Nearly five British Columbians continue to lose their lives each day due to the toxic drug crisis, according to the latest data from the B.C. Coroners Service.
The B.C. Coroners Service said Thursday (March 12) that 150 people died in January, a 10 per cent decrease from the 167 deaths investigated in January 2025. However, the coroner service says it still equates to 4.8 deaths daily, which is consistent with the number of deaths reported monthly throughout 2025.
Nearly three-quarters of the deaths in January 2026 were people between the ages of 30 and 59. Eighty per cent of the deaths were male.
Most overdose deaths occurred in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities, with 42 and 36 deaths, respectively. Those fatal overdoses made up 52 per cent of the deaths in January.
However, the highest rates of deaths happened in the Northern and Interior health authorities, with 58 and 40 deaths per 100,000, respectively.
By local health area, the highest rates of death were in Vancouver – centre north, Lillooet, greater Campbell River, Terrance and Vancouver city centre.
The coroners service says fentanyl and its analogues continue to be identified in a “significant majority” of deaths, with eight in every 10 deaths returning positive results.
Smoking remains to main mode of consumption. Almost three-quarters of those who died in January 2026 consumed the toxic drugs through smoking.
April will be a decade since the province declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency. In 2025, 1,826 people died from toxic drugs in B.C., which was a 21 per cent decrease from the year before.