Brody Langager
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
Around noon on Wednesday in Saskatoon’s Riversdale neighbourhood, sirens blared as Saskatoon fire crews respond to another emergency.
The sound is becoming more frequent in that neighbourhood, and many others, as drug overdose numbers spiked to at least 680 as of last month.
It’s four time higher than the 166 overdoses the fire department responded to in January, and surpassed the 509 reported in March 2025 that prompted the city to activate the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre (PEOC).
The provincial health ministry said on Wednesday that the city hasn’t called for PEOC to be activated at this time.
It was activated last year in co-ordination with the Saskatchewan Public Safety Agency as a means to help respond to the overdose crisis. The provincial government said it would enhance the co-ordination between government ministries and organizations that respond to overdoses.
Deputy Fire Chief Sean Thody said last year’s activation was related to a substance mixed in with drugs that made intervention more difficult.
“The drugs that were on the street in March 2025 were mixed with other substances that made them much less responsive to antidotes such as Naloxone,” Thody said.
He said Naloxone has been effective for the drugs that are currently on the street.
The union that represents firefighters in Saskatoon, IAFF Saskatoon Firefighter Local 80, called for change last month, with union president Jay Protz saying “firefighters are showing up, saving lives, and doing everything that’s asked of them.”
He called for more government involvement, saying there needs to be more funding for emergency services and more access to mental health and addictions supports.
While the topic was deferred on Tuesday, a Saskatoon Fire “Year in Review” committee report shows that overdose responses nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025, making it the department’s No. 1 type of EMS response.
The report said out of the 2,512 overdose incidents in 2025, many of them involved more than one patient.
On Wednesday, the union’s Jayden Poirie said the number of patients needing a response aren’t always reported when they head out to a call.
“It’s kind of random, but more often than not it’s a group of people. And you can kind of sum it up to whatever they’re using being shared.”
A little bit of assistance
Poirie and Jared Benson, treasurer of the firefighter’s union, spoke about the need for assistance again on Wednesday, noting something similar to last year’s PEOC activation would be helpful.
“We’re not experts in long-term solutions, but it’s taxing our resources here in Saskatoon,” Benson said, suggesting extra staffing is needed.
As more and more calls come in for overdoses, it’s on top of calls for fires and car accidents.
“We need to be available for those (calls) as well. We’re just looking for a little bit of assistance,” Benson said.
Both firefighters noted that it’s not just Saskatoon fire that is feeling this pressure, noting Saskatoon police and Medavie Health Services West are also affected.
Benson said the province’s community safety minister, Michael Weger, went on a ride along with firefighters last weekend and should be aware of what’s going on in Saskatoon.
The spike in overdoses comes after the closure of Prairie Harm Reduction (PHR), which was announced at the beginning of April.
PHR’s last annual report before its website was shutdown was for 2021-22, highlighting 23,876 visits to the drop-in centre and 4,590 visits to the supervised consumption site, with 577 unique people.
It said out of those visits, there were seven overdoses that were reversed, and 585 referrals to support programs.
Salvation Army’s Gordon Taylor said as long as there are people making money off of drugs and alcohol in Saskatoon, the city will continue to have this problem.
He said Avenue C, where the Salvation Army men’s shelter is located, is seeing more people than they have in previous years, adding the women’s overnight shelter next door that opened this past winter could be one reason why.
More people lead to more overdoses, as the increase in traffic attracts more people selling drugs, Taylor said.
It makes things less safe for people trying to turn their lives around, and for the staff trying to help them.
“There’s more people needing help every year, and it’s hard to keep up.”
