Toronto Public Health (TPH) data has found that 79 people experiencing homelessness have died, with almost half being from toxic drug supplies, in the first half of 2023.

TPH released this data on Sept. 28th, 2023

TPH gathered the data from January to June 2023. While the current number is lower than 2022’s 92 deaths during the same time-frame; the number is “still higher than pre-pandemic levels.”

They found that the leading cause of death for unhoused people has been due to toxic drug supplies; 46 per cent of all deaths for unhoused people in 2023 so far were due to drug toxicity, with the remaining 54 per cent made up from various causes such as long-term exposure. Dr. Alexa Caturay, associate medical officer of health at TPH, says that drug related deaths stem from “unregulated” and “toxic drug supply.”

“Among people who experience homelessness, who are using drugs, they're experiencing the impact of drugs that might be cut or adulterated with other things in a way that's risky,” says Caturay. “[We are] working to address the toxic drug supply, and some of the things that we do to try and mitigate those risks that harm and danger are things like the Toronto overdose action plan. Which includes harm reduction services, and services that try to reduce the risk or to intervene when people might experience overdose.”

TPH currently runs one of the ten drug harm reduction sites in Toronto called "the Works." It is located at 277 Victoria St. At the Works, they offer supervised injection, drug checking services and overdose response training that aid in the reduction of those numbers. In 2022, the Works had over 20,000 visits for their services.

To provide more help to the drug crisis, TPH has partnered with organizations in Toronto to bring awareness to the issue and run more harm reduction services. Unity Health Toronto and the University Health Network partnered with TPH in February 2023 to help deal with the drug crisis in the city. The partnership is “to offer supervised consumption services” with new sites to be determined.

“This data really underscores the risk of the toxic drug supply, so nearly half of the people who, and who have been reported to have died during the first half of 2023 as a result of drug toxicity,” says Caturay. “We've seen this data over time, it's consistent. In the last number of years that we've counted, it's been around the same in 2022, it was 48 per cent and in 2021, it was 59 per cent. In 2020, it was 53 per cent. And this year, it's 46 per cent.”

TPH will be continuing to monitor the data for the remainder of the year.

In-person support for drug and alcohol addiction in the province can be found on the Ontario mental health services website

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