New minimum standards for overdose prevention services are being introduced to enhance safety, improve consistency, and ensure greater oversight for clients, staff delivering life-saving services and members of the community.

New clinical guidance will offer best practices for recognizing and supporting people at risk for suicide, helping more people get the right care and saving more lives.

Josie Osborne, Minister of Health, and Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer, have issued the following statements marking the ninth anniversary of the toxic-drug crisis being declared a public health emergency:

More women living with substance-use challenges on Vancouver Island can benefit from more options to help them with their recovery through 20 newly opened substance-use treatment beds in Victoria.

The Province is taking action to improve care for people who suffer from severe, overlapping mental-health and substance-use challenges, including brain injuries from toxic-drug poisonings, ensuring they have the right care to meet their needs.

The Province is taking action to prevent the diversion of prescribed opioids and hold bad actors accountable for putting people and communities at risk.

Josie Osborne, Minister of Health, has released the following statement about the BC Coroners Service report on illicit drug toxicity deaths in 2024: 

British Columbia’s provincial health officer has issued followup recommendations in a report to government in response to the toxic-drug crisis.

The Province continues to put people first by launching the new Allied Health Strategic Plan (AHSP), which focuses on recruitment, retention, training and redesigning of the allied health workforce, to ensure people have access to the health-care providers they need.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provincial health officer, has issued the following statement regarding the International Overdose Awareness Day: