Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC

2006-2015*

This report summarizes all accidental and undetermined illicit drug overdose deaths in British
Columbia that occurred between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2015, inclusive.
Inclusion Criteria: The illicit drug overdose category includes the following:

Street drugs (heroin, cocaine, MDMA, methamphetamine, etc)

Medications that were not prescribed to the deceased
Combinations of the above, with prescribed medications
Origin of drug not known

* Caveat: The BCCS operates in a live database environment. Some data for more recent
years is based on preliminary circumstances and is subject to change as investigations are
concluded. Data are not directly comparable to published counts from previous years.
Summary

There were 465 apparent illicit drug overdose deaths in 2015, a 27% increase in deaths
from 2014 (366 deaths).
In 2015 the illicit drug overdose death rate increased to 9.9 deaths per 100,000
population. Similar rates were previously seen in 1998 (10.0 deaths) and 1993 (9.9
deaths).
There were 62 deaths in December 2015; the largest number of deaths in a single
month for the examined period (2006-2015).
The number of deaths in the Fraser region increased by 49.5% between 2014 (111
deaths) and 2015 (166 deaths).
While the majority of illicit drug overdose deaths do not involve fentanyl, preliminary
data suggests that the proportion of illicit drug overdose deaths for which fentanyl
was detected (alone or in combination with other drugs) increased to approximately
30% in 2015. In previous years, the proportion was:
o 2012 = 5%
o 2013 = 15%
o 2014 = 25%
The 2015 data is approximate and subject to change as investigations are concluded.

Ministry of Justice
Office of the Chief Coroner
Metrotower II, Suite 800 4720 Kingsway, Burnaby BC V5H 4N2
Phone: 604 660-7745
Fax: 604 660-7766

January 6, 2016

Page 1 of 6

BC Coroners Service

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC, 2006-2015

480
460
440
420
400
380
360
340
320
300
280
260
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Deaths

64

80

117 162 354 308 217 301 300 400 272 236 236 172 190 183 230 229 202 183 201 211 292 274 330 366 465

Rate

2.0

2.4

3.5

4.7

9.9

8.4

5.7

7.8

7.6 10.0 6.8

5.8

5.8

4.2

4.6

4.4

5.5

5.4

4.7

4.2

4.6

4.7

6.5

6.0

7.2

7.9

9.9

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths by Month

Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Average

2006
20
11
19
28
26
21
21
22
6
13
13
29
19.1

2007
15
14
19
24
10
18
11
21
14
15
19
22
16.8

2008
18
8
17
18
18
18
24
16
12
10
9
15
15.3

2009
23
15
10
8
19
16
19
27
16
13
18
17
16.8

2010
16
14
15
9
22
21
23
24
20
18
18
11
17.6

2011
24
24
25
26
21
22
33
22
22
23
26
24
24.3

2012
20
17
25
31
20
25
30
20
17
20
28
21
22.8

2013
20
21
32
31
28
25
37
20
28
19
31
38
27.5

2014*
23
39
28
29
42
28
26
35
32
35
25
24
30.5

2015*
41
31
28
33
40
30
29
50
35
49
37
62
38.8

Total

229

202

183

201

211

292

274

330

366

465

Page 2 of 6

Death Rate per 100,000 Pop.

Deaths

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths and Death Rate per 100,000 Population

BC Coroners Service

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC, 2006-2015

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths by Classification,

Classification
Accidental
Undetermined
Total

2006
224
5
229

2007
197
5
202

2008
182
1
183

2009
194
7
201

2010
206
5
211

2011
282
10
292

2012
264
10
274

2013
314
16
330

2014*
354
12
366

2015*
418
47
465

2013
88
112
59
49
22
330

2014*
111
131
56
44
24
366

2015*
166
155
60
57
27
465

2013
6.5
7.7
7.7
7.1
7.0
7.2

2014*
8.1
9.0
7.2
6.2
7.6
7.9

2015
-

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths by Region

Region
Fraser
Metro
Island
Interior
Northern
Total

2006
74
68
40
38
9
229

2007
54
66
36
32
14
202

2008
63
48
44
20
8
183

2009
51
75
34
33
8
201

2010
75
62
24
35
15
211

2011
99
93
47
37
16
292

2012
90
88
46
31
19
274

Illicit Drug Overdose Death Rate per 100,000 Population by Region

Region
2006
2007
2008
2009
Fraser
5.3
3.8
4.4
3.4
Metro
5.9
5.7
4.1
6.4
Island
5.4
4.9
5.9
4.5
Interior
5.7
4.8
2.9
4.7
Northern
2.9
4.5
2.6
2.6
Total
5.4
4.7
4.2
4.6
Population data by region is currently unavailable for 2015

