Almost two-million Ontarians -- or 14 per cent of the province's population -- has filled prescriptions for opioids over the 2015-2016 fiscal year.
The figures released by Health Quality Ontario suggest patients continued to be given the potent narcotics despite efforts to curb what's been called a national epidemic of overuse.
The provincial agency says one-third of people 18-years of age or younger are getting ongoing prescriptions, while 80 per cent of people who are 45 to 64 are also getting repeat prescriptions.
That ratio widens even more for people aged 65 and older.
Overall, says Health Quality Ontario, more than nine-million prescriptions for the powerful painkillers were filled between April 1st, 2015, and March 31st, 2016 -- the most recent fiscal year for which data is available.
That represents an increase of 450-thousand prescriptions over the same period three years earlier.
Dr. Joshua Tepper, the president and CEO of the agency, says not only did the number of prescriptions spiral upward, there was also a trend toward doctors choosing more potent versions of the drugs.