Twenty-two people died in correctional facilities in B.C. in 2025.
A new B.C. Coroners Service report, released Friday (April 24), details the deaths of incarcerated people in correctional facilities between Jan. 1, 2015 and Dec. 31, 2025. There were 214 deaths during that period.
The deaths reported include incarcerated people transferred to hospital for medical treatment and deaths that occurred in sheriff’s vehicles during transportation to a correctional facility.
However, it does not include deaths at halfway houses for people on parole, for people in police custody such as in municipal police or RCMP cells, and for people at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital.
The 22 deaths were split evenly among provincial and federal facilities, with 11 at each type.
Among the federal facilities, Pacific Institution in Abbotsford reported the most with eight deaths in 2025. For provincial facilities, North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam reported the most with five deaths, followed by Surrey Pretrial Services Centre with three.
In 2025, men accounted for all deaths in correctional facilities. Since Jan. 1, 2015, only three women have died while incarcerated.
The report also found that most deaths occurred among people aged 70 or older – seven deaths or 32 per cent – and among those aged 30 to 39 – six deaths or 27 per cent.
From Jan. 1, 2015 to Dec. 31, 2024, the B.C. Coroners Service has concluded investigations into 94 deaths. Data for 2025 is not yet available.
Sixty-two per cent were classified as natural, followed by 22 per cent as accidental and 12 as suicides. Three per cent were homicides and one per cent was “undetermined.”
For accidental deaths during that period, 16 deaths were due to unregulated toxic drugs.