More than 1 in 4 deaths among young people in Canada were opioid-related in 2021, study finds – CBC

Nationally, annual number of opioid overdose deaths surged from 3,007 to 6,222 over three years

Apr 15, 2024

Opioid-related deaths doubled in Canada between 2019 and the end of 2021, with Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta experiencing a dramatic jump, mostly among men in their 20s and 30s, says a new study that calls for targeted harm-reduction policies.

Researchers from the University of Toronto analyzed accidental opioid-related deaths between Jan. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2021 in those provinces as well as British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and the Northwest Territories.

Manitoba saw the sharpest rise in overdose deaths for those aged 30 to 39 — reaching 500 deaths per million population, more than five times the 89 deaths per million population recorded at the beginning of the study period.

In Saskatchewan, the death toll for that age group nearly tripled to 424 per million, up from 146 per million, while Alberta’s rate spiked more than 2.5 times to 729 fatalities per million, up from 272 per million. Ontario’s death rate reached 384, up from 210 per million.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/opioid-young-people-1.7174098