2025 health snapshot · reviewed October 26, 2026
Adults 18 and over, Canada excluding territories. Point estimates with published 95% confidence intervals.
| Indicator | Estimate | 95% interval |
|---|---|---|
| Perceived health, fair or poor | 14.2% | 13.6%–14.7% |
| Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 15.1% | 14.5%–15.7% |
| Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 22.5% | 21.8%–23.2% |
| Diabetes | 8.9% | 8.5%–9.3% |
| High blood pressure | 19.6% | 19.0%–20.1% |
| Has a primary health care provider | 83.4% | 82.7%–84.1% |
Current regional estimates, adults 18+, 2025
| Group | Indicator | Estimate | 95% interval | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada (excluding territories) | Perceived health, fair or poor | 14.2% | 13.6%–14.7% | Normal |
| Canada (excluding territories) | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 15.1% | 14.5%–15.7% | Normal |
| Canada (excluding territories) | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 22.5% | 21.8%–23.2% | Normal |
| Canada (excluding territories) | Diabetes | 8.9% | 8.5%–9.3% | Normal |
| Canada (excluding territories) | High blood pressure | 19.6% | 19.0%–20.1% | Normal |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Perceived health, fair or poor | 19.1% | 16.2%–22.2% | Normal |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 16.6% | 13.9%–19.7% | Normal |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 19.7% | 16.6%–23.3% | Normal |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Diabetes | 11.0% | 9.2%–13.1% | Normal |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | High blood pressure | 28.0% | 25.2%–30.9% | Normal |
| Prince Edward Island | Perceived health, fair or poor | 12.5% | 9.7%–15.9% | Normal |
| Prince Edward Island | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 14.5% | 11.2%–18.7% | Normal |
| Prince Edward Island | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 18.2% | 14.3%–22.8% | Normal |
| Prince Edward Island | Diabetes | 8.7% | 6.6%–11.5% | Normal |
| Prince Edward Island | High blood pressure | 18.0% | 14.9%–21.6% | Normal |
| Nova Scotia | Perceived health, fair or poor | 18.2% | 16.2%–20.3% | Normal |
| Nova Scotia | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 21.2% | 18.7%–24.0% | Normal |
| Nova Scotia | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 23.0% | 20.6%–25.6% | Normal |
| Nova Scotia | Diabetes | 11.6% | 10.2%–13.3% | Normal |
| Nova Scotia | High blood pressure | 25.5% | 23.5%–27.5% | Normal |
| New Brunswick | Perceived health, fair or poor | 16.3% | 14.3%–18.5% | Normal |
| New Brunswick | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 15.1% | 12.9%–17.6% | Normal |
| New Brunswick | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 20.0% | 17.6%–22.6% | Normal |
| New Brunswick | Diabetes | 12.2% | 10.6%–14.1% | Normal |
| New Brunswick | High blood pressure | 23.4% | 21.5%–25.4% | Normal |
| Quebec | Perceived health, fair or poor | 11.3% | 10.3%–12.3% | Normal |
| Quebec | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 9.0% | 8.1%–10.1% | Normal |
| Quebec | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 19.9% | 18.6%–21.4% | Normal |
| Quebec | Diabetes | 8.5% | 7.7%–9.3% | Normal |
| Quebec | High blood pressure | 18.6% | 17.6%–19.6% | Normal |
| Ontario | Perceived health, fair or poor | 14.5% | 13.5%–15.5% | Normal |
| Ontario | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 16.2% | 15.1%–17.5% | Normal |
| Ontario | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 23.2% | 21.9%–24.5% | Normal |
| Ontario | Diabetes | 9.4% | 8.6%–10.3% | Normal |
| Ontario | High blood pressure | 19.9% | 18.9%–21.0% | Normal |
| Manitoba | Perceived health, fair or poor | 15.2% | 13.4%–17.1% | Normal |
| Manitoba | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 15.8% | 13.8%–18.0% | Normal |
| Manitoba | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 22.4% | 20.2%–24.8% | Normal |
| Manitoba | Diabetes | 9.3% | 8.0%–10.8% | Normal |
| Manitoba | High blood pressure | 22.2% | 20.3%–24.3% | Normal |
| Saskatchewan | Perceived health, fair or poor | 14.3% | 12.6%–16.2% | Normal |
| Saskatchewan | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 15.6% | 13.6%–17.7% | Normal |
