By Nicole Ireland National health data released Wednesday shows overdose deaths in Canada dropped in 2024 but the toll still remained much higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. A joint statement from the country’s chief medical officers of health, chief coroners and chief medical examiners said 7,146 people died of opioid-related overdoses between January and December 2024. That’s down from 8,623 deaths in 2023 but much higher than the 3,742 deaths reported in 2019, according to data on the Public Health Agency of Canada’s website. The statement said an average of 20 people a day died in 2024 from apparent opioid toxicity. The statement noted that the national numbers “mask important regional differences,” with Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories reporting a rise in opioid-related deaths…
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