A new report shows updated statistics on drug overdose deaths in Lethbridge for September 2025. (Photo: MoleQL | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko

Two drug overdose deaths recorded in Lethbridge in Sept. 2025

Jan 7, 2026 | 10:13 AM

Although the numbers continue to trend downwards, the Alberta Government reports that there were two fatal overdoses in Lethbridge in September.

The latest report from the Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System shows that the year-to-date total for the first nine months of 2025 was 10, averaging a little over one drug overdose death per month.

That is the lowest figure for the city since 2017. It is also one-tenth of what we saw just two years ago, when 101 people died in the same time period.

Lethbridge had a rate of 12.1 fatal overdoses per 100,000 residents between January and September, which is just over half of the provincial rate of 22.5.

Drug overdose deaths in Lethbridge, Jan.-Sept. (2016-2025). (Source: Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System. Compiled by LNN)

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Rate of drug overdose deaths in Alberta per 100,000 population, Jan.-Sept. 2025. (Source: Alberta Substance Use Surveillance System. Compiled by LNN)

All of the city’s drug overdose deaths in the second quarter occurred in a private residence, whether it was their own (75 per cent) or somebody else’s (25 per cent).

EMS responded to 42 overdose-related events in Lethbridge between January and June, or approximately 1.68 every week.

There were 167 visits to emergency departments in the South Zone related to substance use in the second quarter of this year, which is down by 45 per cent compared to the same quarter two years ago.

The government also reported 12,306 visits to the Lethbridge Overdose Prevention Site in Q2 this year, which is fairly consistent with the last few years. It is, however, significantly lower than the usage of the former ARCHES Supervised Consumption Site, which saw as many as 59,901 visits in the second quarter of 2019.

Among cases where multiple substances were detected in the user, fentanyl was found 93 per cent of the time, while carfentanyl and methamphetamine were present in 66 per cent of instances.

Men accounted for a little over three-quarters (76.4 per cent) of drug overdose victims in Alberta, and the most common age group was 35-39.

You can read the full report online here.