Give Frontline Workers More Help Dealing With Alberta's Drug Crisis

This article was first published in the Edmonton Journal on November 19, 2025.

The drug-poisoning crisis in Alberta continues unabated, after nearly a decade of record numbers of deaths. Fatalities are the most tragic and visible consequence, but the prevalence of a toxic drug supply also creates ripple effects that impact families, communities, and the health-care workers who seek to mitigate harm, provide care, save lives, and assist the grieving.

Parkland Institute’s newest report explores how the crisis affects Alberta’s health-care professionals. We surveyed and interviewed members of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), which represents 30,000 Alberta health-care professionals, such as physiotherapists, social workers, dietitians, and many others. We asked if their work had changed because of the drug-poisoning crisis, and if so, how.

The study found that 69 per cent of participants reported their work was affected by the toxic-drug crisis. Health-care professionals, especially those who work outside hospitals or in emergency departments, said that working with people with addictions was constant.

Given the magnitude of the situation, health-care workers have received little support. Participants said they were taught how to reverse an overdose using naloxone (available free to anyone at pharmacies across Alberta), but that was about it. They told us about that requests for continuing-education opportunities were turned down by managers due to staff shortages.

Health-care professionals also face substantial violence. Fifty per cent of the people we surveyed said that they experienced emotional abuse more than three times in the past year. There were also high rates of threats and feeling unsafe at work.

There was extra risk for paramedics and other professionals who worked outside of hospitals, where there is less support available. One participant said they spent one-third of their paycheque on therapy, just to continue going to work every day. These high rates of violence show us that the opioid crisis in Alberta isn’t being effectively managed, and health-care professionals are at risk because of it.

There are, however, ways to make the situation better while improving working conditions. Participants said having the ability to make changes to their local service helped improve patient care and decrease repeated problems. People wanted enhanced employee benefits, especially additional coverage for counselling and mental-health support. Clinical managers also need more training, as increasing the skill set of a supervisor can benefit a huge number of workers. People also want support to grieve for people who pass away, as well as more opportunities to connect with peers who share their struggles.

Employers also need to create more flexible job opportunities. Participants want to be able to work part-time in one role and part-time in another to reduce fatigue without risking their retirement or benefits plans. Many participants noted that options like part-time work combined with part-time education with the same pension program as full-time work would be ideal.

Flexibility would greatly help retention among health-care professionals at a time when one in three allied health-care workers is considering leaving their profession.

The province also needs to shift gears on how we support people with addictions. Alberta needs a wide range of evidence-based addiction services, not only inpatient-treatment programs. The province also needs increased services in rural areas, not just major centres like Calgary and Edmonton. Participants told us that services, and decision-making, are centralized in the cities, while rural areas are left to fend for themselves.

We also need to increase access to affordable housing over cycles of emergency shelters every winter. Prevention is key — living wages for parents and access to early childhood supports and affordable child care for Albertans is but one of many ways that possible addiction issues can be prevented before they even begin.

Addiction is a treatable chronic illness, not a moral failing. People should never receive treatment without their consent, and there needs to be a wide range of options available across the province. Our report shows that health-care professionals have been abandoned to address a multi-faceted crisis by themselves.

Continuing on this path will increase costs for taxpayers and continue to increase wait times at hospitals. There are many voices across the province calling for change — it’s time for the provincial government to listen.

Jennifer Jackson

Jennifer Jackson is a registered nurse and assistant professor in the faculty of nursing at the University of Calgary. Her research focuses on improving health services and supporting workers in community-based harm reduction addiction and mental health services. Her recent publications include “Differences in overdose rates by gender at supervised consumption services: an explanatory sequential mixed methods study,” and “Burnout and resilience in critical care nurses: A grounded theory of managing exposure.”

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