The Addiction Crisis in Mississauga

Mississauga falls within Peel Region (which also includes Brampton and Caledon). Peel Region recorded 145 opioid-related deaths in 2023, with fentanyl implicated in approximately 90% of those fatalities. Between January 2022 and June 2024, Peel Region paramedics attended over 18,000 overdose calls, with 328 fatalities recorded in that period. Two potential supervised consumption sites were identified in Mississauga's Cooksville neighbourhood and Brampton's city centre — areas with the highest concentration of paramedic naloxone calls. Peel's supervised consumption site opened in March 2024 but was ordered to close by March 31, 2025, under Ontario's provincial ban. In October 2025, Peel Region received provincial funding to hire three addiction workers at shelters in Brampton and Mississauga and to purchase two additional harm reduction outreach vans. No Mississauga-only death count is publicly available; all municipal data is reported at the Peel Region level.

Canada recorded approximately 7,560 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in 2023 (PHAC), and an estimated 7,146 in 2024. In 2025, national opioid deaths fell approximately 23% to around 5,630 — the largest single-year decline on record, though deaths remain well above pre-pandemic levels. British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario together account for roughly 78% of all Canadian opioid deaths. The toxic drug supply — dominated by illicitly manufactured fentanyl and increasingly contaminated with benzodiazepines — remains the primary driver of mortality. Naloxone access, harm reduction services, and medication-assisted treatment (particularly buprenorphine/naloxone) are the evidence-based interventions with the strongest mortality reduction evidence.

01. What is happening in Mississauga

Note: City-specific data for Mississauga is limited. Figures reflect Ontario-wide trends.

02. A crisis that did not start this month

Ontario recorded 2,639 opioid toxicity deaths in 2023 and 2,231 in 2024 — a 15% decline, though still far above pre-pandemic levels. The 2024 mortality rate was 14.3 deaths per 100,000 people, down from a pandemic peak of 19.4 in 2021. Fentanyl and its analogues were detected in more than 83% of 2024 opioid deaths. Stimulants appeared in 69% of deaths, and prescription benzodiazepines in 45% — a sharp rise from 33% in 2023. Men account for 75% of deaths; one in five opioid deaths in Ontario involves someone experiencing homelessness. Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta together account for approximately 78% of all opioid deaths in Canada. The Ford government closed or defunded supervised consumption sites province-wide in 2024–2025, replacing them with an abstinence-focused HART Hub model — a policy that public health officials in Peel warned would undermine the region's opioid strategy.

03. Why is it getting worse?

Key drivers of the opioid crisis in Mississauga and Peel Region include: (1) Toxic drug supply — fentanyl detected in approximately 90% of opioid deaths in Peel, with increasing contamination by benzodiazepines making overdoses harder to reverse with naloxone alone. (2) Policy disruption — the Ford government's 2024–2025 closure of supervised consumption sites and shift to abstinence-based HART Hubs removed a key harm reduction infrastructure at a critical moment. (3) Polysubstance use — stimulants and prescription benzodiazepines increasingly appearing alongside opioids, complicating treatment and overdose response. (4) Social determinants — homelessness, poverty, and lack of culturally safe services drive disproportionate mortality among marginalized populations. (5) Rural and suburban service gaps — while Mississauga is urban, Peel's suburban sprawl creates access barriers to treatment for those without transportation.

04. Where hope still lives

Communities across Ontario 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:

• More than 2,200 died of opioids in Ontario last year as numbers trend downwardCBC News · 2025
• Opioid deaths dropped 23% in 2025 — bringing 'cautious optimism' from Canada's top doctorCBC News · 2026
• Peel's opioid strategy hangs in the balance as Ford refuses to back down on shuttering of supervised consumption sitesThe Pointer · 2024-08-28
• Peel's supervised consumption site will close as several others across the province transition to HART hubsThe Pointer · 2025-04-04
• PC decision to abandon safe injection sites amid opioid crisis could have deadly implications; Peel's plan up in the airThe Pointer · 2024-08-24
• Mapping the overdose crisis in Ontario: geographic disparities in opioid-related harms and servicesPMC / NCBI (peer-reviewed) · 2025