2010
5.8
4.4
3.2
5.1
4.8
4.7

2011
7.6
6.5
6.2
5.3
5.1
6.5

2012
6.8
6.1
6.0
4.5
6.1
6.0

Page 3 of 6

BC Coroners Service

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC, 2006-2015

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths by Age Group

Age Group
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-69
70-79
Total

2006
8
42
53
77
46
3
229

2007
6
32
53
70
36
4
1
202

2008
6
36
48
42
43
8
183

2009
4
44
51
57
33
12
201

2010
7
37
49
66
45
7
211

2011
8
70
74
76
54
10
292

2012
6
60
62
67
59
19
1
274

2013
12
87
78
73
59
21
330

2014*
7
81
99
88
67
24
366

2015*
11
103
127
110
90
23
1
465

Illicit Drug Overdose Death Rate per 100,000 Population by Age Group
Age Group
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
10-19
1.5
1.1
1.1
0.8
1.3
20-29
7.4
5.5
6.1
7.2
5.9
30-39
9.1
9.1
8.2
8.6
8.3
40-49
11.0
10.1
6.1
8.3
9.7
50-59
7.5
5.8
6.8
5.1
6.8
60-69
0.8
1.0
1.8
2.6
1.5
70-79
0.4
Total
5.4
4.7
4.2
4.6
4.7
Population data by age group is currently unavailable for 2015

2011
1.5
11.3
12.5
11.3
8.0
2.0
6.5

2012
1.2
9.7
10.3
10.1
8.6
3.7
0.3
6.0

2013
2.3
13.9
12.9
11.2
8.5
3.9
7.2

2014*
1.4
12.9
16.1
13.7
9.5
4.3
7.9

2015
-

2011
81
211
292

2012
77
197
274

2013
78
252
330

2014*
83
283
366

2015*
97
368
465

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths by Gender

Gender
Female
Male
Total

2006
46
183
229

2007
47
155
202

2008
49
134
183

2009
55
146
201

2010
49
162
211

Page 4 of 6

BC Coroners Service

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC, 2006-2015

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths by Township

Township
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Vancouver
55
59
38
60
42
Surrey
34
22
20
23
32
Abbotsford
8
3
4
4
10
Maple Ridge
5
2
6
3
Nanaimo
5
2
2
6
4
Victoria
16
19
29
13
13
Kelowna
9
6
2
5
9
Burnaby
5
9
12
8
9
Prince George
1
5
2
4
1
Langley
3
3
5
2
3
Coquitlam
6
2
2
5
2
New Westminster
6
1
4
2
6
Vernon
4
3
1
4
6
Kamloops
7
11
7
7
10
Chilliwack
3
3
4
2
2
North Vancouver
5
2
3
1
3
Table only includes townships with five or more deaths in 2015.

2011
68
42
16
4
8
17
14
10
6
9
3
6
7
2
8
2

2012
68
44
7
5
6
17
8
10
10
5
6
3
1
5
8
2

2013
80
36
9
10
20
25
11
13
7
10
1
5
11
8
6
4

2014*
102
42
7
14
15
19
12
11
10
10
10
9
6
8
6
9

2015*
118
67
24
23
18
17
17
16
13
11
11
10
9
7
7
6

Page 5 of 6

BC Coroners Service

Illicit Drug Overdose Deaths in BC, 2006-2015

BC CORONERS SERVICE REGIONS

Northern Region: Includes the region north, east and west from 100 Mile House to all
Provincial borders, and Haida Gwaii.
Metro Region: Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky Corridor, North Shore, Vancouver, UBC, Burnaby,
Richmond, and Delta.
Fraser Region: Includes Coquitlam and Surrey to the Coquihalla Highway summit, east to
Manning Park and north to Jackass Mountain bordering Merritt.
Interior Region: Includes the region north to 100 Mile House and Blue River, east to the
Alberta border, south to the USA border and west to the Manning Park gate, including
Ashcroft, Lytton and Lillooet.
Island Region: All of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands, and Powell River.
Page 6 of 6