The Thunder Bay Drug Strategy and Thunder Bay District Health Unit (TBDHU) will come together on Wednesday, Aug. 27 starting at 11 am with the public and community partners at Shelter House to commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD). The 2025 theme, ‘One Big Family, Driven by Hope,’ illustrates how communities are interconnected, and although the pain of loss is shared, so too is the power to change what comes next.

“Tomorrow, on International Overdose Awareness Day, we come together to remember lives lost and to take action. In 2024, Thunder Bay faced 80 opioid-related deaths, the highest per-capita rate in Ontario, said Rilee Willianen, Drug Strategy Specialist at the City of Thunder Bay. “We stand with families and friends in grief, and we remain committed to reducing harm, ending stigma, and saving lives.”

To help raise awareness of the overdose crisis and pay tribute to those impacted in Thunder Bay, the lights at Thunder Bay City Hall will shine purple from Aug. 25 to Sept. 1

“International Overdose Awareness Day is a solemn reminder that overdose is preventable, and every life is worth saving,” explains Kandace Belanger, Manager of Sexual Health, Street Outreach and Harm Reduction with TBDHU. “This day is also a reminder that harm reduction is evidence-based public health that meets people where they are, with dignity and compassion.”

IOAD also calls for immediate upstream and downstream investments from provincial and federal governments for social and substance use health services across the continuum, including housing, harm reduction, treatment, prevention, and enforcement initiatives.

Our community has a variety of local supports and services that help reduce the risks associated with substance use, such as:

  • naloxone,
  • drug checking services,
  • outreach harm reduction services and supplies,
  • LifeguardConnect app,
  • Rapid Access to Addiction Medicine Clinics, and
  • withdrawal management services

For more information about naloxone, contact Thunder Bay District Health Unit’s Harm Reduction Team, Superior Points at: 807-621-7861 or 807-621-7862. Naloxone is also available at many pharmacies in Thunder Bay.

For more information about withdrawal management services, contact the Balmoral Centre at: 807- 623-6515.

Download the LifeguardConnect app today.

Dial 211 to get connected with a Rapid Access Addictions Medicine Clinic and other substance use health services near you.

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Contact:         Stacey Levanen, Engagement & Public Information Specialist, 807-625-3650