The BC Coroners Service released its February data on toxic drug deaths in the province. During the shortest month, 115 people lost their lives to the poisonous drug supply, representing an average of 4 deaths a day.

Twenty of these people were in the Fraser Health jurisdiction, making it the lowest monthly drug death toll for the health authority in the last year.

Still, Fraser Health had the second-highest number of drug deaths in the province (Vancouver Coastal Health had the highest with 38 lives lost). 

So far this year, there have been 62 deaths confirmed to be linked to the toxic drug supply in Fraser Health, the vast majority of whom were male, representing nearly 90% of Fraser Valley drug deaths. 

Across BC, men have made up 78% of these deaths in 2026, with those aged 30 to 60 most at risk.

BC’s toxic drug crisis — which was declared a public health emergency 10 years ago this week — has largely been driven by the unpredictability of fentanyl concentrations found in street substances. 

But early data for 2026 shows it’s being linked to fewer deaths in the Fraser Health region. For years, between 82% and 87% of drug deaths were linked to fentanyl, but last year that dropped to 77%. So far this year, it’s been linked to 65%.

This is likely tied to new substances popping up in the illicit market, including medetomidine, a veterinary sedative that prompted the BC Centre for Disease Control to put out an alert at the beginning of the year as emergency calls for overdoses spiked. When combined with fentanyl, the results can be deadly.

While toxic drug deaths have been trending downwards across BC, Canada, and the US, experts warn medetomidine could upend this progress.