logo
Thunder Bay tops Ontario's opioid death rates for another year

Thunder Bay tops Ontario's opioid death rates for another year

CBC26-05-2025

Ontario's chief coroner says Thunder Bay once again has the highest opioid toxicity mortality rate in the province.
According to new data by the Office of the Chief Coroner for Ontario, the region had 80 opioid overdose deaths in 2024.
That statistic puts Thunder Bay at the highest per-capita rate in Ontario, at 69.14 deaths per 100,000 people — with Sault Ste. Marie just behind, recording 38 deaths last year and Timmins with 18.
Ontario's Chief Coroner, Dr. Dirk Huyer, noted that while his office does not formally track the underlying causes behind the region's high incidence of opioid-related deaths, he says a myriad of reasons could drive that number.
"It could be the unrelated drug supply… we don't know the supply per say, but it could be that there are challenges that people are facing that are different in the Thunder Bay area than other locations," he said.
Kandace Belanger, manager of harm reduction and street outreach at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, said the answer behind that number is multifaceted, but could come down to a few reasons.
"We certainly understand that there are high rates of people experiencing addictions and mental health concerns," she said. "I think we have people who experience high rates of trauma and intergenerational trauma — which all sort of intersect."
According to the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network (ODPRN), 2024 saw an average of 186 opioid toxicity deaths per month.
Thunder Bay has consistently reported some of the highest opioid-related mortality rates in Ontario over recent years: the previous year in 2023, Public Health Ontario reported 77 opioid-related deaths in Thunder Bay, maintaining its position as the region with the highest per capita opioid mortality rate in Ontario.
Keeping those recurring stats in mind, Belanger said it's not about doing anything differently, but having more of an emphasis on continued work.
"I think the messaging is that our role is really, in the whole continuum of substance use… around the harm reduction aspect of things," she said.
Ongoing efforts
To build on previous work and to help prevent future deaths, Belanger says the health unit continues to take several important steps.
One is providing naloxone — a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose — to individuals or families that may have loved ones using opioids.
Belanger also says the health unit provides training so people understand what overdoses look like and how to respond to them, and also speak with people at risk of overdosing to not use alone.
"There are some local supports and services, one of them is the Lifeguard Digital Health app," she said. "One of the biggest features is it has a built-in timer, where if someone is using alone, they can enter their information and location and if they don't respond to the timer within a specific amount of time, then EMS can automatically be dispatched to their location."
Belanger said a big loss for Thunder Bay was seeing the closure of its only safe consumption site, Path 525.
Ontario previously banned the use of supervised drug consumption sites within 200 meters of schools and child-care centres, with 10 facilities across the province seeing closures by March of this year.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Dr. J. Edward Les: The Canadian Medical Association's inexplicable stance on pediatric gender medicine
Dr. J. Edward Les: The Canadian Medical Association's inexplicable stance on pediatric gender medicine

National Post

time24 minutes ago

  • National Post

Dr. J. Edward Les: The Canadian Medical Association's inexplicable stance on pediatric gender medicine

Late last month, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) announced that it, along with three Alberta doctors, had filed a constitutional challenge to Alberta's Bill 26 'to protect the relationship between patients, their families and doctors when it comes to making treatment decisions.' Article content Bill 26, which became law last December, prohibits doctors in the province from prescribing puberty blockers and hormone therapies for those under 16; it also bans doctors from performing gender-reassignment surgeries on minors (those under 18). Article content Article content Article content The unprecedented CMA action follows its strongly worded response in February 2024 to Alberta's (at the time) proposed legislation: Article content Article content 'The CMA is deeply concerned about any government proposal that restricts access to evidence-based medical care, including the Alberta government's proposed restrictions on gender-affirming treatments for pediatric transgender patients.' Article content But here's the problem with that statement, and with the CMA's position: the evidence supporting the 'gender affirmation' model of care — which propels minors onto puberty blockers, cross-gender hormones, and in some cases, surgery — is essentially non-existent. That's why the United Kingdom's Conservative government, in the aftermath of the exhaustive four-year-long Cass Review, which laid bare the lack of evidence for that model, and which shone a light on the deeply troubling potential for the model's irreversible harm to youth, initiated a temporary ban on puberty blockers — a ban made permanent last December by the subsequent Labour government. And that's why other European jurisdictions like Finland and Sweden, after reviews of gender affirming care practices in their countries, have similarly slammed the brakes on the administration of puberty blockers and cross-gender hormones to minors. Article content Article content It's not only the Europeans who have raised concerns. The alarm bells are ringing loudly within our own borders: earlier this year, a group at McMaster University, headed by none other than Dr. Gordon Guyatt, one of the founding gurus of the 'evidence-based care' construct that rightfully underpins modern medical practice, issued a pair of exhaustive systematic reviews and meta analyses that cast grave doubts on the wisdom of prescribing these drugs to youth. Article content Article content And yet, the CMA purports to be 'deeply concerned about any government proposal that restricts access to evidence-based medical care,' which begs the obvious question: Where, exactly, is the evidence for the benefits of the 'gender affirming' model of care? The answer is that it's scant at best. Worse, the evidence that does exist, points, on balance, to infliction of harm, rather than provision of benefit.

