Fraser Health had 533 toxic drug deaths in 2025

Last year, BC recorded 1,826 toxic drug deaths—the lowest annual number since 2020—according to the BC Coroners Service (BCCS). It’s a 21% drop compared to last year’s drug death toll, 2315, with nearly 500 fewer deaths.

Still, that’s nearly double the number of drug-related deaths in 2016—the year the opioid crisis was declared a public health emergency in BC—when 997 people died from drugs provincewide.

Fraser Health recorded 533 toxic drug deaths last year, a drop of nearly 100 deaths compared to 2024. It’s the first time since 2020 that the health authority recorded fewer than 600.

Still, Fraser Health had the highest number of deaths for a BC health authority last year. When combined with Vancouver Coastal Health, the two authorities made up 56% of BC’s drug deaths in 2025.

Surrey had the largest number of drug deaths in Fraser Health last year with 179, followed by Abbotsford with 76 and Langley with 53.

The most recent BCCS report also shared the monthly drug death toll of the last three months of 2025. In the Fraser Health region, 49 people died in December, 35 in November, and 37 in October. 

Youth drug deaths (18 years old and younger) increased slightly to 26, up from 21 in 2024. This is still lower than the number of youth deaths in 2021 through 2023.

To address the ongoing drug crisis, the provincial government announced this week it would put $50 million towards 400,000 take-home kits of naloxone (also known as NARCAN). Half of these will be nasal naloxone, an alternative to the injectable form. The drug is a safe and powerful antidote to an opioid, such as fentanyl, overdose—it’s close to 100% effective in reversing these types of overdoses. 

But naloxone doesn’t work for all substances. The danger of the toxic drug supply is the unpredictability of drug concentrations and mixtures. 

Last month, the BC CDC put out an advisory about medetomidine, a veterinary sedative, that was appearing suddenly in the street supply and was causing an increase in overdoses provincewide. Naloxone is ineffective in reversing medetomidine, cocaine and benzodiazepine overdoses, among others. Still, it’s a safe solution to fentanyl, which has been the drug most tied to deadly overdoses.

“The poisoned supply means anyone—whether they’re using for the first time or have used regularly—faces the risk of a toxic-drug poisoning,” Josie Osborne, BC health minister, said in a statement. “Expanding access to nasal naloxone is a vital part of preventing these tragedies, saving lives and building a strong and comprehensive system of mental-health and substance-use care.”