BC's Homeless Death Toll: 56 or More in Two Years

Tally of homeless deaths released to Tyee by chief coroner.
By Monte Paulsen and Tom Sandborn
Published: April 17, 2008
TheTyee.ca

At least 56 homeless British Columbians died during 2006 and 2007, according to provincial statistics obtained by The Tyee.

B.C.'s homeless died at a rate that's at least 19 per cent higher than the general population, according to the office of the chief coroner.

"These deaths were preventable," said MLA David Chudnovsky, a New Democrat who serves as the opposition critic for homelessness. "These are people who would still be alive if they'd had someplace to live."

The report tallies 31 homeless deaths in 2006 and another 25 in 2007. But housing advocates criticized the coroner for excluding the deaths of some formerly homeless people who died in hospital.

"Our governments are culpable for these preventable deaths," said David Eby, an attorney at Pivot Legal Society. "People are literally dying in the streets."

The office of the chief coroner prepared this report in response to requests from The Tyee. Among its findings:

The death rates among homeless persons in 2007 was 21.3 per 10,000 people, while the rate among the general population in 2006 was 17.9 per 10,000. So using the coroner's indirect comparison, B.C.'s homeless population is dying at a rate 19 per cent higher than the general population.

Two thirds of the homeless dead were living on the street, while the remaining third lived in a homeless shelter. Thus the (uncalculated) rate of death among street homeless is higher than 19 per cent above average.

Poisoning by drugs or alcohol was the leading cause of death, followed by blunt injuries (e.g., hit by a car), hangings and stabbings. One drowned and one died of smoke inhalation. Another nine deaths are either undetermined or still under investigation.

All of those counted were found in B.C.'s cities: 13 in Vancouver, 11 in Victoria, four in New Westminster, three each in North Vancouver and Surrey, and two each in Chilliwack, Kelowna and Nanaimo.

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See also Overdoses, disease cause of half the deaths of B.C. homeless people