Inmate deaths have been trending upward over the past decade in B.C. prisons.
The BC Coroners Service since 2013, 188 inmate deaths have been recorded in the province.
The deaths have been at both provincial and federal facilities.
The coroner service said the annual average is 17 deaths per year, with 25 inmates dying in 2023 and, by comparison, 11 deaths recorded in 2013.
The agency said 60 per cent of the deaths were classified as natural, followed by 18 per cent as accidental and 15 per cent as self-harm.
It is noted the data is “preliminary” and excludes deaths at halfway houses, in police custody, and at forensic psychiatric hospitals.
About 60 per cent of the deaths happened at federal prisons, with the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford recording by far the most, at 64, followed by the Mission Institution with 15.
Among provincial facilities, the North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Port Coquitlam saw the highest total with 23 deaths, while the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre had 20.
The coroners service says about 72 per cent of the 188 people who died were aged 30-69, and all but three of them were men.
In recent years, the Union of Correctional Officers in B.C. has raised serious concerns about what they say is escalating violence within their facilities.
B.C. union president John Randle said drones make daily deliveries to every single medium and maximum prison.
The drones have flooded B.C. prisons with contraband such as cell phones, weapons and drugs.
— with files from Canadian Press
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