New BrunswickThe New Brunswick RCMP reported increases for 2024 in fatal collisions, mental health calls as well as cocaine and fentanyl offences.The 2024 report shows the province’s RCMP received 150,000 calls for serviceOliver Pearson · CBC News · Posted: Dec 04, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.New Brunswick RCMP are responding to more mental health incidents and fatal crashes, according to its 2024 report. (Jamie Malbeuf/CBC)The New Brunswick RCMP’s 2024 report shows increases in fatal crashes, mental health calls as well as a sharp increase in cocaine and fentanyl offences.Cpl. Matthew Leblanc-Smith said the 18.5 per cent increase in fatal collisions is significant and could have been prevented.The RCMP responded to almost 6,500 vehicle collisions and 96 were fatal.Leblanc-Smith said 68 per cent of the 96 total fatal collisions were caused by driving under the influence, driving over the speed limit or not wearing a seatbelt.“[Wearing a seatbelt] has been the law for decades in this country,” he said. “We have been putting an extreme focus on it in the past few years because we have seen that it has been leading to fatalities on the road and to see it go up again this year is quite unfortunate.”After an increase in fatal crashes, Cpl. Matthew Leblanc-Smith reminds drivers that not drinking and driving is one way people can limit the risk of a collision. (Virote Chuenwiset/Shutterstock)Leblanc-Smith said driving sober, following speed limits, not using a mobile device and wearing a seatbelt will limit the risk of an accident on the road.Of those fatalities, 24 were due to drug impairment which is a slight increase from 22 in 2023.Mental health callsThe New Brunswick RCMP, which patrols areas not covered by local police such as Fredericton or Saint John, also saw a more-than-seven per cent increase in mental health calls for 2024.Leblanc-Smith said those calls are challenging and time consuming since oftentimes people have to be taken to a medical facility.RCMP communications centres, such as this one in Fredericton, are getting more mental health calls. (CBC)He said how the RCMP responds to these calls is changing as well.“The mobile health crisis unit has social workers who can speak over the phone to a person in distress and come up with solutions that way,” he said. “So the seven per cent [increase] includes all the new metrics that we’re using to address the mental health concerns.”Total calls for service were just over 150,000 in 2024 which is a one per cent increase from 2023.Cocaine and fentanyl increasingThe RCMP also saw a big jump in drug offences — specifically cocaine and fentanyl.“We have noticed a 65 per cent increase in cocaine and fentanyl … offences,” said Leblanc-Smith.”It’s concerning, it’s alarming. However, this aligns with national trends that the RCMP is seeing across the country.”He said New Brunswick is a part of a drug trafficking problem that is happening across the country.There were 333 cocaine offences and 80 fentanyl offences in 2024.LISTEN | N.B. RCMP on new 2024 report:Information Morning – Fredericton10:26RCMP 2024 annual reportThe RCMP in New Brunswick has released its 2024 annual report. One number stands out and it’s the 18 per cent increase in fatal motor vehicle accidents. Colleen Kitts-Goguen spoke to Corporal Matthew Leblanc-Smith.Fredericton and Saint John’s local police are surrounded by the RCMP’s patrol. Megan Barker, a spokesperson for the Fredericton Police Force, said in an email that it has “noted an increase in cocaine and fentanyl seizures over the last few years.”There were 35 cocaine seizures in 2023 and 53 in 2024.For fentanyl, there were 16 seizures in 2023 and that jumped to 30 in 2024. Barker said that some instances “may overlap with both drugs being seized at the same time.”Saint John Police Force spokesperson Shawna Fowler said in an email that “there was no noticeable change in the number of total drug offences in 2023 and 2024.”She said the force doesn’t have the data to break down the type of drug related to the offence.ABOUT THE AUTHOROliver Pearson is a reporter at CBC New Brunswick. He can be reached at oliver.pearson@cbc.caWith files from Information Morning Fredericton
N.B. RCMP report sees increases in fatal crashes, drug offences
