Law360 Canada (November 10, 2026, 12:57 PM EST) -- Saskatchewan is proposing legislation in a bid to align itself with a “national push” to recover health care costs associated with harms caused by opioid medications.
According to a
news release, the province tabled proposed amendments to its
Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act — changes that would allow Saskatchewan “to recover health care costs associated with opioid-related harms” and support the province’s “participation in national class action litigation led by British Columbia.”
The
Opioid Damages Amendment Act, the new bill responsible for the planned amendments, passed first reading in Saskatchewan’s legislature Nov. 5.
Several other jurisdictions have already adopted similar policies: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon.
As previously stated, B.C. spearheaded the push to recover health care costs via a class action aimed at a number of manufacturers and distributors of opioids, alleging they used deceptive marketing to push the medications.
Opioids, such as fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone, are prescription pain relievers. They are also potentially addictive. Legal opioids are prescribed by medical professionals, but they have also long turned up as illegal street drugs.
It was in 2018 that B.C. passed legislation to support its recovery of health care costs incurred by the province due to the opioid addiction crisis.
B.C. reportedly took aim at as many as 40 pharmaceutical companies as part of a class action lawsuit launched by the province.
In 2022, B.C. passed amendments that added Canada to the province’s costs recovery legislation, according to a federal government
webpage.
“The Government of Canada is providing technical assistance and support to the B.C. litigation,” it states.
That same year, B.C.
reached a $150-million settlement with defendant Purdue Pharma (Canada) — a first of its kind in Canada and, as of then, the largest settlement of a government health claim in the country’s history.
Purdue was most known for making and marketing the opioid OxyContin.
Before long, various provinces and territories started joining the class action.
Now, Saskatchewan seems to be following in B.C.’s footsteps. The Prairie province’s amendments would “streamline … litigation by providing the Government of Canada with its own legal avenue to pursue the recovery of federal health care costs associated with opioid-related harms.”
Opioid-related harms “continue to affect communities across Saskatchewan and Canada,” notes the release.
Mental Health and Addictions Minister Lori Carr said in a statement that opioid addiction “has had a devastating impact on individuals, families and communities across Saskatchewan.”
“These amendments support a coordinated national approach to recovering health care costs while ensuring Saskatchewan remains aligned with other jurisdictions participating in opioid litigation,” said Carr.
Additional questions posed to Saskatchewan’s government were not answered by press time.
According to the provincial auditor of Saskatchewan’s 2026 report, the province had a total of 331 “apparent” opioid drug toxicity deaths in 2025 (201 confirmed and 130 suspected) — an increase of 84 per cent from 2019.
As for the national picture, Canada’s government states that there were 5,615 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in the country between April 2025 and March 2026. During that period, there were 5,180 hospitalizations for opioid-related poisonings, and 25,636 hospital emergency-room visits for opioid-related poisoning.
There were 57,509 opioid toxicity deaths reported in Canada between January 2016 and March 2026. Of 1,354 apparent opioid toxicity deaths occurring between January and March of this year, 96 per cent were found to be accidental.
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