Ontario Prescription Opioid Tool

Indicators of Opioid Prescribing in Ontario

The Ontario Prescription Opioid Tool allows public access to data related to indicators for opioid prescribing in the province from 2012 onwards using data housed at ICES. This tool was created by the ODPRN in collaboration with ICES, Public Health Ontario and integrating other stakeholder input, including the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Public Health Units (PHUs), and Local Health Integration Networks (LHINs). It was made to complement Public Health Ontario’s interactive tool on opioid-related morbidity and mortality in Ontario and will be updated on an approximately quarterly basis.

The Prescription Opioid Tool uses data from the Narcotics Monitoring System (NMS), which captures all opioid prescriptions dispensed in retail pharmacies across Ontario. The tool is interactive and the graphs and maps are adjustable to present patterns in the distribution of these indicators by age, sex, LHIN and PHU. All data displayed on the tool is available for download.

Changing Trends Amid COVID-19

Ontario has reported increasing opioid-related overdoses during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this infographic, we explore the effects of COVID-19 on opioid prescribing indicators and the distribution of naloxone in the province.

How to use this tool:

Click on each tab below “Trends”, “Age and Sex”, “Maps”, “Drug Type”, and “OAT Prescribers” to view information on the indicators of opioid prescribing.
Within each tab, there are additional variables available to adjust the graph or map based on geographic area, indicator type, time period, metric used in graph, and more.
The “download” icon below the graph in the Tableau bar allows users to download the graph as an image, or to download the source data.

Suggested Citation

Ontario Drug Policy Research Network. Ontario Prescription Opioid Tool. Toronto, ON; July 2018. DOI: 10.31027/ODPRN.2018.01. Available from: https://odprn.ca/ontario-opioid-drug-observatory/ontario-prescription-opioid-tool/