Toronto's overdose death toll in December 2020 was the worst since public health officials began tracking the data.

Ontario's health minister says "more can be done" to tackle the opioid crisis at a community level in the province and has committed to funding three supervised safe injection sites in Toronto at an estimated annual cost of about $1.6 million and an initial cost of $400,000.

Toronto will soon follow Vancouver's lead in establishing safe injection sites, allowing addicts to use intravenous drugs with clean equipment under the care of medical staff.