From clinics to culinary tours to laser tag: How this Ontario city is wooing future doctors
From clinics to culinary tours to laser tag: How this Ontario city is wooing future doctors

CBC

time26 minutes ago

  • CBC

From clinics to culinary tours to laser tag: How this Ontario city is wooing future doctors

Shahzeb Khan had never been to Cambridge, Ont., before. But after a week of touring private gardens, visiting various entertainment venues and shadowing family doctors and specialists, the University of Ottawa medical student is considering moving to the community after he graduates. "I definitely have a much better impression of this city than before," he said, standing outside of a glass-walled conference room in the grey and beige hallways of Langs Community Heath Centre, nearly 500 km away from where he currently lives and studies. Khan is just one in a group of medical students brought to the city as part of Rural Ontario Medical Placement (ROMP) week. The week-long program aims to get medical students into smaller Ontario communities to shadow local physicians, explore the area, and ideally, picture themselves moving there as more and more rural communities struggle to find family doctors. The Ontario Medical Association says on its website that people living in rural and northern communities have a gap in access to health-care services and it's most pronounced for family medicine, psychiatry, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, anesthesiology and internal medicine. Cambridge, like many other communities in the province, is seeing a rising need, says Donna Gravelle, a physician recruiter with the group Doctors 4 Cambridge. "It's probably not as big as other communities in Ontario ... but we are short, according to the ministry, 10 to 12 family physicians," Gravelle told CBC News. Gravelle has helped organize ROMP week in Cambridge for more than 15 years and said it's proven to be an effective recruitment program. "We want them to think of Cambridge when they finally graduate," she said. "And it has worked." But as they recruit new doctors, already established Cambridge doctors are retiring every year, Gravelle said. "I have four retirements this year that I'm trying to fill right now. So instead of growing, getting extra docs, we're just filling up the gaps right now," Gravelle said. "I've been in this job for quite a few years and this I've never seen as bad as now. " Shadowing physicians CBC K-W was allowed to tag along for a day to see what it looks like when Cambridge recruits doctors. Students started out the day at Langs Community Health Centre where they spent the morning shadowing primary care physicians or family doctors. "I saw a lot of interesting, diverse patients," Khan said. "[Langs] is a community health centre. So of course each patient has much more complex needs, so we spent a lot more time with them." Khan said that, originally, his career plans didn't involve family medicine, but his experience in Cambridge has him reconsidering. "Being here right now, it's definitely giving me a growing impression on family medicine," he said. "I want to keep an open mind." Selling Cambridge After lunch, the students visited Langdon Hall, one of Cambridge's most prestigious hotels and restaurants. The students were offered non-alcoholic peach bellinis and a tour of the grounds, including the historic map room and expansive culinary gardens. The idea was to show students that life in a smaller community can go beyond just hospital hallways. Cambridge can offer luxury, leisure, and nature, too. While Cambridge itself may not fit the common understanding of a "rural" area, surrounding areas like North Dumfries offer a quieter lifestyle and a different kind of medical practice. It's a stark contrast to what University of Toronto medical student Matt Hamilton is used to. "As a University of Toronto student, we're exposed mostly to downtown health centres," said Hamilton, looking over the trees and hedges outside of the entrance to Langdon Hall's gardens. "So being able to come to more of a rural centre allows us to get exposure to a different patient population that we wouldn't be able to see otherwise." Hamilton is attending school on a family medicine scholarship and said that's where he wants his career to go. He said he likes how family medicine offers, "a different kind of relationship that you have with a patient rather than a lot of other specialties." Being able to see "everything and anything, at all ages" is what appeals most to him. Playtime with a purpose High winds meant a planned canoe trip down the Grand River had to be scrapped, so the final stop of the day was Activate, a neon-lit gaming facility built more for adults than children. While its lasers and futuristic sounds are definitely fun, it's still with the intent of recruiting doctors. After spending so much time applying to medical schools and convincing the schools that they were worthy of attending, some students said it's a nice change of pace when they're the ones being wooed. "It feels special, of course," said University of Ottawa med student Ram Ahuja. "You feel wanted by the community and at the same time, we feel very grateful for this opportunity and that people want us to enter their communities." For Hamilton, it's also a new feeling. "It's strange. It's a unique experience for me," he said. "I've never had anything like this, but it's pretty interesting and I understand the reasoning behind it and I'd like to commend the city for doing it." The students finished the day with a pizza dinner and prepared for the next morning where they were set to shadow specialists at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. But is it working? Most of the students who took part in ROMP Week in Cambridge had just wrapped up their first year of medical school, so it's a bit early for firm commitments. Still, they were optimistic about what Cambridge offers: Proximity to the Greater Toronto Area, a mix of rural and urban life and skilled mentors. "Definitely want to keep an open mind," said Khan. Mehar Johal, another student from the University of Ottawa, said the experience was eye-opening. "I feel like because of how welcoming the environment has been, kind of taking on that role from a first person perspective, it's really stood out to us and it made me consider it more," Johal said. "I'm very much considering it after this week especially."

