The Addiction Crisis in Saint-Eustache

Saint-Eustache is a municipality of approximately 46,000 residents in the Laurentides region of Quebec, located about 35 km northwest of Montreal. No city-specific overdose death counts for Saint-Eustache were found in publicly available data. However, the city falls within the CISSS des Laurentides health territory, which has published regional overdose surveillance reports. Saint-Eustache is home to the Centre de réadaptation en dépendance des Laurentides, a dedicated addiction rehabilitation facility at 29 chemin d'Oka, serving residents 12 and older. Like the rest of Quebec, Saint-Eustache is exposed to a rapidly worsening toxic drug supply in which fentanyl and its analogues now dominate street drugs.

Canada recorded approximately 7,150 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in 2024, down roughly 17% from the 2023 peak of ~7,560 (PHAC). Quebec is one of only three jurisdictions — alongside Newfoundland and Labrador and the Northwest Territories — where deaths rose rather than fell in 2024. Nationally, 56% of 2025 apparent opioid deaths involved fentanyl. Quebec's late and sharp entry into the fentanyl era means it is now experiencing the crisis other provinces faced several years earlier, without the same level of harm reduction infrastructure in place.

01. What is happening in Saint-Eustache

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

02. A crisis that did not start this month

Quebec recorded 645 confirmed or suspected drug overdose deaths in 2024, the highest total ever recorded in the province — a 33% increase over 2023. This is a sharp contrast to the national trend, where apparent opioid toxicity deaths fell by roughly 17% in 2024. Between January and September 2025, the INSPQ reported 453 deaths, projecting approximately 600 deaths for the full year — on pace for a second consecutive record. Fentanyl or its analogues were detected in approximately 65% of suspected overdose deaths by late 2024, up from 33% in 2017. Newly arrived nitazenes — synthetic opioids that may be twice as potent as fentanyl — were detected in Quebec drug samples in early 2025, signalling further risk. The annual death rate rose from 5.1 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 7.3 per 100,000 in 2024.

03. Why is it getting worse?

Several factors drive Quebec's worsening crisis: (1) Rapid fentanyl penetration — the proportion of deaths involving fentanyl rose from 33% in 2017 to 65% in 2024, meaning the street drug supply is increasingly toxic and unpredictable. (2) Emerging nitazenes — Health Canada detected new ultra-potent synthetic opioids in Quebec samples in early 2025, compounding risk. (3) Stimulant co-use — cocaine and methamphetamine are increasingly mixed into the supply, complicating overdose response. (4) Geographic spread beyond urban centres — the crisis historically concentrated in western Canada and Vancouver is now deeply affecting Quebec, including suburban and peri-urban communities like Saint-Eustache. (5) Gaps in harm reduction infrastructure — Quebec has fewer supervised consumption sites and lower naloxone distribution rates than British Columbia or Ontario relative to population.

04. Where hope still lives

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

05. In the news

• Drug overdose deaths in Canada are dropping. So why is Quebec nearing a record high?CBC News · 2025
• Quebec on pace to record back-to-back years with 600 drug overdose deathsCBC News · 2025
• 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 · 2025
• Overdose Epidemic in Quebec: Population-Level Approaches and Clinical ImplicationsMDPI / Drugs journal · 2024
• Has Quebec entered a new era of drug-related deaths?UdeM Nouvelles / Université de Montréal · 2024