Thunder Bay tops Ontario's opioid death rates for another year

Keena Alwahaidi · CBC News

· Posted: May 25, 2025 8:44 PM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Ontario's main coroner says Thunder Bay erstwhile again has the highest opioid toxicity mortality complaint successful the province. 

According to caller information by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, the portion had 80 opioid overdose deaths successful 2024. 

That statistic puts Thunder Bay astatine the highest per-capita complaint successful Ontario, astatine 69.14 deaths per 100,000 radical — with Sault Ste. Marie conscionable behind, signaling 38 deaths past twelvemonth and Timmins with 18. 

Ontario's Chief Coroner, Dr. Dirk Huyer, noted that portion his bureau does not formally way the underlying causes down the region's precocious incidence of opioid-related deaths, helium says a myriad of reasons could thrust that number. 

"It could beryllium the unrelated cause supply… we don't cognize the proviso per say, but it could beryllium that determination are challenges that radical are facing that are antithetic successful the Thunder Bay country than different locations," helium said. 

Kandace Belanger, manager of harm simplification and thoroughfare outreach astatine the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, said the reply down that fig is multifaceted, but could travel down to a fewer reasons. 

"We surely recognize that determination are precocious rates of radical experiencing addictions and intelligence wellness concerns," she said. "I deliberation we person radical who acquisition precocious rates of trauma and intergenerational trauma — which each benignant of intersect." 

According to the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN), 2024 saw an mean of 186 opioid toxicity deaths per month. 

Thunder Bay has consistently reported immoderate of the highest opioid-related mortality rates successful Ontario implicit caller years: the erstwhile twelvemonth successful 2023, Public Health Ontario reported 77 opioid-related deaths successful Thunder Bay, maintaining its presumption arsenic the portion with the highest per capita opioid mortality complaint successful Ontario.

Keeping those recurring stats successful mind, Belanger said it's not astir doing thing differently, but having much of an accent connected continued work. 

"I deliberation the messaging is that our relation is really, successful the full continuum of substance use… astir the harm simplification facet of things," she said. 

Ongoing efforts

To physique connected erstwhile enactment and to assistance forestall aboriginal deaths, Belanger says the wellness portion continues to instrumentality respective important steps. 

One is providing naloxone — a medicine that tin reverse the effects of an opioid overdose — to individuals or families that whitethorn person loved ones utilizing opioids. 

Belanger besides says the wellness portion provides grooming truthful radical recognize what overdoses look similar and however to respond to them, and besides talk with radical astatine hazard of overdosing to not usage alone. 

"There are immoderate section supports and services, 1 of them is the Lifeguard Digital Health app," she said. "One of the biggest features is it has a built-in timer, wherever if idiosyncratic is utilizing alone, they tin participate their accusation and determination and if they don't respond to the timer wrong a circumstantial magnitude of time, past EMS tin automatically beryllium dispatched to their location." 

Belanger said a big nonaccomplishment for Thunder Bay was seeing the closure of its lone harmless depletion site, Path 525. 

Ontario antecedently banned the usage of supervised cause depletion sites wrong 200 meters of schools and child-care centres, with 10 facilities crossed the state seeing closures by March of this year. 

"A batch of accusation and pieces were provided determination for individuals, a batch of connection," Belanger said.