By Victor Kaisar

Overdose Crisis

BC Coroners Service reports 54 toxic drug deaths in Kamloops in 2025 as provincial total drops below 2,000

Feb 19, 2026 | 4:20 PM

KAMLOOPS — New data from the BC Coroners Service shows another four people in Kamloops lost their lives due to unregulated drug toxicity in the final two months of 2025.

The data released Thursday (Feb. 19) afternoon shows the city has recorded 54 such deaths last year, up from 50 in October – the lowest on record since the 26 recorded in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s also a steep decline from the revised total of 91 toxic drug deaths reported across 2024, which remains the second-deadliest year on record in Kamloops behind 2022 (93). According to the BC Coroners Service, there were 60 toxic drug deaths in 2020, 75 in 2021, and 86 in 2023.

(Image Credit: BC Coroners Service)

Provincewide, there were 1,826 toxic drugs deaths in 2025, making it the first time since 2020 that these deaths totalled fewer than 2,000 people in a calendar year.

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“Fentanyl and its analogues continue to be the most common substance detected in expedited toxicological testing,” a statement from the BC Coroners said, noting it was found in 69 per cent of victims.

“[It was] followed by fluorofentanyl (54 per cent), cocaine (53 per cent) and methamphetamine (52 per cent).”

According to the BC Coroners Service, the vast majority of victims were people between the age of 30 and 59, though they also noted there were 26 deaths among people 18 years or younger.

Seventy-seven per cent of those who have died due to toxic drugs in 2025 have been male.

This release of data came the same day B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne announced $50 million in funding to expand availability of nasal naloxone across the province.

You can find the latest breakdown from the BC Coroners Service here.