| Saskatchewan | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 21.6% | 19.3%–24.1% | Normal |
| Saskatchewan | Diabetes | 9.1% | 7.8%–10.6% | Normal |
| Saskatchewan | High blood pressure | 22.5% | 20.5%–24.7% | Normal |
| Alberta | Perceived health, fair or poor | 14.8% | 13.4%–16.3% | Normal |
| Alberta | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 18.4% | 16.8%–20.2% | Normal |
| Alberta | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 25.5% | 23.7%–27.4% | Normal |
| Alberta | Diabetes | 8.3% | 7.4%–9.3% | Normal |
| Alberta | High blood pressure | 18.5% | 17.2%–19.8% | Normal |
| British Columbia | Perceived health, fair or poor | 15.4% | 14.1%–16.9% | Normal |
| British Columbia | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 16.9% | 15.5%–18.5% | Normal |
| British Columbia | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 22.9% | 21.2%–24.8% | Normal |
| British Columbia | Diabetes | 7.2% | 6.4%–8.1% | Normal |
| British Columbia | High blood pressure | 17.2% | 16.1%–18.4% | Normal |
| Canada (excluding territories) | Has a primary health care provider | 83.4% | 82.7%–84.1% | Normal |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | Has a primary health care provider | 75.9% | 71.0%–80.1% | Normal |
| Prince Edward Island | Has a primary health care provider | 66.3% | 60.5%–71.7% | Normal |
| Nova Scotia | Has a primary health care provider | 83.8% | 80.2%–86.9% | Normal |
| New Brunswick | Has a primary health care provider | 79.5% | 75.4%–83.1% | Normal |
| Quebec | Has a primary health care provider | 72.3% | 70.6%–73.9% | Normal |
| Ontario | Has a primary health care provider | 88.8% | 87.6%–90.0% | Normal |
| Manitoba | Has a primary health care provider | 85.4% | 82.0%–88.3% | Normal |
| Saskatchewan | Has a primary health care provider | 82.6% | 79.6%–85.3% | Normal |
| Alberta | Has a primary health care provider | 86.2% | 84.4%–87.9% | Normal |
| British Columbia | Has a primary health care provider | 84.2% | 82.5%–85.8% | Normal |
Current age estimates, Canada excluding territories, 2025
| Group | Indicator | Estimate | 95% interval | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 34 years | Perceived health, fair or poor | 9.6% | 8.6%–10.7% | Normal |
| 18 to 34 years | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 20.8% | 19.2%–22.4% | Normal |
| 18 to 34 years | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 24.1% | 22.5%–25.7% | Normal |
| 18 to 34 years | Diabetes | 1.8% | 1.2%–2.5% | Normal |
| 18 to 34 years | High blood pressure | 2.7% | 2.1%–3.5% | Normal |
| 35 to 49 years | Perceived health, fair or poor | 11.3% | 10.2%–12.4% | Normal |
| 35 to 49 years | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 16.2% | 15.1%–17.4% | Normal |
| 35 to 49 years | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 30.9% | 29.4%–32.5% | Normal |
| 35 to 49 years | Diabetes | 5.1% | 4.3%–6.0% | Normal |
| 35 to 49 years | High blood pressure | 10.0% | 9.0%–11.2% | Normal |
| 50 to 64 years | Perceived health, fair or poor | 16.6% | 15.4%–17.8% | Normal |
| 50 to 64 years | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 14.3% | 13.1%–15.5% | Normal |
| 50 to 64 years | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 23.8% | 22.4%–25.2% | Normal |
| 50 to 64 years | Diabetes | 13.0% | 12.0%–14.1% | Normal |
| 50 to 64 years | High blood pressure | 27.3% | 25.9%–28.8% | Normal |
| 65 years and over | Perceived health, fair or poor | 20.7% | 19.9%–21.6% | Normal |
| 65 years and over | Perceived mental health, fair or poor | 7.4% | 6.9%–8.0% | Normal |
| 65 years and over | Perceived life stress, most days quite a bit or extremely stressful | 10.4% | 9.7%–11.0% | Normal |
| 65 years and over | Diabetes | 17.7% | 16.9%–18.6% | Normal |
| 65 years and over | High blood pressure | 42.9% | 41.9%–43.9% | Normal |
| 18 to 34 years | Has a primary health care provider | 75.3% | 73.4%–77.1% | Normal |
| 35 to 49 years | Has a primary health care provider | 82.3% | 80.8%–83.6% | Normal |
| 50 to 64 years | Has a primary health care provider | 87.5% | 86.5%–88.5% | Normal |
| 65 years and over | Has a primary health care provider | 90.3% | 89.6%–91.0% | Normal |
E means use with caution. Unavailable or suppressed values are not filled; overlapping conditions must not be added.
