Canadian mayors have gathered in Lethbridge to discuss the opioid crisis, other related issues, and what more can be done. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Canadian mayors collaborating on opioid crisis strategies in Lethbridge

Apr 15, 2025 | 12:23 PM

The mayors of 28 communities across the province are in the middle of a conference focused on how they can better respond to the drug crisis and related issues.

The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) is hosting the Municipal Leaders Table in Lethbridge from April 14-16, 2025.

Lethbridge Mayor Blaine Hyggen says the mayors have their political differences, but they all agree that these are pervasive issues in their communities and that more needs to be done.

“The issues that we face here in Lethbridge, they face across the country. They might be at different levels or there may be different concerns or different types of drugs, we’ll say if we’re talking about opioids or any other substance abuse – but it’s still similar issues that’re happening across the country,” says Hyggen.

In 2024, Lethbridge recorded its lowest number of drug overdose deaths since 2019 while total crimes were down by 16 per cent.

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Hyggen says he was excited to share these success stories with the other municipal leaders and how he believes they got there.

He cited the Alberta Government’s recovery-oriented model that has, among other things, led to the creation of Recovery Communities in Lethbridge and the Blood Tribe.

READ MORE: Province credits recovery model for falling drug overdose deaths in Lethbridge

On a city level, Hyggen says there are things they have done to move things in a more positive direction.

“The way our PACT, or Police and Crisis Team – how they work throughout the community,” says Hyggen. “Some discussions around therapies like suboxone or methadone and ways to support those that are struggling and going through addiction and need the additional services. What we’re doing as a community to help, some of the different programs we have in our community.”

One suggestion that Hyggen thinks could be helpful for Lethbridge came from the mayor of Timmins, Ontario, Michelle Boileau.

She says paramedics are equipped with overdose-reversing therapies. If they are the first to arrive at the scene of an overdose, they can administer it right away, saying that a delay of even a few minutes could result in the victim dying or changing their mind about seeking treatment.

Boileau says she appreciates hearing the suggestions of so many community leaders as they put together a “menu of different options.”

She says the mayors and the CCSA are working to develop the first municipally-led standards for treatment, harm reduction, recovery, prevention, enforcement, policing, and more.

Some of the issues they are discussing include public drug use, drug-related hospitalizations and deaths, and affordable housing.

“So often, the conversations are happening in and about the Vancouvers and the Torontos and the Montreals of the country,” explained Boileau. “We felt it was important that we bring together municipal leaders from smaller and more medium-sized communities so that we can be having this conversation and it be relevant to us in our contexts.”

According to Boileau, Timmins has one of the highest rates of drug-related fatalities per capita. She says she is working tirelessly with their community partners on solutions, as many other mayors at the conference have been doing.

Once the conference concludes on Wednesday, Hyggen says he will speak with Alberta’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Dan Williams about what the mayors discussed and what more Lethbridge and the Alberta Government can do to support people suffering from addiction and keep people safe.

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