What’s Happening in our city

Our Community has lost far too many loved ones to overdose deaths that could have been prevented. The BC Coroners Service has indicated that Illicit drug overdose deaths started to increase in 2013 after Fentanyl, an opioid that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin, was detected in the illicit drug supply.

The provincial health officer declared a public health emergency on April 14, 2016 after Illicit drug toxicity deaths became the leading cause of death in BC in 2015. In September 2017 $322 million was allocated by the provincial government to save lives, end stigma and improve access to services for people with substance use disorders. The Overdose Emergency Response Centre was opened in December 2017 to mobilize local, regional and provincial resources through the Community Crisis Innovation fund.

Our local Community Action Team was established in September 2018 from this fund when Kathryn Colby was brought on by Lift Community Services to coordinate the team.

By December 2018, Fentanyl was detected in 87% of overdose deaths in the Vancouver Coastal Health Region. The majority of those who lost their lives were men between the ages of 30 and 59. Powell River and the qathet region was disproportionately affected. 

 In April 2019 the Community Action Team in collaboration with Tla’amin Nation, Moms Stop the Harm, BC Bereavement Hotline, the Canadian Mental Health Association and Vancouver Coastal Health hosted a series of family-led dialogues in Powell River. The first rural Overdose Prevention Site in the Vancouver Coastal Health region was opened shortly after in June 2019 in Powell River. Staffed with peers (people with lived or living experience with opioid use and injection drug use) who hold Street Degree certificates in advanced Overdose management, and coordinated by Nick Adair, a paramedic with BC ambulance.

2020 was one of the worst years to date for the overdose crisis due to supply shocks leaving the drug supply more toxic than ever,  social distancing measures leaving many using drugs using alone, increased feelings of isolation and anxiety, and interruptions or limitations in harm reduction and health services for people who use drugs. Increases in Overdose deaths and injuries were international and non discriminatory. Specifically since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, 5,148 apparent opioid toxicity deaths occurred (April- December 2020), which was a 89% increase from the same time period in 2019.

Powell River continues to have an increasing rate of illicit drug toxicity deaths. Powell River and the qathet region continues to respond with harm reduction based interventions. For supplies or information please visit one of 5 Care cupboards around the region, the new location of the OPS at the CRC or the new Injectable Opioid Agonist Treatment Clinic. 

The qathet Community Action Team and Lift Community Services have been apart of cross regional collaboration and efforts to deliver services and solutions to harms related to the illicit toxic drug supply.