According to a 2022 report by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, one in 13 opioid toxicity deaths happened among people working in the construction industry.

She said they often work big stretches of long shifts, deal with the loneliness of remote work, suffer from painful injuries and the pressures of a “work hard, pay hard mentality,” including easy access to drugs on the job.

Over three-quarters of opiate toxicity deaths in trade workers happened to individuals who had a prior pain diagnosis, she said, but only one in six had a prescription for an opioid replacement medication.

Baker, who is now 36 years old, said unions are very supportive of workers and do their best to help people who need it, but it doesn’t change the root problem: men are overworking themselves in gruelling conditions.

He said he’s worked 120 days straight, all 12-hour shifts, something that is common among his peers. “We’re breaking our bodies down,” he said.