The B.C. Coroners Service says 2,253 people were killed by unregulated drugs in 2024, marking the lowest annual death toll from the drug-toxicity crisis in the province in four years.
According to the coroners service, the deaths — which amounted to more than six per day in British Columbia last year — represented a 13 per cent decrease from 2023.
“This doesn’t mitigate the fact that 2,253 members of our communities died in 2024, leaving behind grieving loved ones, friends, colleagues and teammates,” said Chief Coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan in a written statement. “Our thoughts are with all of those many, many people who have been touched by this crisis.”
Baidwan said there was a decline in deaths in the last several months of 2024, which was consistent with reporting from other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally.
According to the service, there were 152 suspected unregulated drug deaths in November and 147 in December.
The coroners service doesn’t attribute the decline in deaths to any particular factor.
Last year, about seven out of 10 people killed were aged 30-59, with nearly three out of four being male, according to the coroners service.
Per capita, the local health areas with the highest death rates in 2024 were:
- Vancouver-Centre North (422).
- Lillooet (116).
- Greater Campbell River (109).
- Terrace (109).
- Prince George (103).
The coroners service says — according to preliminary data that’s subject to change — fentanyl and its analogues continue to be the main driver of toxic drug deaths, detected in 78 per cent of expedited toxicological testing in 2024. Cocaine was detected in 52 per cent of tests, fluorofentanyl in 46 per cent, methamphetamine in 43 per cent and bromazolam in 41 per cent.
In April 2016, the province declared a public health emergency as a result of illicit drug overdoses. Since then, 16,047 people in B.C. have been killed by the toxic drug supply, according to the coroners service.