Federal actions on the overdose crisis

Our approach to addressing the overdose crisis and substance-use-related harms is comprehensive, equitable, collaborative and compassionate. It’s guided by the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy (CDSS).

Highlights of recent federal actions

Announced Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act, to ensure law enforcement has the right tools to:
- keep the borders secure
- stop the flow of illegal fentanyl
- combat transnational organized crime
- crack down on money laundering
Appointed a Fentanyl Czar to work with all levels of the Canadian government and with U.S. counterparts to help stop the production and trafficking of illegal fentanyl
Released Canada’s Border Plan with a $1.3 billion investment to stop illegal fentanyl at the border including:
- $30.7 million to set up the Precursor Chemical Risk Management Unit to increase oversight of precursor chemicals and distribution channels, and to enhance monitoring and surveillance to support timely law enforcement action against illegal synthetic drug trade
- $48 million to establish the Canadian Drug Analysis Centre, expanding our drug testing lab capacity and analysis capabilities with new lab spaces in Toronto and Vancouver
Provided $150 million for the Emergency Treatment Fund (ETF) for municipalities and Indigenous communities. The fund aims to provide a rapid response to emergent, critical needs related to the illegal toxic drug and overdose crisis
Provided an additional $1 billion for Reaching Home: Canada's Homelessness Strategy to stabilize funding under the program, bringing the total investment to $5 billion. Of this, $50 million will focus on accelerating community-level reductions in homelessness
Provided $250 million to address the urgent issue of encampments and unsheltered homelessness

We’re committed to a public health and safety approach that:

connects people to vital services
reduces stigma around substance use
builds evidence to support decision making
supports prevention, treatment and recovery efforts
protects the safety of individuals and communities from illegal drugs and drug-related crimes

Learn more:

Funds committed to address the overdose crisis

We have committed significant funding to the illegal toxic drug and overdose crisis.

Examples of key federal investments:

$25 billion through the Working Together to Improve Health Care for Canadians agreements to support improving access to quality mental health and substance use services, with an additional $2 billion over 10 years to support Indigenous health initiatives
Over $750 million through the Substance Use and Addiction Program for more than 460 innovative community-based pilot projects since 2017, including:
- medication-assisted therapies for people with opioid use disorder, including opioid agonist therapy (OAT)
- projects to help reduce stigma and support families affected by the crisis
- initiatives to reach key groups in British Columbia, including Indigenous peoples, youth, individuals in the correctional system and health care providers
- peer support and capacity-building projects
- chronic pain initiatives, including $4.5 million over 5 years for Pain Canada to coordinate national efforts and resources for people living with pain
Over $650 million over 2 years (starting in 2024 and 2025) towards trauma-informed, culturally grounded, community-based mental wellness initiatives, including:
- substance use prevention and treatment
- 75 Mental Wellness Teams in 385 First Nations and Inuit communities
- Hope for Wellness Help Line
$72.1 million through the Veteran Homelessness Program’s Services and Support Stream to deliver rent supplements and wrap-around services to veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness
$500 million for the Youth Mental Health Fund to help younger people in Canada access the mental health care they need
$20.2 million for the Youth Substance Use Prevention Program to:
- support 12 community-based projects in developing tailored approaches to preventing and delaying youth substance use
- establish a Knowledge Development and Exchange Hub for Youth Substance Use Prevention in Canada
$17 million to the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters to conduct research and knowledge mobilization activities focused on substance use harms, as well as:
- $2.85 million to evaluate the impacts of the decriminalization exemption in B.C.
- $6 million to create a Network Coordinating Centre to support knowledge sharing and training and an Indigenous Engagement Platform to strengthen Indigenous engagement in research
- $10.6 million annually through the Drug Treatment Court Funding Program to provinces and territories to develop, deliver and evaluate drug treatment courts. The program currently supports 22 drug treatment courts as well as several other therapeutic justice programs across Canada
- $23 million to support the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans research program at McMaster University

Prevention and education

We have introduced a number of targeted prevention and education initiatives to raise awareness and help reduce the use of substances.

