The Addiction Crisis in Saint John

Saint John, New Brunswick has been one of the hardest-hit cities in the province during the opioid crisis. Fentanyl and carfentanil have infiltrated the local street drug supply, driving overdose calls to emergency services to levels high enough that fire chiefs publicly called for firefighters to be equipped with naloxone. Avenue B, a local harm reduction organization, has been offering free drug testing and naloxone kits in response to a noted rise in overdoses and the emerging presence of xylazine (a veterinary tranquilizer) in the local drug supply. In January 2025, the federal government directed over $900,000 to the Sophia Recovery Centre in Saint John to expand peer substance use health services for women. No city-level death counts for Saint John are published separately from provincial totals; provincial data is used throughout.

Canada recorded approximately 7,560 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in 2023 (PHAC), making it one of the deadliest years on record nationally. New Brunswick's 98 deaths in 2023 represented a record high for the province. In 2024, both national and provincial totals showed modest declines — NB fell to 78 deaths — though public health officials caution that fentanyl's share of deaths continued to rise even as overall numbers dipped. Nationally, the crisis remains driven by a highly toxic, unpredictable illicit drug supply increasingly contaminated with fentanyl analogues and xylazine.

01. What is happening in Saint John

Note: City-specific data for Saint John is limited. Figures reflect New Brunswick-wide trends.

02. A crisis that did not start this month

New Brunswick recorded 78 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in 2024, down from a record-high 98 in 2023 — a 20.4% reduction, mirroring a national trend of modest declines. Fentanyl was detected in 57% of those 2024 deaths (42 of 78), the highest fentanyl proportion on record for the province, continuing two consecutive record years for fentanyl-involved fatalities. Most deaths affected people aged 40–49. Naloxone kit distribution reached 4,215 kits in 2024, up from 2,000–3,000 in prior years. Paramedics administered naloxone to 689 people suspected of opioid overdose in 2023, and to 320 in Q1–Q2 2024 alone (averaging 53 per month). The province is 49.1% rural, which creates significant access barriers to treatment and harm reduction services.

03. Why is it getting worse?

Key drivers of the crisis in Saint John and New Brunswick include: (1) Fentanyl contamination of the street drug supply — present in 57% of opioid deaths in 2024 and rising; (2) Emergence of xylazine (a veterinary tranquilizer) as an adulterant, which does not respond to naloxone and complicates overdose reversal; (3) High rurality (49.1% of NB is rural) creating treatment access gaps; (4) Concentrated poverty and housing instability in Saint John's core; (5) Insufficient supervised consumption or overdose prevention site infrastructure — a Saint John prevention site was still "in the works" as of 2023; (6) Limited culturally safe and peer-led services, though federal investment in 2025 is beginning to address this gap.

04. Where hope still lives

Communities across New Brunswick are responding with naloxone distribution, harm reduction programs, and peer support networks.

05. In the news

• Improving health outcomes for communities in Saint John, New BrunswickHealth Canada / Canada.ca · 2025-01
• Opioid overdose calls are surging in 2 N.B. cities. Here's what fire chiefs are calling forCBC News · 2023
• N.B. opioid deaths involving fentanyl at all-time high, says Public HealthCBC News · 2024
• N.B. reports record-high opioid deaths involving fentanyl in 2023CBC News · 2024
• Fentanyl-related opioid deaths rise in New Brunswick in 2023Global News · 2024
• Organization encouraging Saint John residents to test their drugs amid rise in overdosesCTV News Atlantic · 2025