Saskatoon Fire Department facing rising overdose calls

The Saskatoon Fire Department is facing mounting pressure from a surge in overdose and encampment-related calls that city officials say is straining frontline resources and altering the nature of firefighters’ work. 

A year‑in‑review summary presented at city hall says homelessness and addiction issues placed “substantial strain on frontline services” in 2025, according to CBC News. The report adds that major events, including evacuations from northern wildfires, added to the workload.

Overall calls to the department rose 13.2 per cent last year to 28,717 incidents, the equivalent of nearly 79 more calls per day than the year before, according to the report. The increase was driven by a “dramatic” rise in overdose responses, which nearly doubled to 2,512, or close to seven extra overdose calls per day on average.

Firefighters responded to overdoses in all 65 Saskatoon neighbourhoods, with higher concentrations in Riversdale, Pleasant Hill and the downtown core. In March 2025 alone, the department handled 509 overdoses, a record that was surpassed this April when crews were dispatched to 680 overdose calls in a single month, CBC reported. Prairie Harm Reduction’s supervised drug consumption site closed during that same month.

Encampment fires up, inspections down

Union leaders say the shift in call types is changing what firefighters see as their core responsibilities. “When we’re busy doing these overdoses on repeat over and over again, going to the encampments over and over again, it takes away from what we would normally consider our core services,” said Jayden Poirier, an executive member of the Saskatoon firefighters’ union. He added, “Maybe it’s time to look at the way we are responding — what if this is the new normal? — and changing those core values and core services.”

Encampment‑related incidents have climbed sharply alongside overdoses. Calls related to fires at encampments more than doubled to 116 in 2025, up from 50 in 2024; in 2021, firefighters responded to just six encampment fires. General encampment responses also rose to 1,859 last year, compared with 1,255 in 2024.

The growing demand appears to be affecting prevention work. The department completed 1,831 fire inspections in 2025, down from 2,709 in 2021, according to the city summary cited by CBC. Firefighters were also mobilized with police for “large public gatherings” during World Series games 6 and 7 and for Halloween, further stretching resources.

Parallel strain on paramedic services

Paramedic agencies are confronting similar pressures. The Paramedic Services Chiefs of Saskatchewan met in Saskatoon this week to discuss rising call volumes, staffing shortages and burnout across the province. The discussions highlight a shared occupational health and safety challenge for emergency responders.

Steve Skoworodko, past president of the group and a paramedic in Wakaw, told CBC’s Saskatoon Morning that calls for paramedics have doubled in the past decade and that there are about 200 unfilled paramedic positions in Saskatchewan. He said overdoses have created a “sustained pressure” on paramedics, particularly in Saskatoon.

Skoworodko said burnout is prompting some paramedics to leave for better‑paid roles, including firefighting. “On the burnout side, I think mental health has always been a piece that’s there,” he said. For occupational health and safety professionals, the Saskatoon data point to escalating psychological and workload risks across both fire and paramedic services as overdose and encampment calls continue to grow.