Canadian substance-harms intelligence (quarterly)
Downloads are disabled for this dataset: its license prohibits commercial use. The documentation, schema and sample rows stay available here.
Quarterly substance-harms intelligence for Canada and the 13 provinces/territories from the Public Health Agency of Canada's official keyless bulk download (September 2026 vintage; national data reported as of 2026-08-12). Each row is one region x quarter (2016 Q1 to the latest published quarter): apparent opioid and stimulant toxicity death counts, opioid/stimulant poisoning hospitalization counts, opioid/stimulant emergency-department visit counts, and opioid emergency-medical-services response counts, each with a crude rate per 100,000 recomputed at quarterly grain from StatCan quarterly population estimates (the same denominator PHAC uses). A documented 0-100 harm-severity score (100*(0.40*minmax opioid death rate + 0.20*minmax stimulant death rate + 0.15*minmax opioid hospitalization rate + 0.10*minmax stimulant hospitalization rate + 0.10*minmax opioid ED rate + 0.05*minmax opioid EMS rate), min-maxed across regions within each quarter; higher = worse burden) with its within-quarter rank, QoQ/YoY momentum on the opioid death rate, 5-year record-high, declining, and preliminary-data flags, and each province's share of national opioid deaths. Units: counts, per 100,000, scores, ranks, percent. Caveats: the four most recent quarters are preliminary; BC 2025+ counts cover all unregulated drugs and Quebec 2024+ cover presumed drug/opioid intoxications; suppressed small counts stay null; hospitalization data exclude Quebec and ED/EMS coverage is partial. The score is a relative within-quarter ranking, not an absolute measure. Primary key: (region_code, year_quarter). Cadence: quarterly; as_of is the latest quarter in the panel, so identical input produces an identical content hash. License: commercial_use = no (canada.ca terms: commercial reproduction requires prior written permission; attribution to the Public Health Agency of Canada required). Sample use: order by year_quarter desc, harm_rank for the latest provincial burden ranking, or track deaths_opioids_yoy_pct for risers/fallers.
- Rows
- 557
- Columns
- 36
- Source cadence
- Quarterly
- Last refreshed
- Sep 26, 2026
- Theme
- health
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| as_of | string | Latest quarter in the panel (e.g. '2026 Q1'); quarter-granular as-of stamping so identical upstream input yields an identical content hash. (unit: quarter) |
| data_release_date | string | Infobase release date of this vintage, parsed from the ZIP's README.txt (e.g. 'September 22, 2026'). |
| data_reported_as_of | string | Cutoff the national-level data were reported as of, parsed from the ZIP's README.txt (e.g. 'August 12, 2026'). |
| year | integer | Calendar year of the quarter. |
| quarter | integer | Calendar quarter (1-4). (unit: quarter) |
| year_quarter | string | Quarter label, e.g. '2026 Q1'. Part of the primary key. |
| quarter_start | string | First day of the quarter (ISO date). (unit: date) |
| region_name | string | Geography: Canada or one of the 13 provinces/territories, as published by PHAC. |
| region_code | string | Canonical short code: CAN for Canada, NL/PE/NS/NB/QC/ON/MB/SK/AB/BC/YT/NT/NU for the provinces/territories. Primary key with year_quarter. (unit: code) |
| country | string | Canonical country name (Canada) for every row. |
| country_code | string | ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code for Canada (CAN) — the join key for the 'Enrich with public data' feature. (unit: code) |
| deaths_opioids_n | float | Count of apparent opioid toxicity deaths in the quarter (PHAC 'Deaths' series). Suppressed/small counts are null, never zero. (unit: count) |
| deaths_stimulants_n | float | Count of apparent stimulant toxicity deaths in the quarter (PHAC 'Deaths' series). Suppressed/small counts are null, never zero. (unit: count) |
| hosp_opioids_n | float | Count of opioid poisoning hospitalizations in the quarter (PHAC 'Hospitalizations' series). Suppressed/small counts are null, never zero. (unit: count) |
| hosp_stimulants_n | float | Count of stimulant poisoning hospitalizations in the quarter (PHAC 'Hospitalizations' series). Suppressed/small counts are null, never zero. (unit: count) |
| ed_opioids_n | float | Count of opioid poisoning emergency-department visits in the quarter (PHAC 'ED visits' series). Suppressed/small counts are null, never zero. (unit: count) |
