
National data shows overdose deaths dropped in 2024 but still higher than pre-pandemic
TORONTO — National health data shows overdose deaths in Canada dropped in 2024 but the toll still remained much higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
A joint statement from the country’s chief medical officers of health, chief coroners and chief medical examiners says 7,146 people died of opioid-related overdoses last year.
That’s down from 8,623 deaths in 2023 but much higher than the 3,742 deaths reported in 2019.
The statement notes that the national numbers “mask important regional differences,” with Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories reporting a rise in opioid-related deaths in 2024.