Over 600 Ontarians died from opioid overdoses in first 6 months of last year

March 25, 2019

New numbers show that 629 Ontarians died from opioid overdoses in the first six months of 2018.

That’s an approximately 15 per cent increase from the same time period in 2017, when 549 people died from opioid-related causes.

The figures were quietly updated last week, including data for the first nine months of 2018 for hospitalizations and emergency department visits.

There were 6,688 opioid-related emergency department visits in the province, up from 5,909 during the same time frame last year, and 1,544 hospitalizations, which is down from 1,623 from the same time frame last year.

Meanwhile, the province has not announced if overdose prevention sites can continue to operate beyond Sunday.

The province extended their licences to the end of March as Health Minister Christine Elliott reviews applications for 21 sites that will be established to operate under a new model planned by the government.