EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is part of an ongoing SooToday series — 'Turning the Tide' — that explores potential solutions to our city’s toxic drug crisis. You can read more about our project HERE.
While the opioid toxicity death rate in Algoma improved in the first quarter of 2025, new data shows it climbed again in the second quarter.
On Tuesday, the Office of the Chief Coroner issued its most recent quarterly report providing updated figures on opioid-related deaths across the province.
“The opioid toxicity data continues to concern me. Once again, Sault Ste. Marie has the second-highest death rate in the province," said Mayor Matthew Shoemaker in an email on Wednesday.
It shows that the death rate within the Algoma Public Health was 6.5 per 100,000 in the second quarter of 2025, a 62.5 per cent increase from the previous quarter, where four deaths per 100,000 were recorded.
The Algoma Public Health Unit recorded the second-worst opioid toxicity mortality rate in the province for the second quarter, only slightly behind Brant County Public Health Unit.
Algoma Public Health was ranked eighth worst in the province in the first quarter of 2025.
Shoemaker said the city has made progress securing provincial and federal funding for initiatives like the Concurrent Disorders Day Treatment program and the 24/7 Community Wellness Bus, but more needs to be done.
"The problem continues to worsen despite the attention and investment put into tackling it," he said.
Although the death rate increased quarter over quarter in Algoma for the first half of 2025, the annual death rate has markedly improved compared to the previous year.
He said the municipality has a responsibility to continue advocating for solutions that meet the needs of our community, despite the fact that health care and addictions treatment are ultimately provincial responsibilities.
"The HART Hub represents a critical piece of the local response – a single access point where people can connect to mental health, addictions and social supports — and getting it operational as soon as possible must be a priority," said Shoemaker.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit, Northwestern Health Unit, Sudbury and District Health, Algoma Public Health and Porcupine Health Unit are among regions with the highest mortality rates, based on the most recent year of data available.
Thirty-three deaths were recorded in the Algoma Public Health unit between July 2024 and June 2025, representing a rate of 26.6 deaths per 100,000.
That compares to 52 deaths in the same time period of the previous year, between July of 2023 and June of 2024, for a death rate of 42 per 100,000.
Looking at the issue province-wide, the death rate in Ontario dropped 25 per cent in the first two quarters of 2025 compared to the same months in 2024.
People aged 39 to 59 are the most impacted across the province, representing 67 per cent of deaths in the second quarter of 2025.
Additionally, a 25-per-cent spike in deaths among those aged 20 to 29 was recorded in the first half of 2025 in the province.
