Canadian Drug and Substance Watch: Highlights
The Canadian Drug and Substance Watch (CDSW) is a drug early warning system designed to highlight new and emerging substances on the illegal drug market.
- Last updated: 2025-06-26
The Canadian Drug and Substance Watch (CDSW) combines data from multiple sources, such as:
- drug samples submitted by law enforcement ("drug samples")
- wastewater monitoring
- monitoring online forums ("web monitoring")
The CDSW builds on surveillance activities that monitor drugs in Canada. It better informs government organizations, public health officials, law enforcement and border control agencies to develop public health responses in addressing the crisis. These responses prevent the spread of emerging drugs and reduce related harms. The CDSW differs from drug alert systems, which aim to prevent immediate harm by sharing information about the precise location and appearance of drugs.
The CDSW focuses on psychoactive substances. These are drugs that affect mental processes like perception, consciousness or mood. Substances with similar effects are grouped into the same pharmacological class.
General summary
An overview of data collected by Health Canada from January 2023 to December 2024. A total of {{}} identifications were made across the data sources amounting to {{}} new and emerging unique substances. Below is a summary of the substances identified in each data source. Substances can be identified in multiple data sources.
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Spotlight on new and emerging opioids of public health concern
Opioids, such as fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, and nitazenes are major contributors to opioid-related harms in Canada. In 2024 (January to September), 75% of all apparent opioid toxicity deaths in Canada involved fentanylFootnote 1, while the proportion of these deaths involving fentanyl analogues also continues to rise. The table below displays fentanyl analogues, fentanyl precursors, and nitazenes, found in each location and data source.
| Group | Substance | Location | Data source |
|---|
Interactive visualizations of new and emerging psychoactive substances
Below are interactive graphs and a map to show new and emerging psychoactive substances by province/territory and/or pharmacological class. Select a province or territory from the dropdown menu and/or a pharmacological class from the list on the left to update the results.
Province or territory
Pharmacological class
This graph shows the {{}} substances identified in various data sources. The same substance can be counted multiple times across the data sources.
This graph shows the {{}} substances identified in various data sources. The same substance can be counted multiple times across the data sources.
This figure displays the {{}} unique substances across data sources.
Number of new and emerging substances by pharmacological class: Text description
| Location | Pharmacological class | Number of unique substances |
|---|
To explore trends in substance appearance over time and by geography, refer to the New and emerging substances tab.
This map displays the number of unique substances in each province and territory. The same substance can be identified across the regions.
Hover over or select a portion of the map to see the cumulative number of new and emerging psychoactive substances for each province or territory.
Interactive visualizations: Notes
- Counts and trends may be influenced by the number of sites reporting in a given time period.
- For more information about each key pharmacological class: Understanding the data
Contact us
For comments or questions regarding data, contact Health Canada at odrs-brsd@hc-sc.gc.ca.
References
- Reference 1
-
Public Health Agency of Canada. Opioid- and Stimulant-related Harms in Canada. Health Infobase: Ottawa (ON); 2025. Available from: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/
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