Statistics Canada says 96% of the deaths occurred in the community after release, with accidental drug toxicity the leading cause
THUNDER BAY – NATIONAL NEWS — The death rate among adults who had recently experienced incarceration more than doubled from 2016 to 2023 across five provincial correctional systems, according to a new Statistics Canada study.
The rate rose from 94 deaths for every 10,000 people in 2016 to 230 per 10,000 in 2023, a 145 per cent increase. The annual number of deaths climbed from 1,155 to 2,215 even as the recently incarcerated population included in the study declined.
The research covered adults supervised by provincial correctional programs in Nova Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. It tracked people who had been incarcerated during the year of death or the previous year. It is not a count for all of Canada and does not include deaths occurring more than two years after incarceration.
Most deaths happened after release
Statistics Canada found that 96 per cent of the deaths occurred in the community after release, while about four per cent occurred while a person was under custodial supervision.
Among people who died after release, the median time from release to death was 198 days. The agency noted that changes in drug tolerance in custody can increase the risk of a fatal drug overdose after release.
Accidental drug toxicity was the most common underlying cause. It accounted for 40 per cent of the deaths in 2016, peaked at 61 per cent in 2021 and stood at 54 per cent in 2023. Some recent cases still have an unknown or unspecified cause because death investigations can take years to complete.
Large gaps by age, sex and province
In 2023, mortality among men in their 20s and 30s who had experienced incarceration was 18 times the rate for men of the same age who had not. For people aged 20 to 49, the accidental drug-toxicity death rate was almost 40 times higher for recently incarcerated men and about 100 times higher for recently incarcerated women than for other people of the same age and sex.
The upward trend appeared in all five provinces. By 2023, the rate reached 365 deaths per 10,000 recently incarcerated adults in Alberta and 334 per 10,000 in British Columbia. Statistics Canada cautioned that provincial differences may partly reflect the toxic-drug crisis unfolding at different times and with different severity.
The study also found elevated suicide and homicide mortality. Researchers pointed to health care, housing, social supports and drug-poisoning prevention before and after release. The report did not evaluate a specific program or assign responsibility for the deaths.
Statistics Canada said future work could add more correctional systems, use a longer follow-up period and examine outcomes for groups overrepresented in corrections, including Indigenous and Black people.
