The Addiction Crisis in Longueuil

No city-level overdose statistics specific to Longueuil are publicly available in aggregate form. Longueuil sits within the Montérégie region (served by CISSS de la Montérégie-Centre and CISSS de la Montérégie-Ouest), which reported 38 non-fatal overdoses in 2020 rising to 77 in 2021 — a doubling in one year. The city has dedicated addiction rehabilitation infrastructure through the Centre de réadaptation en dépendance (CRD) network on rue Joliette and boulevard Cousineau, and naloxone is available without charge at all Quebec pharmacies to anyone aged 14 and over. The broader regional pattern mirrors Quebec's provincial escalation: fentanyl and illicit benzodiazepines have made the unregulated supply increasingly deadly since 2020.

Canada recorded approximately 7,150 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in 2024 (PHAC / APTNNEWS), a decline from roughly 7,560 in 2023. This national downward trend — driven by reductions in BC, Alberta, and Ontario — masks sharply divergent provincial trajectories. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador were the two provinces where deaths rose in 2024. Nationally, fentanyl remains the dominant substance in overdose deaths. Federal harm reduction measures include naloxone distribution, the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act (legal protection for people calling 911), and supervised consumption site exemptions under the CDSA. As of 2024, over 14 supervised consumption sites operate in Quebec under federal section 56.1 exemptions.

01. What is happening in Longueuil

Note: City-specific data for Longueuil is limited. Figures reflect Quebec-wide trends.

02. A crisis that did not start this month

Quebec is the outlier in Canada's opioid crisis: while national apparent opioid toxicity deaths fell roughly 11% in 2024 (to approximately 7,150 nationally), Quebec recorded 645 confirmed or suspected drug overdose deaths in 2024 — its highest annual total ever, up from 536 in 2023 and more than double the 2022 figure. The death rate climbed from 5.1 per 100,000 in 2018 to 7.3 per 100,000 in 2024. Fentanyl or its analogues are now detected in roughly 65% of overdose deaths, up from 33% in 2017. Preliminary 2025 data (January through September) project approximately 604 deaths for the full year, suggesting the crisis has plateaued at an elevated level but has not reversed. Fourteen supervised consumption sites operate across Quebec under federal section 56.1 exemptions. Quebec's unique trajectory — rising while most provinces fall — is attributed to later penetration of the illicit fentanyl supply compared to western provinces, combined with gaps in supervised consumption access outside Montreal.

03. Why is it getting worse?

Several converging factors explain the worsening crisis in Quebec and the Longueuil area. First, the illicit drug supply has been progressively contaminated with fentanyl and its analogues — detectable in 65% of overdose deaths by late 2024, up from 33% in 2017 — making any use of unregulated opioids unpredictably lethal. Second, illicit benzodiazepines (particularly bromazolam and other novel analogs) have entered the supply alongside fentanyl, compounding overdose risk and making naloxone alone insufficient to reverse some overdoses. Third, Quebec's supervised consumption infrastructure, while growing (14 sites as of mid-2025), remains concentrated in Montreal and is less accessible to residents of suburban areas like Longueuil. Fourth, Quebec experienced later fentanyl penetration than western provinces, meaning the escalation that BC and Alberta went through in 2016–2018 is playing out in Quebec now. Fifth, housing instability, poverty, and post-pandemic social isolation have increased vulnerability across the region. Finally, stigma remains a barrier: CBC reporting (2025) highlights that the conversation around addiction in Quebec has not shifted as far toward a public-health framing as in some other provinces, reducing uptake of harm reduction services.

04. Where hope still lives

Communities across Quebec are responding with naloxone distribution, harm reduction programs, and peer support networks. Every person trained in naloxone use is a potential life saved.

05. In the news

The reporting behind this page:

• Quebec on pace to record back-to-back years with 600 drug overdose deathsCBC News · 2025
• Drug overdose deaths in Canada are dropping. So why is Quebec nearing a record high?CBC News · 2024
• Overdose deaths in Quebec are on the rise, and the problem could get worseCBC News · 2025
• Opioid deaths fall nationwide, rise in Quebec and N.L.The Globe and Mail · 2024
• Has Quebec entered a new era of drug-related deaths?UdeM Nouvelles (Université de Montréal) · 2024-08-30
• How to fight Quebec's toxic drug problem? A former user says change the conversationCBC News · 2025