RFK Jr.'s firing of U.S. immunization committee worrisome, Canadian scientists say
RFK Jr.'s firing of U.S. immunization committee worrisome, Canadian scientists say

CTV News

timean hour ago

  • CTV News

RFK Jr.'s firing of U.S. immunization committee worrisome, Canadian scientists say

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines talk to guests before President Donald Trump speaks during a summer soiree on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) TORONTO — Canadian doctors and scientists say Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s firing of an immunization advisory committee south of the border is worrisome. On Monday, the U.S. health and human services secretary — a longtime anti-vaccine advocate — said he will appoint new members to the scientific group that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about vaccination. Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan, said Tuesday that the move will foster more false anti-vaccine beliefs, not only in the U.S. but also in Canada. 'It creates a culture in which anti-vaxx beliefs are more accepted and challenged a lot less. And also it creates an environment where there's an alternative to an evidence-based recommendation framework,' she said. Even though Kennedy's new appointments will make vaccine recommendations specific to the United States, any disinformation could also feed vaccine hesitancy among Canadians, Rasmussen said. 'We have a lot of the same anti-vaxx sentiment up here. Certainly this will at the very least empower (that),' she said. Rasmussen said current measles outbreaks in both countries show the consequences of disinformation that leads to parents not immunizing their children against preventable diseases. She said Canada could also experience some fallout if the new committee pulls back vaccination recommendations, because manufacturers may cut back on production and that could lead to shortages. 'There's a lot of potential for really, really damaging vaccine access throughout the U.S. and potentially around the world because the U.S. market has a big impact on what vaccine manufacturers are actually going to make and manufacture,' she said. 'There's so many ways that this can end up really badly for vaccination in general. And it really causes me a lot of concern.' Rasmussen said the firing of the advisory committee members is just the latest in a series of anti-public health actions Kennedy has taken. 'It's a death by a thousand cuts,' said Rasmussen, who is American and moved to Canada during the pandemic to work at the University of Saskatchewan's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization. U.S. President Donald Trump's administration has already cut billions of dollars in research grants at the National Institutes of Health. In May, the administration cancelled a contract with mRNA vaccine manufacturer Moderna to develop a vaccine against potential pandemic influenza viruses, including H5N1 avian flu. 'It just seems that there is a top-down approach that views mRNA vaccines in particular — vaccination in general, but mRNA vaccines in particular — with distrust and is trying to dismantle that particular avenue of medical research,' said Dr. Jesse Papenburg, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Montreal Children's Hospital. Papenburg, who is a member of Canada's National Advisory Committee on Immunization but was not speaking on its behalf, said although the Moderna contract cancellation and the firing of the U.S. vaccine advisory committee members are two separate actions, they're both concerning as Canada tries to prepare for potential human-to-human transmission of H5N1. 'Both are potentially very dangerous when it comes to America's and the world's ability to respond to emerging infectious diseases for which vaccines could be a useful medical countermeasure,' he said. — With files from The Associated Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025. Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content. Nicole Ireland, The Canadian Press

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store