The number of people dying after consuming unregulated drugs in Toronto continues to be significantly higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the latest preliminary data released by Toronto Public Health, there were 523 opioid toxicity deaths in the city in 2023 – a 74 per cent increase from 2019 when Toronto recorded 301 deaths due to toxic drugs.
At this point, 427 of the suspected 523 drug-related deaths in Toronto have been deemed accidental. Public health says that almost half were individuals aged 25 to 44 years, 54 of those individuals lived in a private dwelling, and 39 per cent of those who died were in their homes at the time of their death.
The latest numbers are up slightly from 2022, which saw 510 people die after consuming unregulated drugs: 507 of those deaths were confirmed by Public Health Ontario and the Officer of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, while the remaining three are being considered probable.
In 2021, during the height of the pandemic, Toronto saw a record-breaking 591 confirmed drug toxicity deaths.
“The continued loss of life to the ongoing drug toxicity epidemic is devastating and has left a profound and painful impact on so many of us in our community. This is more than a public health issue – it’s a human tragedy that demands we respond with empathy, care and compassion,” Toronto’s Medical Office of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said in a news release.
The health unit noted that Toronto’s unregulated drug supply is increasingly toxic and contaminated with unexpected and dangerous substances.
So far this year, TPH has issued four drug alerts advising those who use drugs to along with harm reduction organizations and public health units about presence of potent toxic substances in the unregulated drug supply as well as increases in suspected overdoses.
Public health said that one of the key ways to address this crisis is supervised consumption services, clinical spaces for those who use drugs to consume them in the presence of trained health professionals. Ten such sites current exist in Toronto.
“Evidence shows that SCSs save lives, connect people to social services and are proven pathways to treatment,” said TPH, which has long called for “greater access to a full continuum of evidence-based healthcare services including prevention, treatment and harm reduction supports.”
“(We) remain a willing partner to explore collaborative solutions to this urgent public health issue,” it said.
Coun. Chris Moise, who chairs the Toronto Board of Health, said that “every life lost to this crisis is not only tragic but also preventable.”
He said that increasing funding and access to treatment options, including the opening of a 24/7 stabilization crisis centre, is “essential to tackling the drug toxicity epidemic.”
This effort, however, requires the “coordinated efforts” of all three levels of government, he noted.
“This situation demands an immediate and collective call to action for all of us,” Moise said.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow, meanwhile, said community health and wellbeing is under serious threat due to the “toxic unregulated drug supply, coupled with the housing and affordability crisis.”
“Treatment is vital. We need the support and participation of all three levels of government to significantly reduce the devastating impact of the drug toxicity epidemic in Toronto and across Ontario,” she said in a release.