Latest news with #ThunderBayDistrictHealthUnit
CBC
27-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Active Commute Challenge kicking off June 1st
The people behind the Active Commute Challenge gathered Tuesday to kick off the month-long event, which starts June 1. The friendly competition challenges people to use sustainable transportation methods to commute to work for the month of June. This includes walking, cycling, carpooling and public transit. At a podium set up outside outside Confederation College in front of a very full bike rack, Thunder Bay District Health Unit public health nurse Leena Pehkonen said the challenge helps people develop healthy exercise habits and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. "We have such an improved cycling and biking infrastructure here in Thunder Bay, so it gives people a chance to kind of explore that, check out some routes and try something new," said Pehkonen, who is coordinator of the Active Commute Challenge. Thunder Bay's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions was transportation, Pehkonen said. The goal of the challenge is to get cars off the road by replacing car trips with greener modes of transportation. "Last year we replaced 3,000 car trips just during the month of June and 25,000 kilometres of people actively commuting," Pehkonen said. Physical and mental health benefits On top of reducing carbon footprint, the challenge can also help people kick-start a healthier lifestyle, said Janet DeMille, medical officer of health at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. The recommended amount of physical activity for adults is 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week, she said. "You can easily meet that with an active commute if you're walking or if you're biking. So that act improves people's physical health. It makes them stronger, it makes them more energetic, makes them healthier overall and, helps lower the risk of those chronic diseases," said DeMille. How easy is it to commute across Thunder Bay by bike? 2 years ago Duration 4:31 People hoping to bike to work in response to Thunder Bay's Active Commute Challenge might face a few extra obstacles. CBC News went for a ride across the city with cycling advocate Ken Shields. Here's what we saw along the way. Spending time outside during an active commute also has mental health benefits, she said. Being in nature can positively impact people struggling with stress, anxiety, or depression, DeMille said. Commuting by foot, bike or carpool can also help increase social interaction, she said. "You feel connected to other people in a way that you don't when we're all sort of separately in cars," said DeMille. Confederation College Vice President Peter Myllymaa said that he's personally experienced the benefits of exercise DeMille described. "I've been skiing, I started when I was two years old. So I've been at it for 57 years now, riding my bike, running. It's just incredible benefits from that," said Myllymaa. While the challenge may appeal to seasoned active commuters, Myllymaa said people looking to try walking, cycling or other active ways of getting to work can make use of the many multi-use trails in the city and on the college campus. "You can get from the north end of town to the south end of town without competing with traffic. And that's really good to have," he said. The Active Commute Challenge kicks off June 1 and runs for the entire month of June.
CBC
26-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Thunder Bay tops Ontario's opioid death rates for another year
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.
