Emergency department visits

Figure: Emergency department visits for confirmed opioid drug poisonings, by month, Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, 2018–2025

A graph showing the number of emergency department visits for opioid drug poisonings each month from January 2018 until March 2025, with the rolling 3-month average monthly count shown as a line. The counts for individual months are provided in a table, below. The 3-month average trendline increased sharply from 10 visits in the summer of 2018 to 40 visits in the summer of 2019, before decreasing. It rose again from 20 visits per month in November 2019 to a peak of 65 visits per month in January 2021. It then began a gradual downward trend that has continued, with monthly fluctuations, until November 2024. There has been a sharp decline in visits in recent months.

Table: Emergency department visits for confirmed opioid drug poisonings, by month, Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, 2018–2025

Month20182019202020212022202320242025
January618276236233226
February1824434242293820
March 1629386733344726
April 16262744373344-
May11574052513746-
June 13333156452937-
July9264445353424-
August 18243655274144-
September 18186252395237-
October 15215741373135-
November 17245053372625-
December 22338667534214-
TOTAL17933354163647241142372

Note:

Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NARCS). Obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Health on April 22, 2025.

Figure: Annual rates of emergency department visits for confirmed opioid drug poisonings per 100,000 population, by geographic region, 2018–2025

A graph comparing the annual rate of emergency department visits for opioid drug poisonings in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, Northern Ontario and Ontario, for each year from 2018 to 2025. The rate for the most recent year is based on data from March 2025. The rates for individual years are provided in a table, below. Rates in both the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts and northern Ontario are much higher than the rate for Ontario for all years shown, with the local rate being significantly higher than the rate in the North from 2019 to 2022. Rates in all geographic areas increased significantly from 2018 to 2021. However, the increases in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts and northern Ontario were much steeper than in Ontario overall. Rates in all areas have declined since 2021. But whereas rates in Ontario have almost returned to what they were in 2018, the rates in both the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts and Northern Ontario remain significantly higher than they used to be. Rates in all regions declined significantly in early 2025.

Table: Annual rate of emergency department visits for opioid drug poisonings per 100,000 population, by geographic region, 2018–2025

YearSudbury and Manitoulin districtsNorthern OntarioOntario
201887.193.064.4
2019160.6121.872.4
2020259.1192.081.5
2021302.3241.9115.6
2022221.0179.780.7
2023187.8171.186.8
2024187.2186.877.4
2025 (January to March)125.7101.234.3

Note:

Sources: (1) Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NARCS). Obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Health on April 22, 2025.
(2) Ontario Ministry of Health, Population Estimates and Projections 2018–2025, IntelliHEALTH Ontario, accessed March 20, 2024


This item was last modified on April 24, 2025