The Addiction Crisis in Drummondville

Drummondville, Quebec has been directly implicated in Canada's toxic drug supply crisis. A major police operation dismantled a clandestine laboratory in Drummondville that produced over one million counterfeit tablets containing protonitazepyne — a synthetic opioid approximately 25 times more potent than fentanyl. Local health authority CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec (CIUSSS MCQ) issued public warnings about these dangerous substances circulating on the black market, particularly tablets sold under the name Dilaudid. Deaths linked to dilaudid overdoses and nitazenes were investigated in both Drummondville and the broader Mauricie region. Nitazenes present a heightened danger because they are not reliably detected by standard fentanyl test strips, increasing the risk of accidental fatal overdose.

Canada recorded approximately 7,150 apparent opioid-related deaths in 2024, a 17% decline from the prior year and part of a national improvement trend. The cumulative toll from January 2016 through December 2025 stands at approximately 56,631 apparent opioid toxicity deaths (PHAC). Despite national progress, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador saw deaths increase in 2024, highlighting that the crisis is not receding uniformly. Nitazenes — a class of synthetic opioids not derived from fentanyl — are an emerging national threat, now detected in a growing share of opioid toxicity deaths across Canada.

01. What is happening in Drummondville

02. A crisis that did not start this month

Quebec is bucking the national trend: while apparent opioid-related deaths fell 17% across Canada in 2024, Quebec recorded 645 confirmed or suspected drug overdose deaths that year — the highest annual total ever recorded in the province and more than double the 2022 figure. In 2023, Quebec reported approximately 536 opioid deaths. Fentanyl or its analogues were detected in nearly two-thirds of opioid deaths provincially. The annual death rate attributed to suspected opioid overdoses rose from 5.1 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 7.3 per 100,000 in 2024. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador were the only major provinces where deaths rose in 2024 even as the national number declined.

03. Why is it getting worse?

1. Toxic drug supply contamination: Counterfeit pills containing ultra-potent synthetic opioids (protonitazepyne, nitazenes) have been manufactured and distributed directly from Drummondville, making the local drug supply exceptionally dangerous. 2. Nitazene detection gap: Standard fentanyl test strips do not reliably detect nitazenes, meaning people who think they are testing their supply safely may still be at lethal risk. 3. Provincial trend against national decline: Quebec's opioid death rate continues to rise even as the rest of Canada improves, reflecting systemic gaps in harm reduction infrastructure, treatment access, and drug-checking services compared to western provinces. 4. Rural and regional access barriers: Centre-du-Québec communities face longer travel times to treatment facilities and fewer front-line harm reduction services than urban centres like Montreal.

04. Where hope still lives

Communities across Quebec are responding with naloxone distribution, harm reduction programs, and peer support networks.

05. In the news

• Overdoses de dilaudid et de nitazènes : la SQ et les autorités enquêtent sur des décès survenus à Drummondville et en MauricieVingt55 · 2024
• Plus d'un million de comprimés contrefaits saisis à DrummondvilleRadio-Canada · 2024
• Quebec on pace to record back-to-back years with 600 drug overdose deathsCBC News · 2024
• Opioid deaths fall nationwide, rise in Quebec and N.L.The Globe and Mail · 2024
• Rising threat of nitazenes joins fentanyl in Canada's toxic drug supplyCBC News · 2024
• Drogues et prévention des surdoses : le CIUSSS MCQ émet à son tour une mise en garde et un avis préventifVingt55 · 2024