In Ontario, opioid-related deaths declined to 2,231 in 2024, a 15% reduction from 2023. Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer expressed cautious optimism about this decline; however, he raised concerns that this change might be temporary and numbers could worsen again. The opioid crisis has significantly impacted Ontario since 2015, peaking during the pandemic with 2,880 deaths in 2021. Fentanyl was implicated in the majority of fatalities, while prescription and non-prescription benzodiazepines also contributed to the death toll.
More than 2,200 Ontarians died from opioids last year, a 15 per cent decrease from 2023, newly released data from the Office of the Chief Coroner shows.
Dr. Dirk Huyer, the province's chief coroner, noted: "I also have a degree of worry that this is a short interval, for whatever reason that we haven't identified."
Fentanyl and its related substances were found in more than 83 per cent of opioid toxicity deaths.
The mortality rate from opioid overdoses was 14.3 deaths per 100,000 people in 2024, down from the peak of 19.4 during the pandemic in 2021.
Collection
[
|
...
]