U.S.,” said Kevin Brosseau, Canada’s fentanyl czar. “That’s been clear, and I’ve used evidence and data as my points of argumentation, versus trying to convince somebody who has a particular frame of reference that they may believe.”
On treatment, Michel notes the government has provided $145 million to 180 local support organizations.
She says it is up to individual provinces to decide if safe injection sites are allowed or supported. Health Canada is only mandated to provide the necessary exemptions.
“It is not for the federal government to impose or dictate local implementation on these sites,” she said.
But Michel was clear about the direction she thought provinces ought to follow.
“Safe consumption evidence is clear,” she said, “It saves lives.”