The London and Middlesex region saw a rise in opioid-related emergency department visits during the first eight months of 2026, marking the first increase since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a recent report presented to the Middlesex-London Board of Health, there were 650 opioid-related ER visits between January 1 and August 30, which is 150 more than the total for the entire year of 2025.
Dr. Alex Summers, the region’s medical officer of health, highlighted that these figures, although preliminary and covering only part of the year, underscore the ongoing impact of the opioid crisis and the fragility of recent progress. Despite seeing a leveling off of opioid-related death and hospitalization rates in 2025 after consistent declines since 2021, Summers emphasized that the illicit drug supply remains a major contributor to the crisis.
The report also pointed out a surge in overdoses across the city during a specific period in March, initially concentrated downtown. These incidents exhibited symptoms consistent with exposure to a combination of a narcotic and a tranquillizer, suspected to be medetomidine, a veterinary sedative.
Efforts to combat the crisis and provide services have been commendable, with over 13,000 naloxone kits distributed in 2025 and approximately 8,700 in the first half of 2026. The report anticipates a higher distribution this year, partly due to the closure of the Carepoint supervised consumption site and the increasingly dangerous drug supply.
The closure of the Carepoint site, following the withdrawal of provincial funding in June, has raised concerns about potential fatal overdoses. Summers emphasized the need for increased monitoring to assess the full repercussions of the site’s closure and expressed concerns about what might replace it in its absence.
Despite the closure of Carepoint, the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, which operated the site, continues to offer essential services such as a needle and syringe program, Hepatitis C and HIV testing, and case management at another location.
