Overdose & Drug Poisoning Data

BC Emergency Health Services is consistently monitoring the potential overdose/poisoning call volumes across the province and reporting out on the data.

Overdose call volumes

The yearly total reflects the number of overdose/poisoning calls paramedics have responded to in each community. Here are the top communities within the province, with the number of calls for 2023.

To see the number of calls broken down by year, from 2016 to 2023, see Overdose Response in B.C. Communities (PDF).

100 Mile House: 19
Abbotsford: 1,609
Agassiz: 54
Armstrong: 11
Burnaby: 641
Burns Lake: 31
Campbell River: 681
Castlegar: 30
Central Saanich: 54
Chase: 8
Chemainus: 29
Chilliwack: 1,017
Cobble Hill: 17
Coldstream: 17
Colwood: 72
Comox: 29
Coquitlam: 487
Courtenay: 659
Cranbrook: 262
Creston: 16
Cumberland: 12
Dawson Creek: 234
Delta: 184
Duncan: 819
Enderby: 29
Esquimalt: 67
Fort Nelson: 23
Fort St James: 47
Fort St John: 239
Gibsons: 28
Golden: 18
Grand Forks: 66
Hope: 60
Houston: 26
Kamloops: 1,471
Kamloops IR No 1: 20
Kelowna: 2,274
Keremeos: 15
Kimberley: 19
Kitimat: 53
Ladysmith: 50
Lake Country: 38
Lake Cowichan: 16
Langford: 278
Langley: 718
Lantzville: 18
Lillooet: 18
Lumby: 15
Mackenzie: 18
Maple Ridge: 789
Merritt: 123
Mission: 395
Nanaimo: 2,136
Nelson: 225
New Westminster: 665
North Saanich: 31
North Vancouver: 380
Oak Bay: 34
Oliver: 65
Osoyoos: 25
Parksville: 210
Peachland: 16
Penticton: 695
Pitt Meadows: 62
Port Alberni: 578
Port Coquitlam: 257
Port Hardy: 62
Port Moody: 51
Powell River: 124
Prince George: 1,833
Prince Rupert: 77
Princeton: 14
Qualicum Beach: 38
Quesnel: 137
Revelstoke: 12
Richmond: 335
Saanich: 464
Salmon Arm: 126
Salt Spring Island: 18
Sechelt: 109
Shawnigan Lake: 12
Sidney: 31
Smithers: 94
Sooke: 89
Squamish: 113
Summerland: 38
Surrey: 3,131
Terrace: 383
Thornhill: 18
Tofino: 38
Trail: 223
Vancouver: 10,526
Vanderhoof: 14
Vernon: 794
Victoria: 2,262
View Royal: 59
West Kelowna: 181
West Vancouver: 93
Whistler: 52
White Rock: 63
Williams Lake: 249
Other communities: 1,025

2023 overdose numbers

Key findings in BCEHS 2023 overdose/poisoning call data

(Data are subject to change as they may be updated following reviews)

Since the public health emergency for toxic drugs was declared in 2016, BCEHS has seen a 119% total increase in annual overdose/poisoning events.

In 2023, BCEHS paramedics responded to a total of 42,172 overdose/poisoning patient events for the year, an average of 116 calls a day.

In 2023, BCEHS paramedics responded to more than 42,000 overdose/ poisoning calls.

The total number of responses to overdoses/poisonings (42,172) represented an increase of 25% from the previous year. The average monthly calls are more than 3,500 per month.

BCEHS experienced 11 months with more than 3,000 overdose/poisoning calls in 2023, and on June 21, 2023, a new daily record was set with BCEHS receiving 221 overdose/poisoning (Card 23) calls for the day. It was an income assistance payment day.

Overdose/poisoning calls in B.C.

2023: 42,172 (up 25% from previous year)
2022: 33,654 (down 5% compared with last year)
2021: 35,585 (up 31% over the previous year)
2020: 27,068 (up 12% over the previous year)
2019: 24,166 (up 2% over the previous year)
2018: 23,662 (up 1% over the previous year)
2017: 23,441 (up 22% over the previous year
2016: 19,275 (up 57% over the previous year)
2015: 12,263
2004-2015: Prior to 2016, overdose/poisoning calls in B.C. fluctuated from 10,000 to 15,000 calls a year.

Overdose/poisoning calls by health authority region in 2023

Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions (which together represent about 50% of B.C.’s population) continue to report the highest number of overdose/poisoning calls.

