Forty-eight more people died last year in the Kootenay-Boundary due to toxic drug use, according to the BC Coroners Service.
Figures released Thursday showed 33 deaths in the West Kootenay-Boundary and 15 in the East Kootenay. Both numbers were down from the previous year, when there were 41 deaths in the West Kootenay/Boundary and 24 in the East Kootenay.
Greater Trail had the most deaths in 2025 with 11, followed by Nelson with 10 and Cranbrook with nine. Every subregion saw fewer deaths than the year before except Golden, which had one death in 2025 and none the year prior, and the Arrow Lakes, which had two deaths, up from one in 2024.
The data also showed a total of five deaths due to unregulated drug use in the West Kootenay-Boundary last November and December, but no deaths in October. In the East Kootenay, there was one death in December, but none in October or November. The monthly totals are not further broken down by community.
Since 2014, 265 people have succumbed to illicit drugs in the West Kootenay-Boundary and 137 in the East Kootenay for a total of 402. Last year’s total of 48 deaths was the lowest since 2020, when there were 41.
Provincewide, 1,826 people died in 2025 as a result of toxic drugs. The coroners service said while this still represents “a profound loss of life,” it was a 21 per cent decrease from 2024, when 2,315 people died, and it was the first time since 2020 that fewer than 2,000 people have died in a single year.
Forty-eight per cent of the drug-related deaths in 2025 occurred in private homes compared to 20 per cent outdoors. Fentanyl and its analogues were the most common substance found in toxicological testing.
The tables below were provided by the coroners service. HSDA stands for health delivery service area and LHA for local health area.
