The Addiction Crisis in Winnipeg

Winnipeg is experiencing a severe and worsening opioid crisis in 2026. A CBC analysis of 15 years of Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service data found that 2026 has already surpassed every previous year for substance-related emergency calls. Opioid-related calls more than doubled in the first five months of 2026 (2,435 calls) compared to the same period in 2025 (1,085 calls) — a 124% increase. On a single day in April 2026, crews responded to 66 opioid calls, the highest single-day total in 15 years of records. For the first time, opioids surpassed alcohol as the substance behind the most fire-paramedic emergency responses. The crisis has stretched the city's emergency infrastructure to its limits, with at least 70 vacant paramedic positions and multiple ambulances regularly out of service due to staff shortages. In June 2026, the Manitoba government launched an $802,000, three-month pilot of a 24/7 two-person mobile paramedic team in downtown Winnipeg. Advocacy groups have called on the province to declare a public health emergency, and five people connected to the Resource Assistance for Youth (RaY) community died within a two-week span in 2026, prompting urgent warnings that the drug supply is severely poisoned.

Canada recorded approximately 7,560 apparent opioid toxicity deaths in 2023 according to the Public Health Agency of Canada — roughly 20 deaths per day. Manitoba accounts for a disproportionate share relative to its population size. While some western provinces saw modest declines in 2024, the crisis in Manitoba and Winnipeg specifically intensified sharply in 2026, with emergency call volumes more than doubling year-over-year. The national drug supply remains contaminated with highly potent synthetic opioids including fentanyl and carfentanil, and increasingly with novel synthetic benzodiazepines that do not respond to naloxone, complicating overdose response across the country.

01. What is happening in Winnipeg

02. A crisis that did not start this month

Manitoba recorded approximately 371 suspected substance-related deaths in 2024, down modestly (2.9%) from 382 in 2023. However, January 2024 set a single-month record with 56 deaths — 18 of which involved the designer benzodiazepine desalkylgidazepam (DAG), signalling a more complex and dangerous toxic drug supply. In January 2026, the province recorded 37 suspected substance-related deaths. The Manitoba government is distributing more than 63,000 free naloxone kits in the 2025–26 fiscal year. Advocates and health organizations have repeatedly called for Manitoba to declare a public health emergency, citing the sustained toll of the toxic drug supply. The province operates RAAM (Rapid Access to Addictions Medicine) walk-in clinics in Winnipeg, Brandon, Thompson, Selkirk, and Portage la Prairie.

03. Why is it getting worse?

The Winnipeg and Manitoba opioid crisis is driven by several compounding factors: (1) A severely poisoned illicit drug supply heavily contaminated with fentanyl and increasingly with novel benzodiazepines such as desalkylgidazepam (DAG), making each use far more likely to be fatal. (2) Organized trafficking networks — including a $37M bust in 2026 involving Mexican cartel and Hells Angels associates — importing large volumes of cocaine, methamphetamine, and fentanyl into the city for distribution across Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. (3) Deep-rooted socioeconomic marginalization, housing instability, and poverty concentrated in Winnipeg's inner city, creating conditions where people have few options for safe shelter or access to treatment. (4) Systemic underfunding of addiction treatment and harm reduction infrastructure, with long waitlists for detox and residential treatment. (5) A critical paramedic shortage (70+ vacant positions in Winnipeg), meaning overdose calls compete directly with all other emergencies for stretched first-responder capacity. (6) Inadequate culturally safe services for Indigenous peoples and other marginalized communities who bear a disproportionate burden of overdose deaths.

04. Where hope still lives

Communities across Manitoba are responding with naloxone distribution, harm reduction programs, and peer support networks. Every person trained in naloxone use is a potential life saved.

05. In the news

The reporting behind this page:

• 66 opioid calls in 1 day. This is how bad the overdose crisis is, Winnipeg first responders sayCBC News · 2026
• Advocates question where Winnipeg will find paramedics for new overdose response teamCP24 · 2026-06-04
• 24/7 mobile paramedic team created to address drug crisis in downtown WinnipegCBC News · 2026
• Manitoba should declare public health emergency amid spike in drug-related deaths, groups sayCBC News · 2026
• 5 people died in 2 weeks after using drugs in Winnipeg. 'The drug supply is poisoned,' RaY director saysCBC News · 2026
• Manitoba set new record for drug-related deaths in a single month to start 2024CBC News · 2024