Urgent Action Needed to Address Substance Abuse and Overdose Crisis

(Toronto – May 23, 2024) – Ontario faces an alarming projection: over 3,000 annual drug poisoning deaths for the fifth consecutive year, translating to more than eight fatalities daily. As they find themselves near the frontlines of a substance use and overdose crisis, businesses are issuing urgent calls for action, emphasizing the need for strategic interventions in Ontario communities.

Today, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) released Beyond Emergency Declarations: Charting Ontario’s Course Through the Substance Use and Overdose Crisis. This policy brief aims to simplify the complex narrative surrounding substance use, bridge the knowledge gap between stakeholders, and underscore the need for evidence-based, community-informed solutions that prioritize public health principles, prevent mortality, and improve recovery outcomes.

“Businesses across Ontario find themselves near the frontlines of an evolving social crisis that they are ill-equipped to manage. With rising security costs and dwindling customer traffic, they see risk to their employees, their customers, and their future,” said Daniel Tisch, President and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “Our report also highlights high fatality rates in some sectors, such as construction. Without urgent action, our province faces devastating, long-term socio-economic harm.”

Driven by stigma within healthcare settings, obstacles to treatment, declining mental health, and the escalating toxicity of the drug supply, the crisis disproportionately affects northern, remote, and rural communities, which grapple with limited access to support services and much higher overdose rates. Strategies across Canada vary, from harm reduction efforts in B.C. to recovery-focused models in Alberta to Ontario’s focus on creating a continuum of care. Comparing these strategies – and their outcomes – will be essential, the OCC brief finds.

“Collaboration between industry, government, healthcare leaders and community organizations is paramount,” said Simranzeet Singh Vig, Senior Policy Analyst at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. “We believe that through improved data collection that enables direct comparisons of provincial outcomes, Ontario and other jurisdictions can learn from one another and mitigate the impacts on our communities.”

The OCC thanks its lead partner, Indivior, and its supporting partner, the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, for supporting this work.

Read the brief.

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About the Ontario Chamber of Commerce
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) is the indispensable partner of business and Canada’s largest, most influential provincial chamber. It is an independent, not-for-profit advocacy and member services organization representing a diverse network of 60,000 members. The OCC’s mission is to convene, align and advance the interests of its members through principled policy work, value-added business services and broad engagement to drive competitiveness and sustainable, inclusive economic growth in the province.

For more information, please contact:

Andrea Carmona
Senior Manager, Public Affairs
andreacarmona@occ.ca | Mobile: (647) 234-0255