2025 chronic-condition questionnaire changed to mark all that apply; no year-over-year change inferred. Primary-provider indicator uses table 13-10-0986-01, adults 18+, Canada excluding territories. Earlier provider series ends 2024 and is not spliced. Earlier 2024 detailed estimates remain dated in the record and are not the latest CCHS snapshot. Having a provider does not establish timely access.
Health indicators; Primary-provider indicator. Adapted from Statistics Canada, tables 13-10-0905-01 and 13-10-0986-01, 2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Next: A new annual access or life-table release can change the broad reading. The next PHAC quarterly edition can revise recent harms. Each requires a fresh captured edition and a comparison on the same definition before the…
Care access varies across survey groups. PHAC’s September edition revises past deaths and adds early 2026, but changed definitions prevent a like-for-like annual comparison.
The answer
The record is mixed. Canada’s period life expectancy rose from 81.13 years in 2022 to a preliminary 82.16 in 2024, close to its 2019 reading of 82.22. This summarizes mortality in each year; it is not a forecast for a newborn or proof that access to care improved.
In 2024, 82.6% of adults in the provinces reported a regular health-care provider. A different survey found unmet health-care needs among 8.8% of people aged 15 and older. Provider attachment and unmet need are not opposite halves of one population: they use different surveys, ages and questions, and a person can have a provider and still lack needed care.
The provincial and age detail matters. The access table below puts the measures beside one another with their own denominators and uncertainty. It supports a closer reading of local conditions without ranking entire health systems or inferring that one measure caused another.
The new within-survey comparison shows 2024 unmet-needs estimates of 9.7% for women+ and 7.9% for men+, a descriptive difference of 1.8 percentage points. The provider table separately shows age and sex differences with the issuer’s confidence intervals. It does not link the two surveys or claim that any difference identifies a cause.
PHAC’s September 22 edition reports 5,704 deaths in 2025 and 6,669 in 2024. The 2024 national total now incorporates the completed-investigation, opioid-specific records for British Columbia and Quebec; from 2025 their ongoing-investigation figures cover broader drug poisonings. These annual counts therefore cannot establish a like-for-like decline. The new first-quarter 2026 count is 1,354, a partial year. The latest four quarters, from April 2025 through March 2026, remain preliminary. Hospital admissions, emergency visits and ambulance responses retain their different coverage and are shown separately.
What this means for the decision
A useful health reading follows several checks: whether people have a regular source of care, whether needed care is received, what mortality shows, and which harms are reaching services. No one of those checks replaces the others, and the current public aggregates do not connect them person by person.
The key uncertainty
Provider wording changed in 2024; the unmet-needs survey changed age coverage and sample design in 2022. Mortality estimates are revised as records arrive, and substance-harm coverage varies by jurisdiction and type of encounter.
What would settle it
A new annual access or life-table release can change the broad reading. The next PHAC quarterly edition can revise recent harms. Each requires a fresh captured edition and a comparison on the same definition before the reading changes.
Having a care provider, receiving needed care and living in good health are different outcomes. National averages help locate the question; provincial and age differences show where those averages hide important variation.
Evidence reviewed through 2026-10-04 · 5 cited sources · 0 member Resolutions · 6 chapters
Access and life-expectancy tables are checked at their annual releases. PHAC is checked at each quarterly edition, with prior years and definitions compared before a new reading is admitted.
