Other Direct Costs

Other direct costs related to substance use amounted to $3.3 billion in 2020. This accounted for 6.7% of the total overall cost of $49.1 billion. This was equivalent to $87 per person in Canada.

Other direct costs include:

Research and prevention,
Fire damage,
Damage to motor vehicles from impaired driving,
Social assistance for disability related to substance use and
Workplace costs not already covered in lost productivity, such as employee assistance programs, drug testing programs and administrative costs associated with workers’ compensation.

Information from this broad category may be used by various audiences to gain a complete picture of substance use attributable costs and harms, guide resource allocation and develop policies to reduce different harms of substance use, from impaired driving to substance use in the workplace.

Other Direct Costs by the Numbers

Pie chart of all costs associated with substance use in Canada in 2020 focuses only on other direct costs, which accounted for $3.3 billion.

Other direct costs related to substance use amounted to $87 per person in Canada in 2020:
- Alcohol use accounted for 47.3% of the other direct costs and
- Tobacco use was 14.2% of the other direct costs.

More than $1.3 billion was spent on damage to motor vehicles because of collisions related to substance use.

Damage to property due to fires associated with substance use amounted to $897 million

Emerging Trends in Other Direct Costs Related to Substance Use

Overall, other direct costs per person increased just 1.2% from 2007 to 2020.
While costs increased steadily between 2007 and 2019, costs declined by more than 13% between 2019 and 2020. This was due to a large decline in motor vehicle damage costs between 2019 and 2020, likely due to decreased driving during the pandemic.
Per-person costs associated with opioid use decreased by 42.3% (from $7 to $4 per person), the most of any substance related to other direct costs.

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