Seventeen of the 50 toxic drug deaths in Fraser East over the first four months in 2025 were in Chilliwack, according to data from BC Coroners Service.
According to the regional numbers there were 17 fatalities in Chilliwack, 27 in Abbotsford, 3 in Mission, 2 in Hope and 1 in Agassiz-Harrison as of April 30, 2025.
Those 50 deaths were among the total of 165 lives lost across B.C. in that same timeframe.
"April marks a return to more than 160 deaths attributed to unregulated drug toxicity reported to the BC Coroners Service after six consecutive months of reporting fewer than 160 deaths a month," said the summary.
By health authority so far in 2025, the highest number of overdose deaths were in Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities (185 and 155 deaths, respectively) making up 57 per cent of all such deaths during 2025.
"Consistent with reporting throughout the public-health emergency, fentanyl and its analogues continue to be the most common substance detected in expedited toxicological testing."
More than three-quarters of those who died who underwent expedited testing in 2025 were found to have fentanyl in their systems (68%), followed by methamphetamine (51%) and cocaine (48%). In 2025, deaths among those between the ages of 30 and 59 accounted for 68 per cent of such fatalities in the province, and 77% were male.
The BC Coroners Service report points out that the number of unregulated drug deaths in April 2025 equates to almost 5.5 deaths per day with Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria hit the hardest.
