Surge of Weekend Drug Overdoses in Ottawa Part of Ongoing National Crisis

An Ottawa police officer runs with his weapon drawn in Ottawa on Oct. 22, 2014. A year has passed since Michael Zehaf Bibeau shot Cpl. Nathan Cirillo and injured a security guard on Parliament Hill before being shot dead by Parliament’s sergeant-at-arms. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Ottawa police say nearly two dozen people suffered drug overdoses over the weekend in the country’s capital city.

The Ottawa Police Service says it responded to 19 drug-related overdoses on Saturday, and another three on Sunday morning.

Police say emergency responders and civilians administered naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses, in many of the cases.

The most recent data from Ottawa Public Health show there were 117 emergency hospital visits due to opioid overdoses in May, the highest number since July 2020.

July 2022 saw some of the worst outcomes in recent years, with five people dying from suspected opioid overdoses in just one week and 98 people hospitalized over the course of the month.

Neither police nor Ottawa Public Health would immediately say if there were any emergency hospital visits or deaths in connection with the weekend overdoses.