Saskatoon firefighters joined the Saskatchewan NDP on Wednesday to call on the Province for extra resources to cope with a significant increase in overdose-related calls.  

According to Statistics Canada, the number of overdose related EMS calls in Saskatchewan increased by 50 per cent between 2024 and 2025, from 1338 to 1707. 

Jay Protz, President of Saskatoon’s firefighter union, IAFF 80, says staffing levels, resources, and funding have not kept pace with the overdose crisis, and firefighters’ physical and mental health is what’s taking the hit.  

“We’re not getting the amount of downtime we would have normally expected to decompress and get back out there. So, when you’re going to a fire call, going to a cardiac arrest, going to that vehicle accident, and then throw in those overdoses, it just becomes a vicious cycle where we just get a little more fatigued.”

Protz says the scope of an average firefighter has changed significantly in recent years.

“We didn’t sign up for that part of the job. We signed up to be fire fighters…Social work is not our realm of expertise, and here we are providing some of that.”

He adds that in over 30 years, he can’t recall a time that the union has called on government for additional help, which says something about the severity of the current situation.  

“We’re always going to show up, no questions asked. So, we aren’t really complaining, we’re just trying to highlight the effect that it’s having on the city.”