The Northern Heath region continues to have the highest overdose death rate per 100,000 people in the province, while the overall number of toxic drug deaths in B.C. is projected to be lower this year than last year.
The data, presented by the BC Coroners Service in an Oct. 9 press release, shows that Northern Health has the lowest number of overall toxic drug deaths of any health region in the province, but with a projected rate of 45.6 deaths per 100,000 people this year, the north is the most dangerous region for drug users.
In other words, the rate people are dying is steeper than that of larger health regions such as Vancouver Coastal Health, which is projected to have 35.3 deaths per 100,000 people.
However, overdose deaths do seem to be reducing. The overall number of deaths in the province is projected to be 1218 in 2025, down from 2312 in 2024. In the Northern Health region, there are projected to be 91 toxic drug deaths in 2025, compared to 211 in 2024.
Among youth under 19 across the province, there were 21 deaths between January and August in 2025, up from 15 over the same time period in 2024. However, the 2025 number is comparable to the amount of youth deaths over the past five years.
Toxicology reports show that fentanyl and carfentanil are still present in some drugs in northern B.C. and are leading contributors to toxic drug deaths. In this way, the drug crisis in the north mirrors that in the rest of B.C.
According to the data, fentanyl and its analogues are the most common drug detected in postmortem testing of suspected drug overdoses, followed by cocaine and methamphetamines. The most common means of consumption is smoking.
Most deaths occurred inside private residences, with 48 per cent of deaths reported there, whereas only 21 per cent of deaths were reported outside.
The BC Coroners Service press release noted that projections and numbers for 2025 are subject to change.