Ontario is putting $15 million toward hiring more addiction and mental health workers and distributing more kits with the overdose-reversing drug naloxone as it tries to combat an opioid crisis.
Health Minister Eric Hoskins announced the funding yesterday ahead of a meeting with mayors to discuss the crisis that saw 412 Ontarians die of opioid overdoses in the first six months of last year.
Part of the funding will go toward hiring up to four more front-line workers in every public health unit in the province.
The province will also distribute nearly 80,000 more naloxone kits per year through community outreach organizations such as shelters and harm reduction services.