Care not Corrections

Relieving the opioid crisis in Canada

Canada is confronting an unprecedented public health crisis. In 2016-2017, an average of 16 Canadians a day were hospitalized for opioid poisonings, and in 2016 alone, over 2,861 died – the equivalent of eight deaths per day. British Columbia, the province with the highest number of suspected opioid poisonings in the country, counted 1,422 deaths in 2017 alone – a 43% increase from 2016. The high rates of hospitalization and mortality have most recently been attributed to fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, which are powerful synthetic opioid analgesics that have become increasingly available illegally in Canada and are finding their way into other substances sold to unsuspecting consumers. However, while the contamination of illegal substances is a significant part of the crisis, it is only one layer of a very complex problem.