According to a report released in May 2021, opioid-related deaths in Ontario increased by 76 per cent over the last year. A total of 2,050 people died between mid-March and December of 2020, compared to 1,162 during the same period in 2019, the report found.  It's a trend that's mirrored across the country. In B.C., 2020 was the worst year on record for the opioid crisis, as the province saw a 74 per cent jump in overdose deaths from the year before. In Manitoba, the surge in deadly overdoses was even worse - an 87 per cent increase from 2019 to 2020.

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