Earlier readings
These answers are preserved as originally written. Their dates and statements about missing or upcoming evidence belong to that earlier reading.
Reading through 2026-09-09 — Life expectancy has recovered much of its pandemic decline, while access to care remains uneven; the substance-harm record reports fewer deaths but remains preliminary and definition-sensitive.
The record is mixed. Canada’s period life expectancy rose from 81.13 years in 2022 to a preliminary 82.16 in 2024, close to its 2019 reading of 82.22. This summarizes mortality in each year; it is not a forecast for a newborn or proof that access to care improved.
In 2024, 82.6% of adults in the provinces reported a regular health-care provider. A different survey found unmet health-care needs among 8.8% of people aged 15 and older. Provider attachment and unmet need are not opposite halves of one population: they use different surveys, ages and questions, and a person can have a provider and still lack needed care.
The provincial and age detail matters. The access table below puts the measures beside one another with their own denominators and uncertainty. It supports a closer reading of local conditions without ranking entire health systems or inferring that one measure caused another.
PHAC’s current record contains 5,630 deaths for 2025 and 7,326 for 2024. All four quarters of 2025 remain preliminary, while 2024 is an older, more complete reporting year; no percentage decline is inferred here, and the overall totals include broader drug-death definitions for British Columbia and Quebec from 2024. Hospital admissions, emergency visits and ambulance responses have different coverage and are shown separately.
Chapter 1§
Having a provider is one part of access
Provider attachment and unmet need describe different populations and questions. Read both before deciding what the access record establishes.
Canada
Separate surveys and populations, both in 2024. The full provincial table below remains available without this control.
The unmet-needs point estimate changed by -0.4 percentage points from 2022 to 2024. This descriptive difference is not claimed statistically significant.
The access chart begins with the survey’s 2022 redesign: age 15+ and a larger sample. Provider attachment uses adults 18+ and a revised 2024 question. “Has a provider” does not necessarily mean a family doctor, timely appointments or all needs met.
Source: Statistics Canada — Unmet health care needs by gender and age group.
Source: Statistics Canada — Health indicator statistics, annual estimates.
Who reports unmet care needs?
In 2024, women+ reported unmet care needs at 9.7%, compared with 7.9% for men+. The women+ estimate was 1.8 percentage points higher.
Unmet health care needs, age 15+
| Year | Men+ | Women+ | Women+ minus men+ (percentage points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.1% · Very good | 10.4% · Very good | 2.3 |
| 2023 | 8.2% · Very good | 10.0% · Very good | 1.8 |
| 2024 | 7.9% · Very good | 9.7% · Very good | 1.8 |
These Canadian Income Survey estimates exclude the territories. The comparison begins in 2022, when the survey changed its age coverage and sample. Differences and changes are descriptive; no statistical-significance test is claimed. Survey quality travels with each estimate. The gender categories are the issuer’s own, not a classification inferred by Countability.
Source: Statistics Canada — unmet health care needs, table 13-10-0836-01. Difference = women+ estimate minus men+ estimate, in percentage points.
Having a provider is a different measure
A regular healthcare provider is one form of access. It does not establish whether an appointment is available when needed, or whether every need is met.
Regular healthcare provider, 2024
| Age | Males, % (95% interval) | Females, % (95% interval) | Females minus males (percentage points) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total, 18 years and over | 79.2% (78.2–80.2) | 85.9% (85.0–86.6) | 6.7 |
| 18 to 34 years | 67.7% (65.0–70.3) | 79.5% (77.2–81.6) | 11.8 |
| 35 to 49 years | 78.5% (76.6–80.4) | 85.3% (83.7–86.8) | 6.8 |
| 50 to 64 years | 84.4% (82.7–85.9) | 87.9% (86.4–89.3) | 3.5 |
| 65 years and over | 90.0% (89.0–90.9) | 91.7% (90.9–92.4) | 1.7 |
These CCHS estimates cover adults aged 18 and over in the provinces, using the revised 2024 provider question. Sex and age categories, survey respondents and age coverage differ from the unmet-needs table. They cannot be linked to identify the same people. Intervals describe each published estimate, not the difference between them; no cause or statistically significant difference is inferred.
