International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is recognized each year on August 31 and is an international day of remembrance. It’s a day for friends, loved ones, and people who care about someone who has lost their life due to an overdose to come together.
Hundreds of thousands of people around the world lose their lives to overdose each year.
Since 2016, almost 50,000 people have lost their lives from opioid-related causes. In 2023, more than 2,600 Ontarians lost their lives for the same reason.
The overdose crisis doesn’t just shatter our families, it fractures our communities. The losses go deeper than one person, one family, or one neighbourhood. They ripple out into classrooms, workplaces, and the spaces we all share. They cross borders between cities, provinces, and nations.
When people are searching for connection and safety, overdose reminds us that our lives are deeply intertwined. We often instinctively protect our own—our children, our parents, our siblings. We believe in second chances for our loved ones but struggle to extend that same compassion to others. But what if we saw each other as one big family, bound not just by blood but by shared experiences, responsibility, and commitment to each other?
Let’s imagine a new meaning of what family can be. A family driven by hope, love, and action. We are one big family—not just because we share in the pain of loss, but because we share in the power to change what comes next.
No one should carry this grief alone. Every story shared, every voice raised, and every step we take brings us closer to a future free from overdose.
This International Overdose Awareness Day, let’s come together as one big family. We hope you will join us this year on August 27, 2025 at Benson Park, 56 King Street Picton, 10am -2pm.