All health authorities had an increase in overdose/poisoning calls in 2023:

Island Health had the largest increase (+45%)
Vancouver Coastal Health had the second-highest increase (+30%)
Fraser Health had the smallest increase (+8%)

Here is the breakdown of overdose/poisoning calls in each health authority:

Vancouver Coastal Health: 11,830 (+30%)
Fraser Health: 10,254 (+8%)
Island Health: 9,086 (+45%)
Interior Health: 7,504 (+27%)
Northern Health: 3,498 (+23%)

Here is the breakdown across the last seven years:

Vancouver Coastal:

2023: 11,830
2022: 9,071
2021: 11,204
2020: 9,041
2019: 9,407
2018: 8,686
2017: 8,697
2016: 6,714

Fraser Health:

2023: 10,254
2022: 9,537
2021: 10,573
2020: 7,272
2019: 6,478
2018: 6,513
2017: 6,554
2016: 5,927

Island Health:

2023: 9,086
2022: 6,277
2021: 5,917
2020: 4,446
2019: 3,852
2018: 4,102
2017: 3,821
2016: 3,122

Interior Health:

2023: 7,504
2022: 5,931
2021: 5,417
2020: 4,211
2019: 3,097
2018: 3,129
2017: 3,284
2016: 2,599

Northern Health:

2023: 3,498
2022: 2,838
2021: 2,414
2020: 2,077
2019: 1,332
2018: 1,232
2017: 1,085
2016: 913

British Columbia:

2023: 42,172
2022: 33,654
2021: 35,585
2020: 27,067
2019: 24,116
2018: 23,662
2017: 23,441
2016: 19,275

Top 5 communities for overdose/poisoning calls

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

The top 5 communities for overdose/poisoning calls in 2023 are below, with the percentage increase over 2022:

Vancouver: 10,526 (+34%)
Surrey: 3,131 (+9.3%)
Kelowna: 2,274 (+25%)
Victoria: 2,262 (+11%)
Nanaimo: 2,136 (+102%)

Highest call volume days

On June 21, 2023, BCEHS recorded 221 calls for overdose/poisonings, the highest call volume day to date.

BCEHS paramedics responded to an average of 116 overdose calls per day in B.C. during 2023, up from 92 in 2022.

Highest call volume months

In July 2023, paramedics in B.C. responded to the highest number of overdoses ever recorded in a single month: 3,944 overdose calls.

With the exception of February, BCEHS paramedics responded to more than 3,000 overdose/poisoning calls each month in 2023. The average monthly call volume, prior to the pandemic, had been about 2,000 overdose calls a month.

Trends

Based on data in 2023 for Card 23 (overdose/poisoning events), the following observations can be made. Note, the data reflects the number of overdose/poisoning calls paramedics have responded to in each health authority and province-wide.

On June 21, 2023, a new daily record was set with BCEHS receiving 221 overdose/poisoning (Card 23) calls for the day. It was an income assistance payment day.
The previous high was set earlier in the year, on March 22, 2023, with BCEHS receiving 205 overdose/poisoning calls that day (also income assistance payment day).
In 2022, BCEHS experienced two months with more than 3,000 overdose/poisoning calls for the year, including the first single-day total over 200 on Jan. 19, 2022 (203 calls).
In 2023, BCEHS experienced 11 months with more than 3,000 overdose/poisoning calls for the year.
As of Dec. 31, 2023, in total, there have been 59 days when BCEHS experienced 150 or more calls for Card 23 events – 36 were in 2023.
Throughout 11 months of 2023, the average calls per day was over 100 for the first time ever.

Historic highest call volume days

On June 21, 2023, BCEHS recorded 221 calls for overdose/poisonings, the highest call volume day so far and the fifth over 200 to date.

Total Card 23 (overdose/poisoning) calls

June 21, 2023: 221
June 23, 2023 210
June 22, 2023: 209
March 22, 2023: 205
Jan. 19, 2022: 203

Historic average calls/day by month since 2020

Starting in February 2023, the average calls per day has been over 100, with a new daily call average high set in June at 127.9 calls/day.
Since January 2020, there has been a steady increase in year over year averages of daily calls by month:

In January 2020, BCEHS averaged 59.3 Card 23 calls per day. By contrast, those totals were much higher in the subsequent three January averages:

January 2021 (76.2)
January 2022 (98.2)
January 2023 (97.9)

2023 - Average calls/day by month

January: 97.9
February: 103.8
March: 118.4
April: 120.0
May: 115.9
June: 127.9
July: 127.2
August: 121.8
September: 120.3
October: 106.7
November: 112.6
December: 113.5

2022 - Average calls/day by month

January: 98.2
February: 97.3
March: 96.2
April: 99.6
May: 98.2
June: 94.3
July: 90.4
August: 89.6
September: 88.3
October: 84.7
November: 85.3
December: 84.8

2021 - Average calls/day by month

January: 76.2
February: 81.9
March: 81.8
April: 91.9
May: 96.0
June: 100.6
July: 116.3
August: 112.6
September: 106.9
October: 105.0
November: 103.5
December: 95.8

2020 - Average calls/day by month

January: 59.3
February: 59.2
March: 63.1
April: 71.9
May: 74.9
June: 79.0
July: 87.3
August: 76.5
September: 81.0
October: 83.3
November: 76.7
December: 74.9

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Provincial Health Services Authority