Cocaine, Methamphetamine Use Increasing in Canada, Wastewater Analysis Shows

Crystal meth drug is displayed to journalists during a press conference at the German federal police headquarters in Wiesbaden, western Germany, on Nov. 13, 2014. Daniel Roland/AFP/Getty Images

Research in several Canadian cities has found a steady increase in cocaine and methamphetamine contributing to the number of accidental drug deaths in the country, according to Statistics Canada.

The study relies on wastewater numbers from seven Canadian cities including Metro Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto, Montréal, Halifax, Prince Albert (Saskatchewan), and Saskatoon, the report said.

It measures wastewater for evidence of various stimulants, like cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, and ecstasy, as well as opioids and cannabis, StatsCan said.

“In most municipalities, cocaine levels increased from January to May 2022 compared with the same period in 2020,” the report said.

Provisional results from the first few months of 2023 also suggest cocaine use continues to rise, StatCan said.

The report noted that half of “accidental opioid toxicity” deaths also involved a stimulant drug, such as cocaine or methamphetamine.

The study says that amphetamine levels “increased significantly” before 2023, but evidence suggests the levels may have stabilized. Researchers noted that amphetamines are also prescribed to treat conditions like attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

“On the other hand, cocaine levels have continued to increase into 2023,” the report said.

The results show that cocaine levels increased from January to May 2022, compared to the same period in 2020.

The seven cities ranked by the highest cocaine load in wastewater were Prince Albert (Saskatchewan), followed by Halifax, Montreal, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Metro Vancouver, and Toronto.

Report authors said that compared with similar data in Europe that looks at municipalities with a population over 100,000, five Canadian cities rank among the top 10 “with the highest levels of cocaine in wastewater.”

Those cities include Halifax, ranked third on the list; Montreal with a rank of four; Edmonton, ranked sixth; Metro Vancouver, which is seventh; and Toronto rounding out the top 10.

StatCan said their research lines up with other global studies. Over half a million people in Canada use the drug, according to the United Nations 2023 Global Report on Cocaine.

High Levels of Methamphetamine in Canada

StatCan also found Canada had some of the highest levels of methamphetamine found during the wastewater study when compared to other countries.

“Among countries with available wastewater data that use comparable methodology, cities in the United States, Czechia, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand had the highest levels of methamphetamine use in 2022,” the report said.

Canadian cities ranked by the highest methamphetamine load were Prince Albert, followed by Saskatoon, Edmonton, Metro Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax.

However, the authors noted that the use of methamphetamine in Canada has not changed in recent years.

StatCan said that while amphetamine levels were “significantly higher” in the first part of 2022, they did not correspond with the levels of methamphetamine, which may suggest the amphetamines were prescription medications.

“Further research is needed to better understand whether this is primarily from increased prescription or illicit amphetamine drug use,” the report authors wrote.

“On average, both methamphetamine and amphetamine levels have been consistently higher in cities in the prairies (Edmonton, as well as Prince Albert and Saskatoon) compared with the other cities participating in the CWS,” they said, noting that Prince Albert had the highest average levels in 2022 and 2023.