275 British Columbians died from toxic drug supply in February and March

The BC government has released that in February and March of this year, 275 deaths were caused by the ongoing toxic drug crisis—48 of which occurred on Vancouver Island. 

Specifically, preliminary data suggests that at least 132 British Columbians died in February and 143 died in March. 

The BC Coroners Service says that so far this year, those between the ages of 30 and 59-years-old accounted for 67% of drug-toxicity deaths in the province, and 76% were male.

As efforts continue to curb this toxic drug crisis, the number of deaths has decreased slightly on a year-over year basis, with March being the sixth consecutive month that toxic drug deaths were below 160. 

The highest number of toxic drug deaths thus far in 2025 have occurred in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities. These two regions have seen 141 and 114 deaths respectively,  making up 60% of all such deaths this year. 

Island Health has seen a total of 69 deaths thus far in 2025. 

Since the Province announced a public health emergency in 2016, there have been at least 16,784 deaths in BC attributable to the toxic drug supply. Of those deaths, 2,856 have occurred on Vancouver Island. 

Fentanyl and its analogues continue to be the most common substance detected in the BC Coroners Service’s toxicological testing, with 70% of the deceased having fentanyl found in their systems. 

Additionally, methamphetamine was found in 50% of the decedents and fluorofentanyl in 47%.