Dead bodies are going unclaimed in Ontario, and the numbers are climbing

Since 2019, there's been a 170 per cent increase in the number of dead people not being claimed by family, loved ones or organizations, according to Ontario's Office of the Chief Coroner, which has released its 2023 figures.

1,183 dead people unclaimed in 2023, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ottawa top totals

Kate Dubinski · CBC News · Posted: Mar 08, 2024 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 8

A stock image of a coroner covering up a dead body with a white sheet in a hospital or morgue setting. — Stock image shows a coroner covering up a body. In Ontario, the number of bodies going unclaimed is surging, according to the province's chief coroner. (Shutterstock)

The number of dead people in Ontario whose bodies were not claimed by loved ones or family members has surged in the last few years, according to provincial figures.

A total of 1,183 bodies went unclaimed in 2023 compared to 983 in 2022 and 438 in 2019, the Office of the Chief Coroner says.

Since 2019, there was been a 170 per cent increase in the number of unclaimed bodies.

A bar graph shows the steady increase in unclaimed dead bodies in Ontario since 2006, including a 170 per cent increase from 2019 to 2013. — A graph shows the steady increase in unclaimed dead bodies in Ontario since 2006, including a 170 per cent increase from 2019 to 2023. (Supplied by Office of the Chief Coroner)

It's likely many of those people lived with addiction or mental health problems and had little support in their lives, said Greg Nash, who's with London's InterCommunity Health Centre and works with marginalized people.

"It really speaks to how people get disconnected from community, including their immediate family, and the significant impact that has on the individual," he said. "It's such a sad statistic."

These unclaimed dead bodies are stuck in limbo in freezers outside the Health Sciences Centre

The issue of unclaimed bodies is prominent in other areas of the country.

In St. John's, cadavers are accumulating in storage units outside the Health Sciences Centre as the cost of living and burials rise.

In Ontario, the coroner's office says a search for a "claimant" — a person or organization that's willing to assume responsibility — needs to be conducted when a deceased person has no identified next of kin.

Municipalities are responsible for paying for the burial people whose bodies aren't claimed.

Here are the four Ontario cities with the highest numbers in 2023, with 2019 in brackets:

Toronto: 792 (286).
Hamilton: 127 (26).
London: 112 (52).
Ottawa: 87 (43).

In 2023, there were also 32 unclaimed bodies in Sudbury, 23 in Kingston and 10 in Thunder Bay.

I think it's a fair assumption that many of these people, though they may not be homeless, had some form of housing deprivation.- Greg Nash, InterCommunity Health Centre in London, Ont.

"I think it's a fair assumption that many of these people, though they may not be homeless, had some form of housing deprivation," Nash said.

"It's significant for someone to be isolated to that degree, knowing that they don't have any support. It's the disconnection and the lack of resources and care that someone's getting that leads to that sort of deprivation and disconnection from family."

Not all unclaimed bodies are classified as such because next of kin can't be found, which happened in 37 per cent of cases in 2023. In other cases, family members were located but unable to claim the bodies because of estrangement, health or travel issues, or financial reasons, according to the coroner.

In London, funeral homes get $1,420 for an unclaimed-body funeral, said Joe O'Neil, who has operated O'Neil Funeral Home for decades. That amount hasn't increased since 2012, he added.

"The situation is bad and it's going to get worse," O'Neil said. Some cemeteries are running out of room for what he calls "city burials" — those for unclaimed bodies, O'Neil added.