{
  "id": "drug-deaths-rate-compared",
  "parent": "toxic-drug-deaths-bc",
  "category": "Health and safety",
  "title": "Toxic drug death rate: B.C. compared with Canada",
  "geography": "British Columbia and Canada (no open figure for Victoria)",
  "scope": "province",
  "levels": [
    "Provincial (health and coroner services)",
    "Federal (national surveillance)"
  ],
  "plain_question": "Out of every 100,000 people, how many died of opioid toxicity in B.C. compared with Canada as a whole?",
  "value": 32.6,
  "display_value": "32.6",
  "unit": "deaths per 100,000 people, B.C.",
  "period": "Calendar year 2025",
  "period_start": "2025-01-01",
  "period_end": "2025-12-31",
  "comparison": {
    "previous_period": "2025",
    "previous_value": 13.7,
    "change_percent": null
  },
  "since_text": "Canada 13.7 per 100,000. B.C.'s rate is 2.4 times Canada's",
  "trend": "context",
  "trend_basis": "In 2025, 32.6 deaths per 100,000 people in B.C. and 13.7 in Canada as a whole, so B.C.'s rate was 2.4 times the Canadian rate. In 2016: 16.6 and 7.8.",
  "direction_good": "down",
  "right_direction": "This page is for context, so it has no “better” or “worse” label. For the year-to-year direction in B.C., see Toxic drug deaths in B.C.",
  "caveats": [
    "The rates per 100,000 are published by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Only the ratio (B.C. ÷ Canada) is calculated here.",
    "Each province defines and counts these deaths itself; the Public Health Agency of Canada says comparisons between places should be made with caution.",
    "From 2025, B.C. figures include deaths still under investigation and deaths involving any unregulated drug, so the 2025 B.C. rate is not directly comparable to earlier years.",
    "A Greater Victoria or Island Health rate is not published as open data, so Victoria cannot be shown.",
    "Recent figures are preliminary and usually rise as investigations close."
  ],
  "charts": [
    {
      "title": "Apparent opioid toxicity deaths per 100,000 people",
      "fmt": "dec1",
      "unit": "per 100,000",
      "lines": [
        {
          "name": "All of B.C.",
          "area": "bc",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 16.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 26.3
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 27.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 17.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 30.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 38.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 39.4
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 41.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 35.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 32.6
            }
          ]
        },
        {
          "name": "All of Canada",
          "area": "canada",
          "series": [
            {
              "period": "2016",
              "value": 7.8
            },
            {
              "period": "2017",
              "value": 10.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2018",
              "value": 11.5
            },
            {
              "period": "2019",
              "value": 9.6
            },
            {
              "period": "2020",
              "value": 16.3
            },
            {
              "period": "2021",
              "value": 19.9
            },
            {
              "period": "2022",
              "value": 18.7
            },
            {
              "period": "2023",
              "value": 20.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2024",
              "value": 16.2
            },
            {
              "period": "2025",
              "value": 13.7
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "calc": {
    "formula": "Ratio = B.C. deaths per 100,000 ÷ Canada deaths per 100,000.",
    "steps": [
      "2025: 32.6 ÷ 13.7 = 2.38."
    ],
    "inputs": [
      {
        "agency": "Public Health Agency of Canada",
        "url": "https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/",
        "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/1092497d-6c72-4e66-930b-9d6337e64af5",
        "licence": {
          "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
          "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
        },
        "period": "2016 to 2025",
        "data_published": "2026-09-22",
        "name": "Opioid- and stimulant-related harms in Canada: deaths, crude rate per 100,000, British Columbia"
      },
      {
        "agency": "Public Health Agency of Canada",
        "url": "https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/",
        "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/1092497d-6c72-4e66-930b-9d6337e64af5",
        "licence": {
          "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
          "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
        },
        "period": "2016 to 2025",
        "data_published": "2026-09-22",
        "name": "Same file, crude rate per 100,000, Canada"
      }
    ]
  },
  "refresh_frequency": "Quarterly",
  "source": {
    "name": "Calculated here from Public Health Agency of Canada data",
    "url": "https://health-infobase.canada.ca/substance-related-harms/opioids-stimulants/",
    "dataset_url": "https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/1092497d-6c72-4e66-930b-9d6337e64af5"
  },
  "licence": {
    "name": "Open Government Licence - Canada",
    "url": "https://open.canada.ca/en/open-government-licence-canada"
  },
  "derived": true,
  "retrieved_at": "2026-11-11T07:38:39Z",
  "data_published": "2026-09-22",
  "series": [
    {
      "period": "2016",
      "value": 16.6
    },
    {
      "period": "2017",
      "value": 26.3
    },
    {
      "period": "2018",
      "value": 27.9
    },
    {
      "period": "2019",
      "value": 17.7
    },
    {
      "period": "2020",
      "value": 30.2
    },
    {
      "period": "2021",
      "value": 38.9
    },
    {
      "period": "2022",
      "value": 39.4
    },
    {
      "period": "2023",
      "value": 41.6
    },
    {
      "period": "2024",
      "value": 35.7
    },
    {
      "period": "2025",
      "value": 32.6
    }
  ]
}