The Addiction Crisis in Saint-Jerome

Saint-Jerome (Saint-Jérôme) is the regional capital of the Laurentides region, located about 60 km north of Montreal. No city-level overdose death count for Saint-Jérôme itself is publicly reported in available surveillance data — INSPQ publishes Quebec-wide and broad regional aggregates rather than municipal breakdowns. However, Saint-Jérôme sits within the Laurentides health region (CISSS des Laurentides), which shares in the province-wide escalation of fentanyl-driven overdose deaths. A 2017 La Presse report documented a fentanyl-linked overdose death in the city, signalling the toxic drug supply was already present years before the current surge. The city's Centre de Réadaptation en Dépendance des Laurentides (CRD Laurentides), located at 148 rue Castonguay, serves as the primary public addiction treatment hub for the region, offering detox, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation, and opioid substitution therapy. Naloxone (Narcan nasal spray) is available free of charge without a prescription at pharmacies across Quebec, including those in Saint-Jérôme, to anyone aged 14 and older.

Canada recorded approximately 7,150 apparent opioid-related deaths in 2024, down from roughly 7,560 in 2023 — an 11–17% national decline according to PHAC and Health Canada. This decline was driven largely by improvements in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario. Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador were the notable exceptions, with both provinces recording increases. Quebec's 645 deaths in 2024 represented roughly 9% of the national total despite accounting for about 23% of Canada's population, suggesting the province still has lower absolute rates than the hardest-hit western provinces — but is on a sharply worsening trajectory while the rest of the country improves.

01. What is happening in Saint-Jerome

Note: City-specific data for Saint-Jerome 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 annual total ever recorded in the province, according to the INSPQ. This figure represents a 33% increase over the same January–September period compared to 2023, and more than double the deaths recorded in 2022. The province's overdose mortality rate rose from 5.1 per 100,000 people in 2018 to 7.3 per 100,000 in 2024. Fentanyl or its analogues were detected in approximately two-thirds of opioid deaths in Quebec through 2024, up from 33% in 2017. This trajectory runs counter to the national trend: Canada as a whole saw a 17% decline in apparent opioid-related deaths in 2024, while Quebec's numbers continued to climb. Nationally, there were approximately 7,150 apparent opioid-related deaths in 2024 (down from ~7,560 in 2023). Experts attribute Quebec's delayed surge to the province's drug supply becoming increasingly contaminated with illicit fentanyl, a pattern that struck British Columbia and Alberta years earlier.

03. Why is it getting worse?

Quebec's overdose crisis is being driven by several converging factors: (1) Fentanyl contamination of the illicit drug supply — heroin uncontaminated by fentanyl is now virtually absent in Quebec, and fentanyl or analogues were present in ~65% of overdose deaths in 2024. (2) A delayed provincial wave — Quebec was partially insulated from the first wave of the opioid crisis that devastated Western Canada, but the toxic supply has now fully arrived, producing a sharp catch-up surge in mortality. (3) Polysubstance use — stimulants (cocaine, methamphetamine) are increasingly combined with opioids, compounding lethality. (4) Inadequate treatment access — waiting lists for residential detox and rehabilitation in regions like Laurentides remain a barrier to care. (5) Stigma and criminalization — people who use drugs alone or in hidden settings cannot be reached by overdose responders, contributing to preventable deaths at home. (6) Post-pandemic displacement — social isolation, disrupted services, and economic precarity following COVID-19 accelerated substance use disorders across the province.

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:

• 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
• Quebec on pace to record back-to-back years with 600 drug overdose deathsCBC News · 2025
• Opioid deaths fall nationwide, rise in Quebec and N.L.The Globe and Mail · 2025
• Saint-Jérôme: une surdose, un suicide et le fentanyl comme fil conducteurLa Presse · 2017-05-23
• Overdose Epidemic in Québec: Population-Level Approaches and Clinical ImplicationsMDPI / Academic Journal · 2024