| ed_stimulants_n | float | Count of stimulant poisoning emergency-department visits in the quarter (PHAC 'ED visits' series). Suppressed/small counts are null, never zero. (unit: count) |
| ems_opioids_n | float | Count of suspected opioid overdose EMS responses in the quarter (PHAC 'EMS' series). Suppressed/small counts are null, never zero. (unit: count) |
| deaths_opioids_rate_per_100k | float | Crude rate of apparent opioid toxicity deaths per 100,000 population in the quarter, recomputed from StatCan quarterly population estimates (table 17-10-0009-01, the denominator PHAC itself uses). The upstream file only publishes annual rates. (unit: per 100,000) |
| deaths_stimulants_rate_per_100k | float | Crude rate of apparent stimulant toxicity deaths per 100,000 population in the quarter, recomputed from StatCan quarterly population estimates (table 17-10-0009-01, the denominator PHAC itself uses). The upstream file only publishes annual rates. (unit: per 100,000) |
| hosp_opioids_rate_per_100k | float | Crude rate of opioid poisoning hospitalizations per 100,000 population in the quarter, recomputed from StatCan quarterly population estimates (table 17-10-0009-01, the denominator PHAC itself uses). The upstream file only publishes annual rates. (unit: per 100,000) |
| hosp_stimulants_rate_per_100k | float | Crude rate of stimulant poisoning hospitalizations per 100,000 population in the quarter, recomputed from StatCan quarterly population estimates (table 17-10-0009-01, the denominator PHAC itself uses). The upstream file only publishes annual rates. (unit: per 100,000) |
| ed_opioids_rate_per_100k | float | Crude rate of opioid poisoning emergency-department visits per 100,000 population in the quarter, recomputed from StatCan quarterly population estimates (table 17-10-0009-01, the denominator PHAC itself uses). The upstream file only publishes annual rates. (unit: per 100,000) |
| ed_stimulants_rate_per_100k | float | Crude rate of stimulant poisoning emergency-department visits per 100,000 population in the quarter, recomputed from StatCan quarterly population estimates (table 17-10-0009-01, the denominator PHAC itself uses). The upstream file only publishes annual rates. (unit: per 100,000) |
| ems_opioids_rate_per_100k | float | Crude rate of suspected opioid overdose EMS responses per 100,000 population in the quarter, recomputed from StatCan quarterly population estimates (table 17-10-0009-01, the denominator PHAC itself uses). The upstream file only publishes annual rates. (unit: per 100,000) |
| population | float | StatCan quarterly population estimate (table 17-10-0009-01) used as the rate denominator. (unit: persons) |
| harm_score | float | Documented 0-100 harm-severity score (higher = worse burden): 100*(0.40*minmax opioid death rate + 0.20*minmax stimulant death rate + 0.15*minmax opioid hospitalization rate + 0.10*minmax stimulant hospitalization rate + 0.10*minmax opioid ED-visit rate + 0.05*minmax opioid EMS-response rate), min-maxed across the 14 geographies within each quarter, weights renormalized over present components. Null when the opioid death rate is missing or fewer than two components are present (never imputed). A relative within-quarter ranking, not an absolute measure. (unit: score) |
| harm_rank | integer | Within-quarter harm-severity rank (1 = highest burden; ties broken by opioid death rate desc, then region name asc). (unit: rank) |
| deaths_opioids_qoq_pct | float | Quarter-over-quarter percent change of the opioid death rate per 100,000. (unit: percent) |
| deaths_opioids_yoy_pct | float | Year-over-year percent change of the opioid death rate per 100,000. (unit: percent) |
| deaths_record_5y | integer | 1 when the quarter's opioid death rate is at its rolling 5-year (20-quarter) maximum (needs >= 4 prior quarters), else 0. |
| declining_flag | integer | 1 when the opioid death rate fell >= 5% year-over-year, else 0. |
| preliminary_flag | integer | 1 for the 4 most recent quarters in the panel (preliminary per PHAC's technical notes; subject to revision), else 0. |
| share_national_opioid_deaths_pct | float | The region's share of Canada's apparent opioid toxicity deaths in the quarter, percent. Null for the Canada row. (unit: percent) |
| source_url | string | Provenance: the official bulk-download ZIP URL and the Infobase dashboard page. (unit: URL) |
| row_hash | string | SHA-256 (16 hex chars) over the row's content fields; identical input yields an identical hash, so a re-run on unchanged upstream data is a no-op. (unit: hash) |
First 10 sample rows — a preview, not the complete dataset.
