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.”
In a written response, SFD Chief Doug Wegren stated that the Saskatoon Fire Department actually responded to fewer overdose calls in May compared to April, 2026.
He adds that, “Although April’s numbers exceeded the spike seen in March 2025, the current situation differs in several important ways. In March 2025, firefighters were managing a high volume of patient transports to hospital, prompting a request for support from the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre. At that time, a specific combination of drugs reduced the effectiveness of Naloxone, requiring frequent advanced interventions such as CPR, assisted breathing with oxygen, and multiple doses of Naloxone. In contrast, Naloxone is currently effective and widely available to the public, which has contributed to a reduction in firefighter-assisted transports to hospital for overdoses. Saskatoon Fire Department Primary Care Paramedics continue to respond to and treat overdose patients, and the department is closely monitoring the situation in collaboration with health-care partners.”
Wegren concludes by assuring that, “At this time, there has been no need to request activation of the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre.
