Overdose & Drug Poisoning Data

BC Emergency Health Services is consistently monitoring the potential overdose/poisoning call volumes in B.C. We have been reporting out on the numbers since the overdose crisis was declared in 2016.

Overdose call volumes by community

The yearly total reflects the number of overdose calls paramedics have responded to within the community. Here are the top 95 communities within the province, with the number of calls for 2020.

To see the number of calls broken down by year, from 2016 to 2020, see Overdose Response in B.C. Communities (PDF).

100 Mile House: 10
Abbotsford: 936
Agassiz: 33
Armstrong: 11
Burnaby: 598
Burns Lake: 18
Campbell River: 249
Castlegar: 17
Central Saanich: 34
Chase: 14
Chemainus: 14
Chilliwack: 548
Cobble Hill: 13
Coldstream: 15
Colwood: 43
Comox: 20
Coquitlam: 386
Courtenay: 206
Cranbrook: 104
Cumberland: 8
Dawson Creek: 53
Delta: 176
Duncan: 414
Enderby: 29
Esquimalt: 71
Fort Nelson: 20
Fort St James: 26
Fort St John: 125
Gibsons: 24
Golden: 15
Grand Forks: 23
Hope: 46
Houston: 22
Kamloops: 883
Kelowna: 1,168
Keremeos: 16
Kimberley: 16
Kitimat: 29
Ladysmith: 39
Lake Country: 47
Lake Cowichan: 15
Langford: 123
Langley: 593
Lantzville: 6
Maple Ridge: 492
Merritt: 56
Mission: 218
Nanaimo: 664
Nelson: 53
New Westminster: 413
North Saanich: 21
North Vancouver: 215
Oak Bay: 18
Oliver: 32
Osoyoos: 22
Parksville: 81
Pemberton: 8
Penticton: 474
Pitt Meadows: 40
Port Alberni: 213
Port Coquitlam: 197
Port Hardy: 32
Port Moody: 38
Powell River: 106
Prince George: 999
Prince Rupert: 78
Princeton: 15
Qualicum Beach: 27
Quesnel: 210
Revelstoke: 19
Richmond: 256
Saanich: 265
Salmon Arm: 60
Salt Spring Island: 26
Sechelt: 87
Shawnigan Lake: 14
Sidney: 23
Smithers: 52
Sooke: 37
Squamish: 47
Summerland: 21
Surrey: 2,467
Terrace: 208
Thornhill: 25
Tofino: 21
Trail: 51
Vancouver: 8,144
Vernon: 316
Victoria: 1,569
View Royal: 28
West Kelowna: 216
West Vancouver: 69
Whistler: 33
White Rock: 38
Williams Lake: 114

2020 overdose numbers

Overdose calls in B.C.

2020: 27,067 (up 12% over last year)
2019: 24,166
2018: 23,662
2017: 23,441
2016: 19,275
2015: 12,263

Health authorities

Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health have the highest number of overdose calls. Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health serve 50% of BC’s population.

Vancouver Coastal was the only health authority to have a decrease in overdose calls. The Northern Health Authority had significantly higher call volumes, up 56 per cent.

Vancouver Coastal:

2016: 6,714
2017: 8,697
2018: 8,686
2019: 9,407
2020: 9,041

Fraser Health:

2016: 5,927
2017: 6,554
2018: 6,513
2019: 6,478
2020: 7,272

Island Health:

2016: 3,122
2017: 3,821
2018: 4,102
2019: 3,852
2020: 4,466

Interior Health:

2016: 2,599
2017: 3,284
2018: 3,129
2019: 3,097
2020: 4,211

Northern Health:

2016: 913
2017: 1,085
2018: 1,232
2019: 1,332
2020: 2,077

Overdose calls per day

BCEHS paramedics responded to an average of 74 overdose/poisoning calls per day in B.C. during 2020.

Highest overdose month

In July 2020, paramedics in B.C. responded to the highest number of overdose calls ever recorded since the opioid crisis was officially declared in 2016.

Paramedics were called to 2,706 overdose calls in July; 87 overdose calls a day.

The average monthly call volume had been about 2,000 calls a month.

Top five communities for overdose calls

BCEHS receives the most calls for overdoses from our largest metro centres: Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria.

Vancouver averages about 22 overdose calls a day to BCEHS paramedics.

Vancouver

2020: 8,144 (decrease)
2019: 8,589
2018: 7,895

Surrey

2020: 2,467
2019: 2,151
2018: 2,473

Victoria

2020: 1,569
2019: 1,412
2018: 1,531

Kelowna

2020: 1,168
2019: 869
2018: 928

Prince George

2020: 999
2019: 626
2018: 594

Downtown Eastside

Year over year, paramedics are caring for more patients than ever before in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, including more patients suffering from suspected overdoses.

However, in 2020, the number of paramedic responses to overdoses in the DTES declined by 14 per cent, from 5,335 in 2019, to 4,574 in 2020.

For the last two years the DTES community had averaged more than 5,000 overdose calls a year.

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Provincial Health Services Authority