With thousands of N.W.T. evacuees in Alberta, local experts fear impact of toxic drug crisis
CBC
A small group of health-care workers in Alberta is working to inform wildfire evacuees from the Northwest Territories about where to access common medications for opioid-use disorder in Calgary and Edmonton.
Missing even a day of medications causes withdrawal symptoms, while several days without increases the risk of relapsing for otherwise stable patients — which means more people at risk of dying from the toxic street drug supply, says Dr. Kate Colizza, an addiction medicine and internal medicine physician in Calgary.
"It's not the type of medication where a lot of people can plan ahead or have extras available," said Colizza, who created fliers listing opioid agonist therapy (OAT) clinics and programs in the two cities.
"The issue with a lot of these medications — like Suboxone, methadone, Kadian — is that … you have to go to the pharmacy every day to pick up and take your medication."
Thousands of people have fled Yellowknife and surrounding First Nations since last week, filling evacuation centres in Calgary, Edmonton, and surrounding areas. In the middle of a toxic drug crisis that killed at least 7,328 people across Canada last year, experts and advocates fear displacement due to wildfires could lead to more toxic drug poisonings and deaths.
Colizza and her colleagues began putting together information for the fliers as soon as they heard evacuees would be arriving in Alberta. The goal is to make it easier for people to access care when they do not have an Alberta health plan and physicians cannot access their health records.
After she shared the information on social media, Colizza said advocates on the ground started printing out the fliers and distributing them at evacuee reception centres.
Petra Schulz, co-founder of Moms Stop the Harm, said the group has found someone to translate the information into Cree — and is still searching for a Dene translator — to make it more accessible to people whose first language is not English.
A fatal weekend shooting in Cornwall, Ont., is shedding a stark spotlight on a segment of the population whose experience of intimate partner violence (IPV) has only recently been recognized for what it is, a local women's shelter says.
Newfoundland and Labrador's cruise ship industry sailed its way to a banner year in 2025 and one industry executive says bookings already in place show the future is as bright as the ocean blue.
An unusually virulent respiratory illness season in northeastern Ontario is pushing hospitals to their limits like never before, and forcing them to put patients in more unconventional spaces.
Nova Scotia Power says its proposal to raise rates over the next year by more than eight per cent for most customers is “just and reasonable,” as it heads into a public hearing that will determine whether the changes can go ahead.
Women in violent relationships reported having hidden vehicle keys, prepared supplies and signals to their children as part of plans to escape the home, according to New Brunswick researchers.
With generic versions of the weight-loss drug Ozempic expected to hit the Canadian market this year, provincial data shows the number of times the medication has been dispensed from pharmacies across Manitoba has more than quadrupled over the past four years.
The family of a Saskatoon man who was shot by police on Dec. 19 wants to know why the 25-year-old was not apprehended three weeks earlier, after a judge issued a mental health warrant.
Andrea Schurman is no stranger to having a full house as the manager of the men's shelter on Winter Street in Summerside.
Edmonton's reputation for being one of Canada's most affordable cities to live in may take a dip this year, according to the Conference Board of Canada’s economic forecast for 2026.
People call them the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao.
The Hamilton Cemetery is the oldest municipal cemetery in Canada, opening in 1847 and transferred to the City of Hamilton in 1892.
A fatal snowmobile collision in Atikokan, Ont., on New Year’s Day has prompted reminders about the importance of staying safe on the trails this winter.
An expert in free expression feels Ontario’s solicitor general is attempting to pressure Toronto police to change how they handle protests for political reasons.