At least 458 people experiencing homelessness died in B.C. in 2023, a 23-per-cent increase from the previous year, according to the latest report from the B.C. Coroners Service. 

That's also compared to the 155 deaths in 2020.

The B.C. Coroners Service report, "Deaths of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness in British Columbia, 2016-2023," was released Friday (March 7). In total, between 2016 and 2023, 1,940 deaths of people experiencing homelessness were reported to the B.C. Coroners Service.

"The data speaks to the tragic reality of the struggles many face in our communities throughout B.C.," B.C.'s chief coroner Jatinder Baidwan said.

In 2023, 91 per cent of deaths of people experiencing homelessness were classified as accidental, accounting for 419. Eighty-six per cent, or 394 deaths, were due to accidental unregulated drug toxicity.

The highest number of deaths reported to the B.C. Coroners Service in 2023 were in Vancouver with 77, followed by central Vancouver Island at 55, which includes the Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo and Tofino, then Fraser east with 50, which includes Abbotsford and Hope. 

Also in 2023, more than half of the deaths reported were people between the ages of 30 and 49, with 79 per cent of the deaths among males. Nearly half of those deaths were males who were unsheltered. 

In the report, a person experiencing homelessness was defined in three ways: unsheltered, sheltered and residing in short-term shelters, safe houses or transition houses for an unknown length of time. 

Unsheltered was described as a person living outdoors, in a make-shift shelter, a parked vehicle, a vacant home or any other structure not intended for living in. Sheltered was defined as a person staying at an emergency shelter overnight or who is temporarily sheltered for less than 30 days by friends or family, in a short-term shelter, safe house for youth or transition house for women and children fleeing violence. 

About 46 per cent of people were unsheltered, while 35 per cent where sheltered.