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EDMONTON — Friends of Medicare are calling for Alberta to expand evidence-based addictions care and harm reduction services as International Overdose Awareness Day is marked across the province Monday.
The advocacy group says Alberta continues to face a drug poisoning crisis, with at least 1,437 deaths recorded across the province in 2025. It says the Edmonton region also saw record numbers of opioid-related emergency calls and drug poisoning deaths over the past year.
International Overdose Awareness Day is observed annually on Aug. 31 as a day to remember those who have died from overdoses and draw attention to efforts aimed at preventing drug poisoning deaths. This year’s theme is “25 Years On. Still Needed.”
Friends of Medicare executive director Chris Gallaway says the province needs to make community supports and harm reduction services more widely available.
“We recognize International Overdose Awareness Day knowing that every single day, more Albertans are dying from drug poisoning,” Gallaway said.
He said families and communities continue to mourn people who have died and argued more deaths could be prevented through access to appropriate supports.
The organization is also criticizing Alberta’s recovery-oriented approach to addictions treatment, including the closure of supervised consumption services and what it describes as an increased reliance on private and for-profit addictions services. Friends of Medicare is also opposed to involuntary treatment, arguing the province should instead provide a broader spectrum of voluntary addictions care.
Gallaway said addictions care should be treated as part of the public health-care system.
“Albertans need to know that their mental health and addictions services are evidence-based, and are being delivered as part of our public health care system, not simply contracted out to those seeking to profit off of Albertans who are struggling,” he said.
Friends of Medicare is calling for publicly delivered addictions services with regulatory oversight, transparency and accountability.
The organization is also encouraging Albertans to attend International Overdose Awareness Day events in their communities and support expanded harm reduction measures.
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