Drug overdose deaths are down by 24 per cent between April last year and this April, but still B-C’s Coroner says 182 people died.
Fentanyl remains the primary killer, with the drug detected in 82 per cent of test results for those who died so far this year.
The coroner’s service says nearly half of those who overdosed were between the ages of 30 and 49.
The latest figures lift the number of deaths since the public health emergency was declared eight years ago to 14-thousand 582 people.
Surrey Mounties say charges have been laid against a wanted man who was arrested last week, allegedly while in possession of a loaded gun. Mounties say officers were patrolling on Saturday when they recognized the 42-year-old man from a previous incident.
A crane was used to extract three injured workers to safety in downtown Vancouver after a facade fell off a church building onto scaffolding. Samantha Newlove, a traffic control worker, said the incident happened on Wednesday as concrete was being pumped into a chimney on the building, which burst, toppled over and pushed over a scaffolding tower, pinning workers underneath.
One of British Columbia's first measures to combat the housing crisis is being expanded to include 13 more communities. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy says the New Democrat government's speculation and vacancy tax will now apply to 59 B.C. cities and towns.
Canadian Blood Services says almost 30 years of research and surveillance has made it clear that people who weren't eligible to donate under the travel criteria can do so safely. The agency's medical officer, Dr. Aditi Khandelwal, says lifting the ban will not impact the safety of the blood supply and will allow thousands more people to donate much-needed blood.
Joshua Kutryk has been assigned to a six-month mission that will launch no earlier than the beginning of 2025. François-Philippe Champagne, federal minister of innovation, science and industry, made the announcement today at the Canadian Space Agency headquarters, near Montreal
The threat is avian flu, which has resulted in the deaths of millions of birds from infection or culling, and has become a pervasive fear for farmers as infections spread, said Brittain, chief information officer with the BC Poultry Association.