Intimate partner-related deaths in B.C. ‘overwhelmingly preventable,’ report says

VANCOUVER — A death review panel convened by British Columbia’s chief coroner says the 135 deaths related to intimate partner violence were “overwhelmingly preventable.”

The deaths occurred between 2016 and 2024 over 107 attacks and included current and former intimate partners, family members, friends and the killers themselves.

The report says that often the warning signs were there, as victims interacted with public systems, including police and health-care providers, in the months and years before they died.

The panel was made up nearly two dozen experts, including government officials, academics, police and community group members, and found the systems victims interact with are often “unco-ordinated, overburdened and unable to respond.”

It says a co-ordinated provincial strategy that includes a standing death review committee and consistent training for first responders, emergency room staff and other front line workers that would prevent future deaths.

The report also calls for a public awareness campaign to increase knowledge of intimate partner violence, it calls for a pathway for people to access supports, and recommends an improved data collection, information sharing and reporting process.

The report says rural, remote and northern B.C. communities experience disproportionally high rates of deaths, noting people in those regions often have limited access to services such as safe housing.

It also says Indigenous people accounted for 24 per cent of the victims, despite only making up 5.9 per cent of B.C.’s population.

It says 34 per cent of the 253 suspected homicides of biological females reported to the coroner’s service between Jan. 1, 2016 and Dec. 31, 2024, were deemed to be caused by an act of intimate partner violence, though several investigations into these deaths remain open so the number may increase once the cases close.

Firearms and sharp objects were the most common weapons used in the killings, with the report noting that gun deaths were more prevalent in rural communities.

The panel identifies various systemic contributors to harm caused by intimate partner violence, including stigma and barriers to reporting, such as fear of retaliation or fear of police, courts and health-care systems.

It also says fragmented data impedes the spotting of trends and identified there was a lack of clarity about roles and responsibilities for intervention or followup services.

Gaps in firearm enforcement when risk factors were known, inconsistencies in first responder training and limited access to prevention and intervention models, particularly in rural and remote communities were also flagged as issues.

The report points to police data that it says reveals the violence is among the most under-reported crimes nationally “with as many as 80 per cent of survivors not reporting their experience to law enforcement.”

This is the third time such the coroner convened a death review panel looking into intimate partner violence rated deaths in B.C., with the first one dating back to 1995.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2026.

Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press