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Drug overdoses and drug-related deaths appear to be rising again in Manitoba, according to advocates and data from the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service (WFPS).
Data from WFPS shows so far this year, from January until the end of August, paramedics have responded to 4,040 calls related to opioids; the highest number of calls related to opioids the service has seen, with four months left in the year. In all of 2025, WFPS responded to 3,270 calls related to opioids.
“The repetitive nature of the calls is what our staff is finding challenging,” said Tom Wallace, the deputy chief of paramedic operations, education and training for WFPS.
“That and the fact opioids have surpassed alcohol as the substance that we’re dealing with most frequently.”
From 2018 to 2025, alcohol-related calls always remained well above calls related to opioids. But so far this year, there have been 3,408 alcohol-related calls, compared to the 4,040 opioid calls.
Paramedics are also administering more doses of naloxone. So far this year, 5,712 doses of naloxone have been given, compared to 4,900 in all of last year.
“When they’re responding to the same call over and over again, sometimes for the same individual within a given shift, that can be challenging for staff,” Wallace said.
In an interview with Global News earlier this year, Dr. John Younes, the chief medical examiner for the province, said while there was no finalized data, it appeared drug-related deaths were rising in the province this year, following a decline in 2024 and 2025.
Preliminary data shows that between January and April of this year, 141 Manitobans lost their lives due to suspected substance-related deaths.
A grandmother’s message
Lorna Reykdal knows the impact additions can have. She keeps memories of her grandson, Brayden Crotty, close after losing him to addiction.
“He was really funny. He had a good sense of humour and he loved his clothes – dressed nice,” Reykdal told Global News.
“And we never thought we’d lose him, but we did.”
She says Brayden struggled with addiction for a number of years and sought help, attending the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.
But nearly two years ago, in October 2024, Brayden’s battle with addiction came to a tragic end.
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“We never expected to have him pass. But one day he got something quite bad and yeah, his sister found him,” she said.
At the age of 32, Brayden had overdosed on down – a potent mixture of dangerous drugs, often including fentanyl and methamphetamine.
“That was the saddest day of our life when we got this call.”
In her mid 80s, Reykdal still advocates on behalf of her grandson, participating in awareness walks and taking part in support groups. There is also an annual memorial golf tournament called Brayden’s Next Chapter, which raises funds for the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre.
Reykdal hopes sharing Brayden’s story will help keep others alive. She wants others to know help is available.
“Brayden’s story means a lot to me and Brayden meant a lot to me. So if I keep speaking Brayden’s name, it warms my heart,” Reykdal said.
“If my story can touch one person that has any kind of addiction, it will make my day.”
Advocates push for safe supply, public health emergency
Arlene Last-Kolb lost her son Jessie in 2014 when he accidentally overdosed on fentanyl. She continues to advocate in his memory.
“I know that he would want me to do this. That’s just who he was,” Last-Kolb told Global News.
“I want to help families to not have to go through what I am going through.”
Last-Kolb says she has concerns about rising drug overdoses in the community.
“Everything has gone up. Nothing has changed. And naloxone can’t be an answer to a toxic drug crisis,” she said.
“We can’t continue to let people overdose over and over and over again and just give them naloxone. That is unacceptable.”
She also wants to see the province declare a public health emergency over the toxic drug supply and better education on toxic drugs and administering naloxone in schools. She also wants to see safe supply offered, an option she feels could have helped her son.
“The hardest thing is to know your child has passed away from an overdose and to know that there is something out there that might have helped you. That regulation should have been a choice for you, that your child’s choice shouldn’t have been to go to the street and just die,” she said.
“When people access safe consumption sites, it would make more sense to me if they took a regulated supply with them.”
Kate Sjoberg, the executive director of Resource Assistance for Youth, says they have also witnessed a spike in overdose deaths, particularly during the month of April.
“We’re in a real crisis as a community right now,” Sjoberg said.
In June, the province announced $1 million to combat the overdose crisis, which included a mobile paramedic overdose response team for downtown, distributing 20 oxygen delivery devices to Main Street Project, and first-aid and overdose response training for community partners.
Like Last-Kolb, Sjoberg also wants to see the overdose and addictions crisis declared a public health emergency.
“We’ve been calling for attention to this matter of drug toxicity and for governments to pay attention to the possibility of making the drug supply safer,” she said.
“Right now, in particular, the coincidence of drug toxicity with the public health emergency on HIV means all of us are less safe.”
Global News has reached out to the minister of housing, addiction, and homelessness for a response.
Read the full article here