Source: Statistics Canada — health indicators, table 13-10-0905-01. Point differences are disclosed arithmetic; confidence intervals are the issuer’s published intervals.
Chapter 2§
What changes across the provinces
Keep each column on its own denominator. The provider intervals show sampling uncertainty; unmet-needs quality flags are a different form of uncertainty, not interchangeable confidence intervals.
Provincial access, two distinct populations in 2024
| Province | Regular provider, 18+ | Provider 95% interval (%) | Unmet needs, 15+ | Unmet-needs quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 74.8% | 70.4–78.7 | 13.0% | C |
| Prince Edward Island | 61.7% | 55.6–67.4 | 13.9% | C |
| Nova Scotia | 78.1% | 74.8–81.1 | 12.3% | C |
| New Brunswick | 81.6% | 78.2–84.5 | 11.2% | C |
| Quebec | 74.1% | 72.6–75.6 | 8.7% | B |
| Ontario | 88.5% | 87.4–89.5 | 7.9% | B |
| Manitoba | 85.0% | 82.0–87.6 | 7.3% | C |
| Saskatchewan | 82.6% | 79.3–85.5 | 8.7% | C |
| Alberta | 83.8% | 81.8–85.6 | 8.4% | C |
| British Columbia | 79.9% | 78.0–81.6 | 10.8% | B |
Geographic order, not a ranking. Both surveys exclude the territories. The letters describe survey precision: A excellent, B very good, C good, D acceptable, E use with caution, F too unreliable to publish. A difference in point estimates alone does not establish a statistically significant difference.
Source: Statistics Canada — Health indicator statistics, annual estimates.
Source: Statistics Canada — Unmet health care needs by gender and age group.
Chapter 3§
The needs hidden by an average
Access and reported health vary with age. These are descriptive differences within each survey; they do not follow the same individuals across outcomes.
Age differences within the same CCHS edition, 2024
| Age | Regular provider · % (95% interval) | Fair/poor mental health · % (95% interval) | High daily stress · % (95% interval) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 to 34 years | 73.4% (71.7–75.1) | 21.5% (20.0–23.0) | 26.3% (24.7–28.0) |
| 35 to 49 years | 81.9% (80.7–83.1) | 16.0% (15.0–17.2) | 29.2% (27.8–30.6) |
| 50 to 64 years | 86.2% (85.1–87.2) | 13.0% (12.0–14.2) | 23.9% (22.7–25.1) |
| 65 years and over | 90.9% (90.3–91.5) | 8.0% (7.5–8.5) | 10.7% (10.1–11.3) |
These health conditions and experiences overlap. Do not add the percentages. Fair or poor mental health is self-reported, not a diagnosis; reported diabetes and high blood pressure use the survey’s condition questions. The record does not identify the same people across these measures.
Source: Statistics Canada — Health indicator statistics, annual estimates. Adults in the provinces; all values and confidence intervals are issuer-published cells.
Unmet care needs by age: separate Canadian Income Survey, 2024
| Published age group | Unmet needs (%) | Quality flag |
|---|---|---|
| Canada, 15 to 24 years | 6.1 | C |
| Canada, 25 to 54 years | 10.5 | B |
| Canada, 25 to 34 years | 9.9 | C |
| Canada, 35 to 44 years | 11.6 | B |
| Canada, 45 to 54 years | 9.8 | B |
| Canada, 55 to 64 years | 9.1 | B |
| Canada, 65 years and over | 6.9 | B |
The age categories above belong to the unmet-needs survey. Some published age groups overlap; they are not added or matched to the different CCHS age bands.
Source: Statistics Canada — Unmet health care needs by gender and age group.
Chapter 4§
The recovery in life expectancy
The national mortality record has recovered much of its pandemic decline. The sexes and provincial estimates provide context; preliminary values can change as late registrations arrive.
