Some Canadian provinces have logged a jump in unclaimed dead bodies in recent years, with next of kin citing funeral costs as a growing reason for not collecting loved ones’ remains.

The phenomenon has prompted at least one province to build a new storage facility. Demand for memorial fundraisers has surged. The overall cost of a funeral in Canada at the top end has increased to about $8,800 from about $6,000 in 1998, according to industry trade group estimates.

Now, in the wake of an uproar over unclaimed bodies kept in freezers outside the (Health Sciences Centre in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador), the province is constructing a permanent storage unit to hold remains.

“People weren’t claiming bodies because they realized they couldn’t afford to bury them,” said Jim Dinn, leader of the province’s opposition New Democratic Party. “It’s not about building a bigger storage unit: It’s about addressing the underlying cause causing the accumulation of bodies and removing the barriers so people can have a dignified burial.”

    • @[email protected]English
      5•7 months ago

      The main point of charging anything at all for a plot would be to finance minimal record keeping: which plots are supposed to be full, who’s in them, and, ideally, who bought the space. Plus a quick “do you have a death certificate?” check, and a request to inform whoever’s doing the admin if you get to the pauper’s field and find the plot you expected to use already occupied. Not an insurmountable barrier for a determined murderer who’s done some advance planning, but it should make it less attractive as a dumping ground.