There have been less overdoses leading to death or hospitalization year-over-year in Canada, according to a new report from Health Canada. <\/p>\n
Opioids were seemingly connected to more than 6,100 deaths, and stimulants to over 3,300 between July 2024 and June 2025, the report<\/a> showed. That\u2019s a 22 per cent reduction in opioid-related deaths and a 38 per cent drop for stimulants, compared to the previous 12 months. <\/p>\n Opioid deaths are also at their lowest observed level since 2020, Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said Thursday in a press release.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important to highlight that experiences vary widely between provinces and territories, municipalities and smaller communities, and even neighbourhood to neighbourhood, with some areas continuing to experience increases in harms and deaths,\u201d the agency said, before advising that Indigenous peoples are \u201cdisproportionately\u201d impacted by deadly drugs. <\/p>\n A changing drug supply is affecting the crisis, as PHAC reported \u201cless presence of fentanyl and less high-risk combinations, such as opioids mixed with benzodiazepines.\u201d <\/p>\n Along with a reduction in fentanyl, naloxone helped lower drug-linked deaths. Naloxone is a \u201cfast-acting medication used to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses,\u201d<\/a> according to Health Canada. <\/p>\n According to the PHAC, less young people are using opioids, leading to a declining death rate in young adults, \u201cparticularly males aged 20-29.\u201d The agency suggested that there\u2019s been a \u201cnoticeable change in attitudes among youth toward opioids,\u201d but they say that\u2019s reflective of \u201cthe widespread loss of lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Stimulants<\/p>\n Stimulant-related hospitalizations dropped 17 per cent from 2023-24, with just over 2,000 recorded from July 2024 to June 2025, resulting in about six hospitalizations a day. Emergency departments saw nearly 5,000 stimulant-related visits over that period, eight per cent less than the year before, but resulting in roughly 14 visits a day. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Drugs that are designed to increase energy and feelings of excitement are referred to as stimulants, or sometimes as \u201cuppers.\u201d These include cocaine<\/a> and methamphetamine.<\/a> <\/p>\n