Alcohol

Alcohol consumption during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Québec and Canada

The data contained in this fact sheet have been derived from six probability surveys conducted from March 29, 2020 to April 28, 2021 throughout Canada (including Québec) and one survey carried out exclusively in Québec. The surveys were conducted with people aged 15 and older (3 surveys), 18 and older (3 surveys), and 25 and older (1 survey). The changes in alcohol consumption are based on self-reported data. Only those related to an increase in consumption and its associated characteristics are presented.

Perinatal Psychoactive Substance Use Among Indigenous Women: Social Determinants

Because of its impact on the health of families and future generations, psychoactive substance use during the perinatal period is a public health concern for the entire population. Understanding the factors that influence psychoactive substance use among Indigenous women in the perinatal period is essential to targeting prevention and health and wellness promotion strategies for First Nations and Inuit people. This synthesis analyzes the factors that emerge from the scientific literature through the lens of social determinants of health.

  • Strong family ties, social support and connection to community, traditional values and culture emerged as protective factors against psychoactive substance use during the perinatal period for Indigenous women. These factors are associated with the social environment and cultural continuity, which are social determinants of Indigenous health.
  • Difficult living conditions (job insecurity, low education level, and frequent reloc…

Acute Alcohol Poisoning and Sweetened Alcoholic Beverages

Acute alcohol poisoning occurs frequently in Québec. Between January 1 and November 26, 2017, provincial emergency rooms admitted 2,332 young people age 12–24 for acute alcohol poisoning. That is equivalent to 214 cases per month, 49 cases per week, or 7 cases per day.

These cases are serious. One quarter of young people age 12–24 admitted to the emergency room at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Sherbrooke for alcohol-related problems had a priority level indicating that their lives were at risk.

The available data do not conclusively demonstrate that products with high alcohol and sugar content were the main cause of acute alcohol poisoning cases treated in Québec emergency rooms in 2017. Nonetheless, analysis of the data underscores a serious problem that justifies stronger preventive action.

Sales of sweetened alcoholic beverages are up in grocery and convenience stores in Québec. Products with the highest alcohol content show the highe…

Binge Drinking Among Youth in Québec: Portrait and Evolution from 2000 to 2012

Alcohol use and the many social and health issues associated with it are public health concerns. The impact of alcohol depends primarily on the total volume of alcohol consumed and the pattern of drinking, particularly drinking a large quantity on a single occasion (WHO, 2009).

This work has allowed us to develop a current profile of binge drinking among youth in Québec who drink alcohol and to examine the trends and changes over time in this consumption pattern from 2000 to 2012.

These initial results indicate that just under a third of young drinkers in Québec engaged in binge drinking in 2011-2012. This phenomenon affects males much more than females, regardless of age.

Although many young drinkers started to drink excessively at around the age of 18, this behaviour was already present in young males of 14-15 years and in young females of 16-17 years of age. However, it is young adults of 22-23 years of age who are most likely to binge drink…

Alcohol Consumption and Public Health in Québec: Summary

Alcohol consumption is a public health issue because it causes many health and social harms:

  • Alcohol consumption is associated with deaths, chronic diseases, cancers, injuries, violence, mental health problems, addiction and social problems.
  • In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that alcohol was the third leading risk factor for mortality and morbidity in developed countries, after smoking and high blood pressure. In North America, alcohol accounts for 14.2% of the burden of disease in men and 3.4% in women. In Québec, 1.8% of deaths are attributable to alcohol.
  • Total alcohol-related healthcare costs are approximately the same as revenue from alcohol sales in Québec; in 2002 in the province, over $3 billion in costs were attributable to alcohol, the equivalent of $416 per inhabitant. Healthcare costs represent 22% of this total, that is, $651 million; this is about equal to the net income from alcohol sales for that year.

Cree Health Survey 2003, Canadian Community Health Survey, Cycle 2.1, Iiyiyiu Aschii: Lifestyles related to alcohol consumption, drugs and gambling

The survey was conducted during the summer of 2003 using a representative sample of residents aged 12 and older from the nine communities in Iiyiyiu Aschii: Chisasibi, Eastmain, Mistissini, Nemaska, Oujé- Bougoumou, Waskaganish, Waswanipi, Wemindji, and Whapmagoostui.

Alcohol consumption

  • Somewhat more than half (54%) of Iiyiyiu Aschii residents are current drinkers.
  • Among these drinkers there are mostly men (61%) and young adults from 18 to 29 years of age (80%).
  • A majority of separated, divorced, or widowed persons fall into the current drinkers group (64%), while persons in traditional or common-law marriages as well as those who have never been married are almost evenly divided between current drinkers and former drinkers.
  • Between 1991 and 2003, the proportion of current drinkers rose from 49% to 53% in Iiyiyiu Aschii. The proportion of people who have never consumed alcohol, on the other hand, has fallen considerably over the…

Nunavik Inuit Health Survey 2004 : Alcohol, Drug Use and Gambling Among the Inuit of Nunavik: Epidemiological Profile

Alcohol and drug use

The Nunavik Inuit Health Survey, conducted throughout the 14 communities of Nunavik in autumn 2004, provides an update of the alcohol and drug use descriptive profile of the population aged 15 and over and identifies the sociodemographic characteristics associated with substance use.

In Nunavik in 2004, the proportion of drinkers was 77%, which is lower than the rate observed in Canada and in Quebec. This rate, however, represents an increase of almost 17% in Nunavik compared with 1992. Globally, the prevalence of drinkers is higher among participants under the age of 45, who are more educated, who have a job and who live in a community that permits the sale of alcohol.

Heavy drinking (five drinks or more on a single occasion) is widespread in Nunavik with close to 9 out of 10 consumers having drunk heavily at least once in the year preceding the survey, a rate that is two times higher than that observed in southern Quebe…

Status Report on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in Québec

The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is likely to cause what is considered the most frequent preventable birth defect. This defect is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), which is a complex problem closely related to alcoholism and substance abuse among women. Described for the first time some 35 years ago, this syndrome has since been the subject of many studies conducted for the purpose of providing insight into its specific nature, documenting its prevalence or identifying ways to prevent it and help those who are afflicted with it. This research was conducted primarily in North America, but also in some European countries. Canada’s contribution to developing knowledge in this area should be pointed out.

In December of 2003, the Institut national de santé publique du Québec was mandated by the Minister of Health and Social Services to produce a status report on FAS. In response to this request, this report describes the current state of knowledge in Québec, and its situat…