Emergency department visits

Figure: Emergency department visits for confirmed opioid drug poisonings, by month, Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, 2018–2024

A graph showing the number of emergency department visits for opioid drug poisonings each month from January 2018 until September 2024, with the rolling 3-month average monthly count shown as a line. The counts for individual months are provided in a table, below. The 3-month average trendline increased sharply from 10 visits in the summer of 2018 to 40 visits in the summer of 2019, before decreasing. It then increased again from 20 visits per month in November 2019 to a peak of 65 visits per month in January 2021. It then began a gradual downward trend that has continued, with monthly fluctuations, until the most recent month.

Table: Emergency department visits for confirmed opioid drug poisonings, by month, Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, 2018–2024

Month2018201920202021202220232024
January7182762362332
February19244342422926
March 14293867333432
April 16262744373345
May14574052513746
June 12333156452920
July10264445353419
August 18243655274125
September 21186252395223
October 142157413731-
November 132450533726-
December 203386675342-
TOTAL179333541636472411271

Note:

Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NARCS). Obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Health on October 15, 2024.

Figure: Annual rates of emergency department visits for confirmed opioid drug poisonings per 100,000 population, by geographic region, 2018–2024

A graph comparing the annual rate of emergency department visits for opioid drug poisonings in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts, Northern Ontario and Ontario, for each year from 2018 to 2024. The rate for the most recent year is based on data from January to September 2024. The rates for individual years are provided in a table, below. Rates in both the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts and northern Ontario are much higher than the rate for Ontario for all years shown, with the local rate being significantly higher than the rate in the North from 2019 to 2022. Rates in all geographic areas increase significantly from 2018 to 2021. However, the increases in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts and northern Ontario were much steeper than in Ontario overall. Rates in all areas have declined since 2021. But whereas rates in Ontario have almost returned to what they were in 2018, the rates in both the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts and Northern Ontario remain significantly higher than they used to be.

Table: Annual rate of emergency department visits for opioid drug poisonings per 100,000 population, by geographic region, 2018–2024

YearSudbury and Manitoulin districtsNorthern OntarioOntario
201887.893.564.5
2019162.7122.872.5
2020263.7194.281.7
2021309.0245.6115.9
2022226.2183.180.9
2023191.7174.586.3
2024 (January to September)165.0167.473.1

Note:

Sources: (1) Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NARCS). Obtained from the Ontario Ministry of Health on October 15, 2024.
(2) Ontario Ministry of Health, Population Estimates and Projections 2018–2025, IntelliHEALTH Ontario, accessed March 15, 2024


This item was last modified on October 15, 2024