| as_of | data_release_date | data_reported_as_of | year | quarter | year_quarter | quarter_start | region_name | region_code | country | country_code | deaths_opioids_n | deaths_stimulants_n | hosp_opioids_n | hosp_stimulants_n | ed_opioids_n | ed_stimulants_n | ems_opioids_n | deaths_opioids_rate_per_100k | deaths_stimulants_rate_per_100k | hosp_opioids_rate_per_100k | hosp_stimulants_rate_per_100k | ed_opioids_rate_per_100k | ed_stimulants_rate_per_100k | ems_opioids_rate_per_100k | population | harm_score | harm_rank | deaths_opioids_qoq_pct | deaths_opioids_yoy_pct | deaths_record_5y | declining_flag | preliminary_flag | share_national_opioid_deaths_pct | source_url | row_hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Canada | CAN | Canada | CAN | 669 | — | 1,055 | 406 | 2,468 | 910 | — | 1.865 | — | 2.941 | 1.132 | 6.88 | 2.537 | — | 35,871,484 | 33.6 | 5 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | 51d4db194248253b |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Newfoundland and Labrador | NL | Canada | CAN | — | — | 15 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | 2.836 | 0.945 | — | — | — | 528,903 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | 9a904d11b4be1614 |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Prince Edward Island | PE | Canada | CAN | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | — | — | 145,238 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | 33f6b4e37463f1a9 |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Nova Scotia | NS | Canada | CAN | 17 | — | 18 | — | 9 | 5 | — | 1.81 | — | 1.917 | — | 0.958 | 0.532 | — | 938,973 | 26.34 | 7 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.54 | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | 32837503c5666a95 |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | New Brunswick | NB | Canada | CAN | 12 | — | 23 | 16 | — | — | — | 1.578 | — | 3.024 | 2.103 | — | — | — | 760,679 | 38.52 | 4 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.79 | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | 7fc9121c943bbe1f |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Quebec | QC | Canada | CAN | 68 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0.83 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8,193,831 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.16 | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | 2f8f5a2a92fd00d0 |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Ontario | ON | Canada | CAN | 214 | — | 374 | 137 | 929 | 384 | — | 1.554 | — | 2.715 | 0.995 | 6.744 | 2.788 | — | 13,774,364 | 27.75 | 6 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31.99 | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | 54a00998e0fabb93 |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Manitoba | MB | Canada | CAN | 18 | — | 23 | 18 | — | — | — | 1.381 | — | 1.765 | 1.381 | — | — | — | 1,302,938 | 23.05 | 8 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.69 | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | b9da323f36224aa8 |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Saskatchewan | SK | Canada | CAN | 25 | — | 75 | 29 | 43 | 19 | — | 2.216 | — | 6.648 | 2.571 | 3.812 | 1.684 | — | 1,128,160 | 62.47 | 3 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.74 | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | b6057838616a2238 |
| 2026 Q1 | September 22, 2026 | August 12, 2026 | 2,016 | 1 | 2016 Q1 | 2016-01-01 | Alberta | AB | Canada | CAN | 137 | — | 228 | 78 | 748 | 431 | — | 3.284 | — | 5.465 | 1.87 | 17.93 | 10.331 | — | 4,171,847 | 75.05 | 2 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.48 | https://health-infobase.canada.ca/src/data/substance-related-harms/download/HealthInfobase-SubstanceHarmsData.zip; https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/ | d17d77161b28f2f1 |
- Current
20260926T130230Z-d19510cf0d87 · sha256 d19510cf0d87…
557 rows · first snapshot
Point any LLM at the metadata endpoint — the documentation above is machine-readable too (JSON-LD + Croissant).
curl "https://datazimuts.com/v1/datasets/phac_substance_harms_signals/phac_substance_harms_quarterly" | jq '{title, rows, columns_count, license}'import requests
ds = requests.get("https://datazimuts.com/v1/datasets/phac_substance_harms_signals/phac_substance_harms_quarterly").json()
print(ds["title"], ds["rows"], "rows")
# Sample rows for an LLM context window
for row in ds.get("sample_rows", [])[:5]:
print(row)API endpoint: https://datazimuts.com/v1/datasets/phac_substance_harms_signals/phac_substance_harms_quarterly
Tip: fetch /llms.txt for the full machine-readable catalog.
Where this data comes from and what was made from it. Other people's work shows as counts; only shared projects are named.
Cite this snapshot
Pinned to snapshot 20260926T130230Z-d19510cf0d87 and its content hash, so readers get exactly the data you used.
Public Health Agency of Canada — substance-harms intelligence. (2026). Canadian substance-harms intelligence (quarterly) [Data set, snapshot 20260926T130230Z-d19510cf0d87, sha256 d19510cf0d87]. Datazimuts. Retrieved 2026-09-26, from https://datazimuts.com/en/datasets/phac_substance_harms_signals/phac_substance_harms_quarterly?snapshot=20260926T130230Z-d19510cf0d87
@misc{dz_phac_substance_harms_signals_phac_substa_d19510cf,
title = {{Canadian substance-harms intelligence (quarterly)}},
author = {{Public Health Agency of Canada — substance-harms intelligence}},
year = {2026},
publisher = {Datazimuts},
howpublished = {\url{https://datazimuts.com/en/datasets/phac_substance_harms_signals/phac_substance_harms_quarterly?snapshot=20260926T130230Z-d19510cf0d87}},
note = {Snapshot 20260926T130230Z-d19510cf0d87, sha256 d19510cf0d87926d4c2bed4545d6fe7f18b60adb20a5f58bd4f26aa739f09a35; accessed 2026-09-26}
}Embed a table or a chart
Paste this into any page. The embed is pinned to the same snapshot, follows the reader's light or dark setting, and always shows the source, license and a link back.
<iframe src="https://datazimuts.com/embed/chart?dataset=phac_substance_harms_signals%2Fphac_substance_harms_quarterly&lang=en&theme=auto&snapshot=20260926T130230Z-d19510cf0d87&x=data_release_date&y=year&agg=avg" title="Canadian substance-harms intelligence (quarterly)" width="100%" height="380" style="border:0" loading="lazy"></iframe>
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