The Alberta Government says there were zero drug overdose deaths in Lethbridge in April 2025. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge reports zero overdose deaths in April, second consecutive month

Jul 31, 2025 | 9:54 AM

The city continues to trend in the right direction when it comes to drug overdose deaths.

The Alberta Government says zero deaths were recorded in Lethbridge in April 2025, which is the second month in a row in which that has been the case.

In the first four months of this year, two people have succumbed to drug use – one in January and one in February. Reporting began in 2016, and this is the lowest year-to-date total in that entire time.

Drug overdose deaths for January-April in Lethbridge, 2016-2025. (Image compiled by LNN. Source: Alberta substance use surveillance system)

In the first quarter of this year, 100 per cent of fatal overdoses in Lethbridge occurred in “other facilities,” and the report says a few examples of this include shelters, some types of supportive housing, and residences where the ownership is unclear. In past periods, the most common locations of these incidents would be in public spaces or the private homes of the victims.

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There were 73 visits to South Health Zone hospitals due to substance use in Q1 2025, which is a fairly normal level for the region, as well as 25 EMS responses related to opioid events in Lethbridge.

Lethbridge’s Overdose Prevention Site was visited 11,816 times in the first quarter of this year. Compare that to the fourth quarter of 2019, when the former Supervised Consumption Site had nearly six times the visitation at 66,168.

The Alberta Government cites the declining numbers to its addiction-related strategies, such as evidence-based treatment and recovery, as well as cracking down on drug trafficking.

READ MORE: Lethbridge overdose deaths falling due to provincial strategies: Alberta government

Fentanyl was detected in victims’ bodies in 93 per cent of fatal overdose cases, while methamphetamine was found 65 per cent of the time and carfentanil 64 per cent.

Just over three-quarters (76.5 per cent) of overdose victims were men, and the most common age group was 40-44.

The full Alberta substance use surveillance report can be found online here.

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