Suspected drug toxicity deaths

Figure: Suspected drug toxicity deaths, by month, Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, 2018-2026

Table: Suspected drug toxicity deaths, by month, Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, 2018-2026

Note:

  • Counts, especially those from recent months, are preliminary and subject to change.
  • Suspected drug-related deaths include deaths where the coroner indicated that they suspect the death may be drug-related based on preliminary investigation (e.g., drugs or drug use equipment were found at the scene, history of drug use or naloxone use, physical signs of drug use, etc.). These deaths exclude death associated with trauma (e.g., injuries) and medical assistance in dying cases.
  • Deaths are assigned to geographic areas based on the location of the drug poisoning or, when that is not available, the location of the death. Counts of deaths in Sudbury and districts may therefore include deaths of residents of other geographic areas who died here. Such deaths will introduce a small error into our calculated rates, the denominators for which are based on the estimated population of local residents.

Source: Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. Monthly Update: Suspect drug-related and drug toxicity deaths in Ontario [unpublished datafile], received October 15, 2026.

Figure: Annual rates of suspected drug toxicity deaths per 100,000 population, by geographic region, 2018–2026

Line graph showing annual rates of suspected drug toxicity deaths from 2018 to 2026 in Sudbury and districts, Northern Ontario and Ontario. Rates in all areas increased from 2018 to 2020, but the increase was much greater in the North, with rates remaining much higher than in Ontario overall in all years. Rates in all geographic areas decrease slightly from 2023 to 2025 but increase in Sudbury and districts in 2026, such that the local rate currently exceeds that in the North overall.

Table: Annual rates of suspected drug toxicity deaths per 100,000 population, by geographic region, 2018–2026

Note:

  • Rates, especially those from recent months, are preliminary and subject to change.
  • Suspected drug-related deaths include deaths where the coroner indicated that they suspect the death may be drug-related based on preliminary investigation (e.g., drugs or drug use equipment were found at the scene, history of drug use or naloxone use, physical signs of drug use, etc.). These deaths exclude death associated with trauma (e.g., injuries) and medical assistance in dying cases.
  • Deaths are assigned to geographic areas based on the location of the drug poisoning or, when that is not available, the location of the death. Counts of deaths in Sudbury and districts may therefore include deaths of residents of other geographic areas who died here. Such deaths will introduce a small error into our calculated rates, the denominators for which are based on population estimates of local residents.
  • The rates for the current year have been annualized to represent the annual rates that would be seen if the average monthly counts seen thus far in the year persist for the whole year.

Source:(1) Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario. Monthly Update: Suspect drug-related and drug toxicity deaths in Ontario [unpublished datafile], received October 15, 2026, (2) Ontario Ministry of Health, Population Estimates and Projections 2021–2026, IntelliHEALTH Ontario, accessed October 15, 2026.