These initiatives include:

the Youth Substance Use Prevention Program, based on the internationally recognized Icelandic Prevention Model, which supports 12 projects to build youth resiliency and reduce known risk factors for future substance use
public education campaigns focusing on prevention, reducing stigma and supporting help-seeking behaviours. Key initiatives include:
- Ease the Burden, a national campaign aimed at reducing stigma around addiction and encouraging help-seeking among men working in physically demanding jobs. From September 2022 to November 2024, the campaign ads were viewed 284.7 million times
- Know More Opioids youth awareness program, which engaged over 198,200 teens and young adults through more than 1,800 virtual sessions and 1,000 in-person high school sessions between April 2018 and March 2025
- festival outreach, which provided information about naloxone and overdose prevention materials to share with event goers to more than 2,200 festival organizers in 2024
toolkits for specific industries including:
- a toolkit supporting employers and employees in the trades to help reduce the harms of substance use
- a toolkit for pharmacy professionals to raise awareness of stigma and promote best practices for pharmacists to support people using opioids
pain management efforts to:
- implement the Canadian Pain Task Force recommendations, so that pain is understood, prevented and effectively treated
- co-organize the National Pain Congress with the Canadian Pain Society and Pain Canada, bringing together pain specialists, researchers, policy makers and people living with pain to discuss pain priorities and mobilize knowledge
- support knowledge sharing amongst stakeholders and develop guidance and resources to improve pain management including:
  - a national pediatric pain management standard to help ensure equitable and quality pain management in hospital settings
  - the Power Over Pain portal which provides resources and support to people living with pain and health care providers
working with the Standards Council of Canada to develop new tools to improve understanding and coordination among mental health and substance use health care providers
working with Physical and Health Education Canada to create a resource hub with tools and e-learning for educators to prevent substance- related harms in schools
supporting Thunderbird Partnership Foundation and First Peoples Wellness Circle to create a National Youth Council to ensure Indigenous youth perspectives shape mental wellness and substance use policies and programs

Evidence

Reliable, timely, and accurate data helps shape effective policies and public health responses. Our investments support a wide range of initiatives that enhance surveillance, forensic analysis, and knowledge sharing.

These initiatives include:

enhancing laboratory analysis and reporting on illegal drugs including:
- creating the Canadian Drug Analysis Centre to profile and analyze synthetic drug samples
  - this will provide quality forensic information, supporting law enforcement and public safety agencies
- supporting the Canadian Drug and Substance Watch by sharing laboratory confirmatory analysis data on new and emerging psychoactive substances
- providing confirmatory analysis to help community groups strengthen their analytical capacity
deploying Federal Public Health Officers to a range of settings in provinces and territories to advance surveillance efforts, public reporting and data sharing
conducting surveillance activities and producing reports including:
- quarterly pan-Canadian updates on opioid- and stimulant-related harms in collaboration with provincial and territorial public health partners
- the CDSS data and evidence framework
- data on supervised consumption sites (SCS) in Canada, including the number of visits, client demographics, drugs used, overdoses and referrals to services
- National Wastewater Drug Surveillance and the Canadian Wastewater Survey that screen for the presence of drugs, drug metabolites and precursor chemicals in Canada's wastewater
- Statistics Canada’s Overdose Crisis Data Program that addresses evidence gaps and enables research into substance use, overdose and related harms leveraging multiple data sources and data integration opportunities
conducting public opinion research including:
- Canadians' knowledge and attitudes around drug decriminalization
- controlled substances awareness, knowledge and behaviours for public education
the People with Lived and Living Experience Survey on substance use among street-involved youth in Canada
the 2023 Canadian Substance Use Survey on the use of alcohol and drugs in Canada by those aged 15 and over
the 2023 to 2024 Canadian Student Alcohol and Drugs Survey on substance use by students in grades 7 to 12 across Canada
the Online New Psychoactive Substances Survey
collaborating and exchanging knowledge:
- establishing the Chief Coroners, Chief Medical Examiners and Public Health Collaborative to develop common approaches to death investigations, promoting consistency and guiding prevention strategies
- independent research and knowledge mobilization efforts through Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Matters including:
  - an evaluation of the impacts of prescribed alternative pilot projects
  - an assessment on the public health impacts of supervised consumption sites across Canada

Substance use services and supports

Our investments help connect people to treatment, recovery and harm reduction services.