National life expectancy at birth: recent years
| Year | Both sexes (± margin) | Males (± margin) | Females (± margin) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 81.92 ±0.05 | 79.86 ±0.07 | 83.89 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2016 | 82.02 ±0.05 | 79.94 ±0.07 | 84.04 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2017 | 81.88 ±0.05 | 79.72 ±0.07 | 84.00 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2018 | 81.87 ±0.05 | 79.75 ±0.07 | 83.96 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2019 | 82.22 ±0.05 | 80.10 ±0.06 | 84.32 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2020 | 81.58 ±0.05 | 79.33 ±0.07 | 83.84 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2021 | 81.50 ±0.05 | 79.11 ±0.07 | 83.91 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2022 | 81.13 ±0.05 | 78.89 ±0.06 | 83.41 ±0.06 | Published estimate |
| 2023 | 81.68 ±0.05 | 79.48 ±0.06 | 83.88 ±0.06 | Preliminary |
| 2024 | 82.16 ±0.04 | 80.03 ±0.06 | 84.29 ±0.06 | Preliminary |
National and provincial life expectancy: single-year coverage
| Geography | Years, 2024 | Published margin of error (years) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 82.16 | ±0.04 | Preliminary |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 79.61 | ±0.38 | Preliminary |
| Nova Scotia | 80.70 | ±0.26 | Preliminary |
| New Brunswick | 80.44 | ±0.32 | Preliminary |
| Quebec | 82.65 | ±0.09 | Preliminary |
| Ontario | 82.85 | ±0.07 | Preliminary |
| Manitoba | 79.29 | ±0.26 | Preliminary |
| Saskatchewan | 79.66 | ±0.28 | Preliminary |
| Alberta | 81.53 | ±0.14 | Preliminary |
| British Columbia | 82.58 | ±0.12 | Preliminary |
Canada includes the country as a whole; the separate provincial estimates omit Prince Edward Island and the territories. Those jurisdictions have a separate three-year abridged table, which is not spliced into this single-year comparison. The issuer recommends three-year estimates for more stable regional comparisons.
Remaining life expectancy at age 65, Canada, 2024
| Sex | Remaining years | Published margin | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Both sexes | 21.15 | ±0.03 | Preliminary |
| Males | 19.75 | ±0.04 | Preliminary |
| Females | 22.45 | ±0.04 | Preliminary |
Source: Statistics Canada — Life expectancy and other elements of the complete life table, single-year estimates. Life expectancy applies each year’s mortality rates throughout a hypothetical lifetime. It is not average age at death or a prediction for individuals.
Chapter 5§
Substance harms remain consequential
The recent death count fell, but the record remains preliminary. Deaths and service encounters are different measures, with different coverage and overlapping substances.
PHAC’s four most recent quarters—April 2025 to March 2026—are preliminary. The revised 2024 and 2025 death counts also use different definitions in British Columbia and Quebec. Their difference cannot establish a like-for-like annual change.
Earlier death-count record: 2016–2024
| Year | Reported deaths | Completeness |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2,832 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2017 | 3,928 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2018 | 4,262 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2019 | 3,602 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2020 | 6,184 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2021 | 7,617 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2022 | 7,274 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2023 | 8,083 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
| 2024 | 6,669 | Older reporting year; revisions remain possible |
Definition break from 2025 in this edition: the overall count includes all unregulated-drug deaths in British Columbia and drug- or opioid-related intoxication deaths in Quebec. PHAC now places 2024 in the completed-investigation record. The earlier and broader records are shown separately.
