The BC Coroners Service released the numbers for 2024's illicit overdose deaths in B.C. And while Hope still has the highest rate in the Eastern Fraser Valley (EFV), its numbers are significantly lower when compared to last year.
On Jan. 23, the BC Coroners Service Year-End report on drug-toxicity deaths for 2024 was released. Of that total, Hope had 9 people die from drug poisonings last year, at a rate of 94.3 deaths per 100,000 people. As the 2024 annual rate of death is 40 per 100,000 persons, with 2,253 British Columbians dying from unregulated drugs, this means that Hope is once again the highest in the reg with more than twice the provincial range.
This number, however, is significantly lower than its 2023 stats; last year it was reported that Hope had 12 people die from drug overdoses and had a rate of 128.7 deaths per 100,000 people. As the provincial rate of overdose deaths for 2023 was 45.7 deaths per 100,000 people, this made Hope the highest in the region with nearly triple the provincial range.
Hope once again having the highest rate in the region could also be contributed to its low population and some of the deceased being visitors to the community.
The 2024 report also saw a 13 per cent decrease when compared to the number of deaths in 2023 (2,578 deaths). It also documented that the 2024 annual rate is "less than the annual rates in any of the previous three years."
“The information collected by our coroners during their investigations into unregulated drug toxicity deaths, indicates a decline in fatalities over the last several months of 2024. This is consistent with reporting from other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally,” said Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, B.C.'s chief coroner, in a press release on Feb. 4. “This doesn’t mitigate the fact that 2,253 members of our communities died in 2024, leaving behind grieving loved ones, friends, colleagues and teammates. Our thoughts are with all of those many, many people who have been touched by this crisis.”
In addition to Hope, the rates for the other EFV communities were also listed: Chilliwack had 39 reported drug overdose deaths and a rate of 32.9 deaths per 100,000 people; Agassiz had 4 deaths reported and a rate of 34.6 deaths per 100,000 people; Mission had 23 deaths reported and a rate of 44 deaths per 100,000 people; Abbotsford had 75 deaths reported and a rate of 43.6 deaths per 100,000 people.
To read the report news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025PSSG0003-000073 .
