‘Overwhelming’: Saskatoon drugs crisis far reaching with deaths and hundreds of calls

People are seen outside of The Lighthouse, an affordable living centre, in Saskatoon, Sask., Wednesday, April 9, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

SASKATOON — The black concrete walls outside Saskatoon’s only safe consumption site show the wake left by the city’s drug crisis.

The names of those who’ve died, most from drug poisoning, are scrawled on the Prairie Harm Reduction building. Kim Randall, the director of support services, points to the name of a woman who went by Baby Sis. She died in January.

“She worked for us for years,” Randall told The Canadian Press. “It was really a hard hit to the community.”

Support worker Vern Keeper lost his partner, Charity, five years ago. Her name is also on the wall.

“Every day, two or three overdoses. Thank God we get there on time for many of them,” Keeper said.

Prairie Harm Reduction, located outside downtown, has been battered by the crisis in Saskatchewan’s largest city. A highly toxic batch of drugs, some with light pink or dark purple pills, infiltrated Saskatoon in January.

Kayla DeMong, the organization’s executive director, said more names were added to the walls in the last month.

“I have an envelope in my office full of funeral cards. We used to hang them up. I can’t look at them anymore,” she said, wiping away tears.

The drop-in centre recently reopened after briefly closing to give staff a break. Its safe consumption room remains closed until DeMong hires a new paramedic, a requirement for operations to continue. The last paramedic burnt out and quit.

Signs in the centre encourage people to carry naloxone, test their drugs and not use alone. Clients come and go, grabbing a coffee or food. They sit on couches, chat and watch television.

They also gather outside, where some use substances. Staff check in to see if they’re OK.

Joseph Little Crow said he blacked out while smoking fentanyl a month ago outside the building.

The 47-year-old said firefighters were called and gave him three doses of naloxone, a medication that reverses overdoses, and oxygen. They also resuscitated a younger woman he met that day.

Little Crow woke up to people staring at him. He said he was angry.

“I didn’t fear if I lived or died. I kind of wanted to die. But I really am thankful (I’m alive),” he said.

He said he sometimes sleeps on the streets at night.

“I was sober two years straight, like sober, sober. But it’s been a struggle ever since now,” Little Crow said.

The crisis has been far reaching, affecting first responders who’ve dealt with a spike in calls. The public also sees it.

Two of the city’s libraries closed because of more overdoses inside the facilities and violence towards staff. The Dr. Freda Ahenakew and Frances Morrison Central libraries are expected to fully reopen April 21, with more security and protocols in place.

“It became a point where it was difficult for us to manage as a library,” said Saskatoon Public Library CEO Carol Shepstone.

Data from Saskatoon’s emergency operation centre shows firefighters have gone to 901 drug poisoning calls since January, with more than half of those occurring in March. At this time last year, they went to 352.

The Saskatchewan Coroners Service has reported seven confirmed overdose deaths in the city this year. Across Saskatchewan, there have been 16 confirmed deaths. Officials say 76 are suspected to be overdose-related.

Driving around downtown and Riverdale, Dwayne Jobson of the Saskatoon Fire Department said he’s never seen anything like it in his 32-year career.

“What word should I use? Ridiculous. Overwhelming,” the battalion chief said.

“The (naloxone) wasn’t working right away. Some of the drugs on the street were quite strong and almost resistant. We were seeing paralysis on people.”

Along the streets and alleyways, and behind churches, apartments and near a hospital, people meander between homes — from boarded up to newly built. Others sit together on sidewalks with their belongings.

He waves at those he drives by.

“You hear terms like, ‘these people are living on the streets.’ It’s more like they’re surviving,” Jobson said.

“All of us have empathy for these people. We’re just there to help.”

Pamela Goulden-McLeod, the fire department’s director of emergency management, said the city is starting to see fewer overdose calls, but they remain above average.

The emergency operation centre has been working with the provincial government to supply more naloxone and paramedics. Activated in March, it also has been collecting data to see where overdoses are happening and who they’re affecting.

“What we desperately need is data about the demographics, data that will help identify gaps in what the processes are, data that will help us drive planning for how to address this issue and not just respond to this issue,” Goulden-McLeod said.

Mayor Cynthia Block said Saskatoon needs more housing, including units with supportive services. She said the first phase of a new supportive housing facility is expected to open this year, and that other projects are in the planning phase.

But she added two winter warming shelters recently closed, something that happens every year.

“We seem to not learn that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result isn’t working,” Block said.

She said the city and the province need to work out a partnership where Saskatchewan steps up on housing.

“It’s not a winter issue. It is 24-7, 365 days a year until we can get our full housing spectrum back up and running,” Block said.

“I’m very supportive of the province’s recovery model, but housing has to be the first step when people are trying to survive on the streets.”

DeMong said Prairie Harm Reduction also plays a role by meeting people where they’re at, saving lives and alleviating calls first responders would otherwise have to go to.

“If we were to properly invest in housing, in health care, in education, we would not be in the situation that we are in,” she said.

“As a country, we have failed in all of these areas, over and over again.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2025.

Jeremy Simes, The Canadian Press