Broader overall-death definitions: 2025
| Year | Reported deaths | Completeness |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5,704 | April–December preliminary |
Reported deaths by province and territory, 2025
| Jurisdiction | Count | Crude rate per 100,000 | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 27 | 4.9 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Prince Edward Island | 13 | 7.1 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Nova Scotia | 77 | 7.0 | See jurisdiction notes |
| New Brunswick | 86 | 9.9 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Quebec | 591 | 6.5 | Broader drug-death definition |
| Ontario | 1,417 | 8.7 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Manitoba | 231 | 15.3 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Saskatchewan | 237 | 18.7 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Alberta | 1,154 | 22.9 | See jurisdiction notes |
| British Columbia | 1,855 | 32.6 | Broader drug-death definition |
| Yukon | 14 | 29.0 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Northwest Territories | 2 | 4.4 | See jurisdiction notes |
| Nunavut | Not available (n/a) | Not available (n/a) | See jurisdiction notes |
Age, sex and stimulant involvement: published 2025 percentages
| Record | Measure | Group | Published percent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | Sex | Female | 27% |
| Deaths | Sex | Male | 73% |
| Deaths | Age group | 0 to 19 years | 2% |
| Deaths | Age group | 20 to 29 years | 13% |
| Deaths | Age group | 30 to 39 years | 26% |
| Deaths | Age group | 40 to 49 years | 25% |
| Deaths | Age group | 50 to 59 years | 19% |
| Deaths | Age group | 60 years or more | 15% |
| Deaths | Involving stimulants | Also involved a stimulant | 71% |
| Hospitalizations | Sex | Female | 41% |
| Hospitalizations | Sex | Male | 59% |
| Hospitalizations | Age group | 0 to 19 years | 4% |
| Hospitalizations | Age group | 20 to 29 years | 13% |
| Hospitalizations | Age group | 30 to 39 years | 21% |
| Hospitalizations | Age group | 40 to 49 years | 18% |
| Hospitalizations | Age group | 50 to 59 years | 17% |
| Hospitalizations | Age group | 60 years or more | 27% |
| Hospitalizations | Involving stimulants | Also involved a stimulant | 16% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Sex | Female | 34% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Sex | Male | 66% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Age group | 0 to 19 years | 4% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Age group | 20 to 29 years | 20% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Age group | 30 to 39 years | 32% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Age group | 40 to 49 years | 22% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Age group | 50 to 59 years | 12% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Age group | 60 years or more | 10% |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | Involving stimulants | Also involved a stimulant | 8% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Sex | Female | 29% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Sex | Male | 71% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Age group | 0 to 19 years | 3% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Age group | 20 to 29 years | 22% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Age group | 30 to 39 years | 34% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Age group | 40 to 49 years | 21% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Age group | 50 to 59 years | 11% |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | Age group | 60 years or more | 8% |
Age/sex percentages and stimulant involvement have different reporting coverage. The jurisdiction notes define the population behind each breakdown. These are overlapping characteristics, not exclusive categories. The same encounter can involve both substances; deaths, hospital admissions, ED visits and EMS responses must not be added as people. Jurisdiction figures are displayed as published, without constructing a national sum or a league table; case definitions differ and suppressed cells prevent some reconciliations.
January–March 2026: a separate partial-year reading
Reported harms, January–March 2026 only
| Record | Count | Coverage and interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 1,354 | Reported apparent opioid toxicity deaths. In this September 2026 edition, the broader overall-death definitions for British Columbia and Quebec begin in 2025; 2024 uses those two provinces’ completed, opioid-specific investigations. The change in definition and reporting completeness prevents a like-for-like comparison between 2024 and 2025. |
| Hospitalizations | 1,374 | Opioid-poisoning hospitalizations; Quebec excluded. Records may be revised. Admissions are events, not unique people. |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | 7,701 | Opioid-poisoning emergency visits in seven reporting provinces/territories. Nova Scotia is missing April 2025 onwards; records may be revised. This is not a Canada-wide count. |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | 12,535 | Responses to suspected opioid overdoses in nine reporting provinces/territories; Northwest Territories reporting now extends through March 2026. This is not a Canada-wide count or a count of unique people. |
These three-month totals are not annual rates or forecasts. They are not compared with full-year 2025 totals. Deaths, hospital admissions, emergency visits and ambulance responses overlap and must not be added as people.
What changed from the June 2026 source edition
| Record | Year | June edition, retained | September edition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deaths | 2024 | 7,326 | 6,669 |
| Deaths | 2025 | 5,630 | 5,704 |
| Hospitalizations | 2024 | 5,604 | 5,604 |
| Hospitalizations | 2025 | 4,937 | 5,034 |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | 2024 | 24,604 | 24,604 |
| Emergency Department (ED) Visits | 2025 | 23,291 | 23,301 |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | 2024 | 36,131 | 36,131 |
| Emergency Medical Services (EMS) | 2025 | 39,403 | 39,406 |
The earlier edition reported 7,326 deaths in 2024 and 5,630 in 2025; the September edition reports 6,669 and 5,704. These are revisions to earlier years, alongside a change in the 2024 reporting basis. They do not describe a new fall in deaths between two observation dates. The earlier published reading remains in the record.
