Prince Albert had the highest levels of methamphetamine and cocaine detected in wastewater per capita among Canadian cities, according to Statistics Canada. On Thursday, the city and the Prince Albert Police Service addressed the findings. It’s a continuing trend, as Prince Albert also had the highest recorded levels per capita in the last report published in 2023. Police Chief Patrick Nogier said the findings support what police are seeing day to day and said if anything, they validate how the service is using its resources. “At this point, it doesn’t change our approach because we know that cocaine and methamphetamine were two of the largest contributors, we see it in our seizures. We see it when police officers pull vehicles over and they suspect that drugs are being consumed.” The issue is being examined as both a policing matter and a matter of public health. Mayor Bill Powalinsky wants to address the root causes of stimulant use. “We need to make sure that kids don’t experiment,” he said. “We need to make sure that people who are desperate to change their state through drugs use other alternatives, other services. It’s not just a city issue. It’s a regional issue.” Executive Director of People and Strategic Services Anna Dinsdale, who oversees the community safety and well-being division, said that Statistics Canada has agreed to provide more specific data for the city to analyze. “That kind of data will help us to understand, for instance, when we see fluctuations what else is going on at that time?” she said. “What events are happening in the province or in the community that maybe contribute to that?” Prince Albert not only had the highest levels of cocaine and methamphetamine, but the most significant fluctuations in both from measurement date to measurement date. The survey only provides evidence of use, as it tests for metabolites that indicate a substance has already passed through the human body, meaning substances dumped in the wastewater do not contribute to the count. Dinsdale said the encampments aren’t the source of the high levels. The test is only conducted on the municipal wastewater system so anything that goes down a storm drain is not included in the measurement. The city is examining options to test levels in different parts of Prince Albert. “There are some ethical considerations with that,” explained Dinsdale. “What we don’t want to do is inadvertently reinforce negative perceptions of any neighbourhood. We don’t want to create fear of kind of this ‘big brother’ approach.” She said that by participating in this study, the 2023 results gave the city a stronger argument when applying for social service funding. “Those results did give us some information that helps us to have those conversations with government,” she said. “That also helped us to, for instance, explore things like our overdose levels and so drug overdose levels and that contributed, for instance, to funding federally for our mobile complex needs team, which is still active and is seeing very good results.” The National Wastewater Survey tests cities from coast to coast, with Metro Vancouver and Halifax both participating. This series of data was collected between January 2024 and March 2026.
