'Devastating': More than 42,000 people have died in Canada's drugs crisis since 2016

More than 42,000 people have died from drug overdoses across Canada since 2016, new data from the federal government reveal.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), 5,975 people died after taking opioids between January and September 2023.

There were more than 2,500 deaths in British Columbia last year.

Since 2016, the death toll across Canada has reached 42,494.

Over the same period, 41,045 people were treated in hospital for opioid-related poisoning.

Last year, 82 per cent of opioid deaths involved fentanyl.

That’s up 44 per cent compared with 2016, PHAC said.

The vast majority of accidental opioid deaths occurred in men.

In 2023, men aged between 20 and 59 accounted for 88 per cent of all such deaths.

“The overdose crisis is one of the most serious and unprecedented public health threats in Canada's recent history,” Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Ya'ara Saks said in a news release issued alongside the data.

“It is driven by the illegal drug supply, which is unpredictable, rapidly changing and growing increasingly toxic. The overdose crisis is tragic and having devastating impacts on individuals, friends, and families across the country, leaving no community left untouched.”