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Provincial and Territorial Substance Use Costs

Highlights current costs and harms attributed with substance use costs in Canada’s provinces and territories.

View the Provincial and Territorial Infographics page for infographics highlighting the substance use costs and harms for the Canadian provinces and territories in 2020. You can also produce customized analyses by province or territory using the CSUCH online data visualization tool.

Overall Per-Person Provincial and Territorial Substance Use Costs

Bar graph highlighting per-person costs of substance use by jurisdiction in 2020, which were $1,598 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $1,737 in Prince Edward Island, $1,494 in Nova Scotia, $1,311 in New Brunswick, $1,234 in Ontario, $1,384 in Manitoba, $1,567 in Saskatchewan, $1,638 in Alberta, $1,450 in British Columbia, $5,080 in the Northwest Territories, $7,284 in Nunavut and $1,291 in Canada.
Meaningful per-person costs for Quebec and Yukon could not be calculated. The estimated per-person costs in Canada should be considered an underestimate, as they do not include costs associated with in-patient hospitalizations, day surgeries or emergency department visits in Quebec, nor costs associated with lost productivity due to premature deaths in Yukon.

The top four provinces and territories by per-person costs related to substance use are:

  • Nunavut ($7,284)
  • Northwest Territories ($5,080)
  • Prince Edward Island ($1,737)
  • Alberta ($1,638)

The bottom four provinces and territories by per-person costs related to substance use are:

  • Ontario ($1,234)
  • New Brunswick ($1,311)
  • Manitoba ($1,384)
  • British Columbia ($1,450)

Provincial and Territorial Substance Use Costs by Category

Outlines the per-person costs of each category as it relates to the provinces and territories in Canada.

Lost Productivity Costs by Province and Territory

Bar graph highlighting per-person lost productivity costs attributable to substance use in Canada in 2020, which were $771 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $906 in Prince Edward Island, $622 in Nova Scotia, $568 in New Brunswick, $422 in Quebec, $540 in Ontario, $543 in Manitoba, $735 in Saskatchewan, $777 in Alberta, $754 in British Columbia, $2,461 in the Northwest Territories, $3,759 in Nunavut and $589 in Canada.
Note: At the time of writing this report, the data on premature deaths in Yukon (2017 to 2020 only) required to calculate costs of potential years of productive life lost were not available from Statistics Canada’s Vital Statistics database. Therefore, meaningful per-person costs for lost productivity could not be calculated for Yukon in 2020.

The top four provinces and territories by per-person lost productivity costs are:

  • Nunavut ($3,759)
  • Northwest Territories ($2,461)
  • Prince Edward Island ($906)
  • Alberta ($777)

The bottom four provinces and territories by per-person costs related to lost productivity are:

  • Quebec ($422)
  • Ontario ($540)
  • Manitoba ($543)
  • New Brunswick ($568)

Healthcare Costs by Province and Territory

Bar graph highlighting per-person healthcare costs attributable to substance use in Canada in 2020, which were $495 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $476 in Prince Edward Island, $508 in Nova Scotia, $428 in New Brunswick, $342 in Ontario, $371 in Manitoba, $423 in Saskatchewan, $453 in Alberta, $393 in British Columbia, $830 in Yukon, $891 in the Northwest Territories, $1,262 in Nunavut and $386 in Canada.
Note: Meaningful per-person costs for Quebec could not be calculated. In-patient hospitalizations and associated costs for Ontario and Manitoba are underestimated because we were not able to include hospitalizations recorded in the Ontario Mental Health Recording System.

The top four provinces and territories by per-person healthcare costs are:

  • Nunavut ($1,262)
  • Northwest Territories ($891)
  • Yukon Territory ($830)
  • Nova Scotia ($508)

The bottom four provinces and territories by per-person healthcare costs are:

  • Ontario ($342)
  • Manitoba ($371)
  • British Columbia ($393)
  • Saskatchewan ($423)

Criminal Justice Costs by Province and Territory

Bar chart of per capita criminal justice costs attributable to substance use in Canada in 2020 : $246 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $260 in Prince Edward Island, $261 in Nova Scotia, $224 in New Brunswick, $232 in Quebec, $268 in Ontario, $350 in Manitoba, $361 in Saskatchewan, $242 in Alberta, $248 in British Columbia, $903 in the Yukon, $1,508 in the Northwest Territories, $1,945 in Nunavut and $262 for Canada as a whole.

The top four provinces or territories by per-costs costs related to criminal justice costs are:

  • Nunavut ($1,945)
  • Northwest Territories ($1,508)
  • Yukon Territory ($903)
  • Saskatchewan ($361)

The bottom four provinces/territories by per-person criminal justice costs are:

  • New Brunswick ($224)
  • Quebec ($232)
  • Alberta ($242)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador ($246)


Other Direct Costs by Province and Territory

Bar chart of other direct costs per person attributable to substance use in Canada in 2020: $87 in Newfoundland and Labrador, $96 in Prince Edward Island, $102 in Nova Scotia, $90 in New Brunswick, $66 in Quebec, $85 in Ontario, $120 in Manitoba, $48 in Saskatchewan, $165 in Alberta, $54 in British Columbia, $143 in the Yukon, $220 in the Northwest Territories, $318 in Nunavut and $87 for Canada as a whole.

The top four provinces and territories by per-person other direct costs are:

  • Nunavut ($318)
  • Northwest Territories ($220)
  • Alberta ($165)
  • Yukon Territory ($143)

The bottom four provinces and territories by per-person other direct costs are:

  • Saskatchewan ($48)
  • British Columbia ($54)
  • Quebec ($66)
  • Ontario ($85)