Treatment and recovery

Guidance for health care providers, including:
- clinical guidelines and operational guidance for injectable opioid agonist therapy (OAT)
- National opioid use disorder guideline
Access to treatment options by:
- issuing a class exemption for patients, practitioners and pharmacists prescribing and providing controlled substances in Canada to ensure continuity of care
- approving injectable hydromorphone and diacetylmorphine as treatment options for patients with severe opioid use disorder
Improving access to Drug Treatment Courts through revised Public Prosecution Service of Canada’s deskbook to reduce barriers and offer more flexible criteria for graduation from the program
Delivery of treatment services and supports in First Nations and Inuit communities, including:
- supporting 45 treatment centres to increase reach and accessibility for those who may not otherwise seek treatment
- supporting OAT wraparound services at 83 sites working with more than 100 First Nations and Inuit communities
- the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation’s Bundles of interventions, resources and cultural hub to provide access to culturally-based virtual mental wellness and addictions resources
- the Youth Substance Addiction Committee to train and assist youth and family treatment centres
Delivery of treatment services and supports in federal correctional facilities, including:
- revised opioid use disorder guidance
- a national OAT medical advisor
- a national Substance Use Services committee to coordinate policy and service delivery for inmates with substance-use-related health needs
- psycho-social programs such as Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART)

Harm reduction

Support access to supervised consumption services (SCS) and overdose monitoring services by:
- approving 30 SCS as a key pathway to connect people who use drugs with essential services, including counselling, treatment and housing
  - from January 2017 to February 2025, SCS received over 5.2 million visits, responded to over 64,000 non-fatal overdoses, and made more than 600,000 referrals to health and social services
- allowing provinces and territories to establish temporary urgent public health needs sites where people can consume drugs under supervision to reduce risk of overdose death
Overdose prevention services at 5 correctional institutions
Access to and use of naloxone through:
- the development of a naloxone best practice guideline
- the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation, which distributes take-home nasal naloxone kits to federally funded treatment centres in First Nations communities
- correctional institutions that provide direct access to inmates and offer take-home kits to all individuals upon release
Access to sterile drug use equipment including a prison needle exchange program in 13 sites in 12 federal correctional institutions
Reduce risks and connect people experiencing homelessness and substance use to harm reduction supports under the Reaching Home program
- since 2019, we have invested $822 million to support 2,916 projects helping people with addictions
Targeted harm reduction supports for veterans through the Veteran Homelessness Program, including counselling and substance use services

Substance controls

We’re taking actions to control substances to disrupt the illegal drug supply and enhance public safety.

Through Canada’s Border Plan, we’re fulfilling our commitment to strengthen the border in order to detect and disrupt the fentanyl trade.

Early progress includes:

strengthening cross-border cooperation and data-sharing with the U.S. through new partnerships including a North American Joint Strike Force
listing 7 cartels as terrorist entities
targeting illegal precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl through surveillance, regulation and enforcement, including an emergency order to rapidly control 3 fentanyl precursors in 2025
working with China to stop the shipment of precursors to Canada
creating the Canadian Drug Analysis Centre to support law enforcement
deploying advanced technology and 10,000 border personnel to intercept illegal drugs

Other substance control actions:

Providing law and border enforcement additional tools to combat illegal drug production
Investigating and charging criminal actors suspected of manufacturing or trafficking illegal substances by:
- working with private sector partners to limit the flow of legitimate chemicals used for manufacturing illegal substances
- investigating and dismantling clandestine drug labs capable of producing large quantities of synthetic drugs
- targeting organized crime groups involved in the illegal production and trafficking of synthetic drugs
Published a Notice of Intent in the Canada Gazette, Part I, to amend the regulations for precursor chemicals and certain drug equipment
Worked with private and public sector partners to address money laundering of the proceeds of fentanyl trafficking
Introduced legislative amendments to the Criminal Code in 2023 and 2024 to help:
- investigate and prosecute the offence of laundering proceeds of crime and other economic crimes
- seize and restrain the proceeds of crime for possible forfeiture

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2025-10-21

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