TORONTO – Four Ontario cities are facing a sharp rise in opioid overdoses. According to a CBC analysis of provincial data, during the first five months of 2026, calls for suspected opioid poisonings increased by 20% in Thunder Bay, 52% in Ottawa (a figure that also includes non-opioid overdose cases), 115% in Toronto and 199% in Hamilton compared with the same period in 2025 (January to May).
These are the numbers of the opioid-related EMS calls in 2026 (January to May) compared to same period of 2025: Thunder Bay 262 (218), Ottawa: 2,264 (1,487); Toronto 2,056 (958); Hamilton 811 (271) – sources are Toronto Paramedic Services, City of Hamilton, City of Ottawa, Superior North Emergency Medical Services.
As Ariel Tozman, the author of the CBC report, writes in her article (here), while the data do not conclusively explain the reasons behind the surge, researchers, health-care workers and harm reduction advocates point to two main factors: the increasingly toxic drug supply—following fentanyl, medetomidine, a veterinary sedative, has now become a growing concern—and the closure of supervised consumption sites over the past two years.
Ontario previously operated 17 Supervised Consumption Sites (SCS), where people could use their own drugs under the supervision of trained health professionals. However, legislation passed in 2024 ordered the closure of 10 of these sites located near schools and daycare centres by March 2025, while also prohibiting the opening of new facilities. Then, in March 2026, the provincial government announced the immediate end of funding for the remaining supervised consumption sites. The last two facilities in Toronto closed last month (there are now only three privately funded ones remaining).
Most of the former (public) sites have since been converted by the province into Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hubs. These centres follow an abstinence-based approach, providing treatment and recovery services instead of supervised spaces where people can inject drugs or have their substances tested for safety.
Critics argue, however, that the situation has worsened rather than improved. According to an open letter sent to Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones by the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (here), provincial data show that following the closure of supervised consumption sites in 2025, emergency medical service responses for opioid overdoses increased by 69.5%, while emergency department visits rose by 67%. The coalition also reported an increase in overdose deaths occurring in private residences and outdoor public spaces.
According to Medora Uppal, CEO of YWCA Hamilton—which operates a safer drug use program for women and gender-diverse people—the new HART model discourages many people from seeking help because they fear they will be pressured into treatment before they are ready. ““It’s a hard sell to somebody who’s actively engaged in drug use … it also further worsens their trauma, and their experiences of shame, and increases their drug use,” Uppal told CBC. That appears to be what happened in Thunder Bay, where opioid overdose rates have reached five times the provincial average. The city’s only supervised consumption site, Path 525, closed in March 2025 and was later converted into a HART Hub.
The Ontario government, however, is standing by its policy. In an emailed statement to CBC, a spokesperson for the Health Minister said the Province is helping people break the cycle of addiction “instead of providing them with the tools to use harmful, illegal drugs,” adding that Ontario is investing $560 million to establish 29 HART Hubs.
According to the provincial government, data from the Office of the Chief Coroner show that opioid-related deaths have fallen by 41% since the first HART Hubs opened on April 1, 2025. A report by the Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation, however, found that Ontario’s supervised consumption sites successfully reversed approximately 22,000 overdoses between March 2020 and November 2024.
