153 people died in July, 149 in August from unregulated drugs in B.C.: coroner

A cyclist is silhouetted while a pedestrian walks on the False Creek seawall in Vancouver, B.C., Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s coroners service say 153 people died in July from unregulated toxic drugs and another 149 deaths occurred in August.

Those numbers are up slightly from the previous two months when the service reported 145 people died in May and 147 people died in June

A government statement says the number of unregulated drug deaths in July and August amounted to almost five people a day.

The coroners service says the highest number of deaths so far this year were in the Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities, making up more than half of the province’s total.

More than two thirds of this year’s deaths have been people between the ages of 30 and 59, and 78 per cent of the deaths were men.

The service says Fentanyl and its analogues remain the most common substance found in testing, being detected in 70 per cent of those who died during the period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2025.