How London is working to deal with the growing number of unclaimed bodies

Though it met the technical definition of a funeral and burial, the short graveside service Rev. Rob Apgar-Taylor delivered at Woodland Cemetery Wednesday afternoon was not a typical celebration of life.

With no friends or family members there to mourn, only Apgar-Taylor and a staff member from A. Millard George Funeral Home were on hand to witness the internment.

Apgar-Taylor, who works with Riverside and Wesley-Knox churches, read a few short prayers. The service was over in about 10 minutes.

"It's just really a matter of honouring that person's life because we think that everyone deserves to have a prayer said on their behalf," said Apgar-Taylor.

No one in attendance at Wednesday's service knew the deceased. Nothing more was said about them because nothing more was known. Their name was not shared with CBC News.

The Londoner who died was one of an increasing number of Ontarians whose bodies went unclaimed, either because next of kin couldn't be reached or because they weren't able, or willing, to pay for a burial or cremation.

As CBC News reported this week, there's been a sharp upward surge in recent years in the number of bodies that go unclaimed in Ontario. The number was 361 ten years ago. Since then, it's grown steadily, reaching 1,710 in 2025.

In London a total of 134 bodies went unclaimed in last year.

In most cases, unclaimed bodies are buried in unmarked graves in local cemeteries, most often without even the simple service Apgar-Taylor and A. Millard George Funeral Home provided on a volunteer basis on Wednesday.

It's all part of a patchwork system that involves governments, care homes and volunteers in an effort to provide basic but dignified treatment of unclaimed bodies in the city.

And while it works in providing a basic level of care for the deceased, Joseph O’Neil of O'Neil Funeral Homes said it's a system under strain as the number of unclaimed bodies grows while the resources to deal with them, everything from refrigerated body storage to cemetery space provided at cost, is becoming more scarce and expensive.

"There will be a day, if we go long enough, where we'll start having to take city burials outside of London if we can find somewhere to take them, just like Toronto does now," said O'Neil.

Unclaimed bodies in London are taken care of through what O'Neil calls a "handshake agreement" involving the province, the city along with London's cemeteries and care homes.

The first step happens when Ontario's Coroner declares a body as unclaimed. That happens when the deceased hasn't left a will or instructions and efforts to reach family members fails.