A new report from The Canadian Institute for Health Information finds fewer people in Ontario, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan are prescribed opioids.

Data reveals eight percent fewer people, or 220,000, in those three provinces, were prescribed opioids last year compared with 2013.

The number of patients who began treatment on the pain medication decreased by nearly 10 percent, the report states.

The institute credits national prescribing guidelines introduced two years ago for the changes but also notes that despite overall decreasing trends, deaths and harm from opioids continue to rise across the country.