Five people a day died from drug use in B.C. over the summer

The unrelenting flood of drug deaths in B.C. continued this summer.

The B.C. Coroners Service released a report that listed 153 drug deaths in July and 149 in August 2025 in the province, with nearly 80 per cent of them being male. That’s down from the same months last year, when it was 195 and 211.

According to preliminary data gathered by the BCCS, 69 per cent of the deaths were among those aged 30-59, and 78% were male. Over July and August, there were 4.9 and 4.8 deaths per day.

In 2024 there were 2312 total deaths; in 2025, there were 1,218 by the end of August.

The Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities had the highest number of drug deaths — 352 and 321, respectively — accounting for 55 per cent of all such deaths so far in 2025. The cities hardest hit by the total numb