Source: Public Health Agency of Canada — Opioid- and stimulant-related harms in Canada, September 2026 data. September 22, 2026 edition, reporting through March 2026. Annual and partial-year rows remain separate; suppressed or unavailable cells are never replaced with zero.
Chapter 6§
What the record cannot connect
These sources do not establish why a person lacked care or how a change in access affected mortality. New compatible evidence could narrow that gap.
Does having a regular provider mean Canadians receive care when they need it?
What is missing: The held surveys separately measure provider attachment and self-reported unmet need on different age and response bases; the released aggregates do not link the same people or measure their appointment waits. Annual access estimates exclude the territories. Mortality and substance-harm records have different populations, coverage and preliminary periods.
Consequence: The pages compare each measure across its own valid population and show them side by side without adding them, linking individuals, ranking health systems or attributing outcomes to access or policy.
These tables reproduce a fixed captured edition. A later release must be captured, checked for revisions and assessed before this reading changes.
Inspect the captured source editions
Access · captured 2026-09-09 · issuer data
Original response SHA-256: e05bf5a84d5bb3eb66daa1e176e9e33d1cb4334e62b983045cbe299988c3f487
Life · captured 2026-09-09 · issuer data
Original response SHA-256: e3703cfd342110773e51f7145e8d329465933ee86c63354522174e3966397963
Health · captured 2026-09-09 · issuer data
Original response SHA-256: 18a4dfb7c0bf91af97db7f2f2c10293aa6b88c6a38ad66f6135cf6c1f758af19
Harms · captured 2026-10-04 · issuer data
Original response SHA-256: 8bcf2b70565a739ce28100cf82d9c2a108a298381d4c34eb61f3c6f353b4d911
Adapted from Statistics Canada, tables 13-10-0836-01, 13-10-0837-01 and 13-10-0905-01, 2024. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. Statistics Canada Open Licence. PHAC data contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
Directly observed
Unresolved
- The held surveys separately measure provider attachment and self-reported unmet need on different age and response bases; the released aggregates do not link the same people or measure their appointment waits. Annual access estimates exclude the territories. Mortality and substance-harm records have different populations, coverage and preliminary periods.
Method and limitations
- Published cells are selected by their exact geography, age, sex or gender, concept, unit and reference period. Confidence intervals and data-quality flags remain attached. Changes are simple differences or ratios within a named series and matched definition. Annual PHAC totals are taken directly from annual rows, never assembled from suppressed quarters. No individual linkage, cross-survey sum, causal attribution or composite health score is computed.
- Provider attachment: CCHS adults 18+, territories excluded; published 95% confidence intervals are shown. The provider question changed in 2024, and the weighting calibration also changed; no comparison with earlier question wording is used.
- Unmet need: Canadian Income Survey, age 15+ from 2022 versus 16+ earlier; territories excluded. The 2022 sample redesign and revised 2018–2023 population weights are material. The chart begins in 2022; quality letters are retained and point differences are not claimed statistically significant.
- Life expectancy is a period mortality measure, not a prediction of individual lifespan. The 2023 and 2024 values are preliminary. The single-year provincial table excludes Prince Edward Island and the territories; the Canada figure includes the country as a whole. Single-year estimates are more volatile than the separate three-year life tables.
- PHAC’s September 2026 edition applies broader overall drug-death definitions for British Columbia and Quebec from 2025; the 2024 values for those two provinces use completed, opioid-specific investigations. The history is split at that edition-specific break. April 2025 through March 2026 remains preliminary, and January–March 2026 is shown as a partial year.
- PHAC hospital data exclude Quebec. Emergency visits cover seven provinces and territories, with Nova Scotia missing from April 2025 onward. EMS responses cover nine, and Northwest Territories now extends through March 2026. These encounters are not unique people and must not be added to deaths or to each other.
- Opioid and stimulant involvement overlap. A death or encounter can appear in both categories; substance percentages cannot be added as exclusive shares. Missing and suppressed data remain missing.
- Adapted from Statistics Canada, tables 13-10-0836-01, 13-10-0837-01 and 13-10-0905-01, 2024. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product. PHAC data contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
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