April sees increase in toxic drug deaths in B.C., as coroner reports 165 fatalities

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jun 25, 2025 9:57 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

The B.C. Coroners Service says April was the archetypal clip successful six months that much than 160 deaths were recorded owed to toxic drugs. 

It said successful a connection that 165 radical died successful April, up from 143 deaths successful March and 132 fatalities successful February.

The February and March numbers represented year-over-year declines of much than 30 per cent compared with the aforesaid months successful 2024, portion April's full amounted to a lesser alteration of astir 14 per cent.

The connection released Tuesday says deaths successful the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal wellness authorities marque up 57 per cent of fatalities truthful acold this year.

It says fentanyl continues to beryllium the astir communal substance linked to deaths and smoking is the superior mode of depletion of unregulated toxic drugs.

While Fraser and Vancouver Coastal wellness authorities person the larger fig of deaths, the Northern and Interior wellness regions person seen the highest per-capita rates of decease truthful acold successful 2025.

The B.C. Green caucus issued a connection Tuesday noting that a increasing fig of cause deaths occurred outdoors, 21 per cent truthful acold this year, compared with 15 per cent successful 2022. 

"This study underscores the widening gaps successful care, housing, and entree to life-saving services," said interim Green Leader Jeremy Valeriote successful the statement.

"The ongoing nonaccomplishment of beingness is not inevitable — it's a effect of governmental choices." 

The Greens are asking the state to supply a regulated alternate to the toxic cause supply, supervised depletion services that are accessible, and timely attraction for those who request it.

New work standards for OPSes

Earlier this month, the province released caller minimum work standards for each community-based overdose prevention sites (OPS) that person nationalist backing and each in-hospital sites, laying retired a baseline of however they should beryllium operated.

The state says determination are 9 OPSes at hospitals successful B.C. It says the work standards are not intended to place wherever much sites whitethorn beryllium needed, but noted that health-care authorities person been told the requirements for creating caller ones.

The state says there had been much than 5.6 cardinal visits to OPSes since January 2017, and the services had prevented much than 12,400 overdose deaths since 2019.

"Overdose prevention services are captious successful redeeming thousands of lives, connecting radical to attraction and reducing nationalist cause use," said Health Minister Josie Osborne successful a ministry statement.

Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, an advocacy radical consisting of physicians who attraction for cause users, said it was cautiously optimistic implicit the caller standards.

The radical has been progressive with mounting up an unsanctioned overdose prevention site at the Nanaimo Regional Hospital, arsenic good arsenic different pop-up sites astatine hospitals connected Vancouver Island.

The group's co-founder, Dr. Ryan Herriot, says they agree with the authorities that the services prevention lives and trim nationalist cause usage — but Herriot says helium has concerns with whether the caller standards volition mean drawn-out consultation processes for caller sites.

"Even if these processes are well-intentioned and well-designed, determination is the anticipation of further slowing things down, which, again, fixed that it's an emergency, is not ideal," Herriot said successful a statement.

"Overall, it is bully to spot the B.C. [government] validates what we person been saying. Now fto america spot them enactment it into practice."