Prince George tallies nine illicit drug deaths in May and June

Over a two-month span, Northern Health recorded 18 more illicit drug deaths.

Nine of those fatalities occurred in Prince George.

The figures for May and June were unveiled today (Thursday) by the B.C. Coroners Service.

Province-wide, 292 people lost their lives due to toxic drugs in May and June – that equates to nearly five deaths per day on average.

So far this year, Northern Health has tallied 67 toxic drug deaths, 23 of which were recorded in Prince George.

In the first six months of 2025, the northern capital is on par with centres such as Langley (22), Chilliwack (21) and New Westminster (21) for drug deaths.

Northern Health continues to have the highest death rate among all health authorities with a mark of 44.4 – the next highest is Interior Health at 39.4.

By health authority in 2025, the highest number of unregulated drug deaths were in Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities (269 and 238 deaths, respectively) making up 55% of all fatalities.

In terms of Health Service Delivery Area, the Northern Interior, which includes PG-Quesnel-Burns Lake, and the Robson Valley has the fourth-highest drug toxicity death rate of 44.3 – Vancouver (53.1), Northwest (48.3) and Central Vancouver Island (47.9) rated higher.

A new occupation industry page has been added to the data pack by the Coroners Service. The two most common industries of current and past employment were trades, transport and equipment operations as well as sales and service.

In Northern Health, 15% of all drug overdose fatalities by occupation were in trades, transport and equipment operators followed by natural resources and agriculture (9%) and sales and service (8%).

Unregulated drug toxicity is the leading cause of death for people in British Columbia between the ages of 10 and 59, and accounts for more deaths than homicides, suicides, accidents, and natural disease combined.

Throughout the first six months of 2025, toxic drugs have claimed the lives of 915 people in BC – last year, the final tally was 2,306.