Question Period Note: Substance Use and Opioid Overdose and Toxic Drug Crisis

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• The Government of Canada recognizes that substance use harms and deaths can have devastating impacts on individuals, families and communities.
• Indigenous Services Canada is investing approximately $650M annually towards a continuum of Indigenous mental wellness services, including support for Indigenous-led, community-based, and culturally relevant substance use prevention, reduction of harms, treatment, and recovery services.
• We will continue to work closely with Indigenous partners to support their efforts to address the substance use and opioid overdose and toxic drug crisis with evidence-based and culturally relevant approaches.

The Government of Canada recognizes that Indigenous populations are more likely to experience inequities in mental wellness driven by a variety of factors such as intergenerational trauma, the legacy of colonization, racism and discrimination, and inequities in the social determinants of health such as culture, language, self-determination, education, food insecurity, housing among others.

Indigenous leaders continue to highlight urgent and growing substance use related needs and emergencies in communities.

The Government of Canada has responded to substance use related emergencies in Indigenous communities through investments guided by close collaboration with Indigenous partners and Indigenous-led strategies such as the First Nations Mental Wellness Continuum Framework, Honoring Our Strengths, the National Inuit Suicide Prevention Strategy, and We Matter’s Pathfinding Towards a Flourishing Future: Awareness and Advocacy Guide.

Indigenous Services Canada is committed to improving the availability, accessibility, quality, and effectiveness of First Nations and Inuit-led, culturally-grounded, and community-driven mental wellness services and supports with an approximate annual investment of $650 million (2024-25).

To meet the immediate and unique substance use needs of Indigenous communities, Indigenous Services Canada provides flexible funding for culturally-relevant substance use treatment and prevention.

The department also provides targeted funding to:
• a network of 45 federally funded substance use treatment centres;
• 83 sites providing wrap-around supports for those undergoing opioid agonist therapy;
• 75 multi-disciplinary mental wellness and crisis response teams; and
• three 24/7 culturally competent crisis lines, including the Hope for Wellness Helpline.

Indigenous communities across Canada are disproportionately impacted by substance use.
• Chiefs of Ontario report shows the number of First Nations whose deaths were attributed to opioid-related toxicity tripled from 2019 to 2021. 190 people died as a result of opioid-related toxicity in 2021, in comparison to 61 in 2019.
• Unintentional opioid poisoning deaths increased 366 percent for First Nations since 2016. Indigenous persons are 8.4 times more likely to die from accidental opioid drug poisoning in 2022.
• FNHA data up to July 2024 showed, 20.3 percent of all paramedic-attended drug poisoning events were for First Nation people, and Indigenous life expectancy decreased by 7.1 years due to the pandemic and drug toxicity deaths between 2016 to 2021.
• Yukon - Of the 25 deaths from toxic drugs reported in 2022, 17 — or about two-thirds — identified as First Nations.
• In 2024, First Nation men and women represented 51 percent of accidental opioid drug deaths in Saskatchewan.

If pressed on the availability of naloxone
• The Government of Canada supports the use of naloxone as a life-saving, fast-acting medication used to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.
• There continues to be comprehensive universal availability of naloxone via all provincial and territorial programs, and naloxone remains an eligible expense under federally funded Mental Wellness Program contribution agreements.

If pressed on the disproportionate impact of the overdose crisis on Indigenous People
• The Government of Canada recognizes that the overdose crisis has disproportionately impacted Indigenous communities, with data from some provinces showing that Indigenous people are five to eight times more likely to die of an overdose.
• The Government of Canada supports a whole-of-government approach to respond to Canada’s ongoing opioid overdose and toxic drug crisis.
• We will continue to improve the availability, accessibility, quality and effectiveness of a full spectrum of evidence-based and culturally relevant substance use services in First Nations and Inuit communities.

If pressed on what kinds of substance use supports are available for Indigenous people
• The Government recognizes that a comprehensive approach to addressing substance use challenges is required to support individuals in achieving wellness.
• Indigenous Services Canada is supporting First Nations and Inuit communities to respond to their unique substance use related needs, including through the support of a network of 45 community-based substance use treatment centers and 83 opioid agonist treatment wrap-around support services.