On Monday, International Overdose Awareness Day, one of Edmonton’s social agencies taught people downtown how to recognize drug poisoning and administer naloxone. Boyle Street Community Services’ Streetworks team ran a booth in Churchill Square from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. raising awareness about addiction and providing naloxone training. According to Streetworks, a harm reduction program, one person dies from drug poisoning every 11 hours in Edmonton. According to provincial data, 770 people died from drug use in Edmonton in 2025, the highest amount in any of Alberta’s cities. However, Streetworks assumes some overdoses that are reversed go unreported due to stigma. “We want to offer (people) options for seeking medical care … (and) gaining back that trust so they can go and talk to their doctors and hopefully one day maybe lower usage or recover,” said a Streetworks manager Patrick Black. Naloxone is a drug that can reverse the effects of opioid poisoning or overdose. The Alberta government provides naloxone kits and training for free at 2,000 locations across the province. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Sean McClune
