Intimate partner-related deaths in B.C. 'overwhelmingly preventable,' report says

B.C. chief coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan speaks in the press theatre at the legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito

A death review panel convened by British Columbia’s chief coroner says 135 deaths they studied in relation to intimate partner violence were “overwhelmingly preventable.”

The deaths occurred between 2016 and 2024 over 107 attacks and included current and former intimate partners, family members, friends and the killers themselves. 

Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, the chief coroner, told a news conference Monday that the report highlights the action required to prevent future deaths and improve safety for those experiencing intimate partner violence.

“It was found that in the months and the years leading to their deaths, individuals had contact with health care, police, community support services and other public systems,” he said of the report. 

“The warning signs were present, yet response systems were unco-ordinated, overburdened or unable to respond in meaningful ways that improved safety.”

The panel was made up nearly two dozen experts, including government officials, academics, police and community group members. 

Their report calls for a co-ordinated provincial strategy that includes a standing death review committee and consistent training for first responders, emergency room staff and other front-line workers to prevent future deaths.

It also recommends a public awareness campaign that would promote pathways for people to access supports, and improved data collection, information sharing and reporting processes. 

It said rural, remote and northern B.C. communities experience disproportionally high rates of deaths, noting people in those regions often have limited access to services such as safe housing. 

Indigenous people accounted for 24 per cent of the victims, despite only making up 5.9 per cent of B.C.’s population, the report noted.

It said 34 per cent of the 253 suspected homicides of females reported to the coroner’s service between Jan. 1, 2016, and Dec. 31, 2024, were deemed to be caused by an act of intimate partner violence, though several investigations into these deaths remain open so the number may increase once the cases close.

The panel identified various systemic contributors to harm caused by intimate partner violence, including stigma and barriers to reporting, such as fear of retaliation or fear of police, courts and health-care systems. 

The report said fragmented data impedes the spotting of trends and identified there was a lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities for intervention or followup services.

Gaps in firearm enforcement when risk factors were known, inconsistencies in first responder training and limited access to prevention and intervention models, particularly in rural and remote communities were also flagged as issues.

The report said firearms and sharp objects were the most common weapons used in the killings. 

Panel chair Ryan Panton said Monday that more than half of perpetrators had a history of assault and 74 per cent of those killed died in their homes.

“These findings reinforce that (intimate partner violence) is a complex multi-system issue requiring co-ordinated, sustained and culturally safe responses across government, health care, justice and community sectors,” he said.

Baidwan said the cases assessed in the report are “the tip of the iceberg.”

“There are so many people who turn up to emergency rooms, primary care clinics, you know, all sorts of community establishments where we should be collecting all of that data and that should be reflected back too,” he said.

The report points to police data that says the violence is among the most under-reported crimes nationally “with as many as 80 per cent of survivors not reporting their experience to law enforcement.”

This is the third such death review panel looking into intimate partner violence deaths in B.C., dating back to 1995. 

A panel that looked at cases between 2010 and 2015 made similar recommendations, including calls for more awareness and education as well as better data sharing and collaborative safety planning for victims.

Despite the previous suggestions and the work the province has done since the ’90s, Baidwan said, “things have not improved.”

“This is a complex situation and it’s going to take a number of different efforts but they have to be co-ordinated and sequenced for them to really create the right kind of effect,” he said. 

Baidwan said intimate partner violence is “very preventable.” 

“So, the data keeps telling us that we’ve just got to now create the systems that will make that happen — then we’re going to monitor them.”

B.C.’s Attorney General Niki Sharma issued a statement in response to the report, calling it a “valuable contribution to our understanding of the shape and scale of intimate-partner violence in B.C.” 

She said that coupled with the 2025 systemic review of the legal system’s treatment of sexual and intimate partner violence by lawyer Kim Stanton, it provides the government a clearer picture of how to better respond.

“The overlap between the recommendations in the final report of Stanton and the death review panel report confirms that we are moving in the right direction,” Sharma said in the statement.

“The kinds of reforms recommended by experts cannot be implemented overnight, but we remain committed to steady, meaningful progress.”

This report by Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press, was first published April 27, 2026.