Cemetery space getting scarce in several B.C. communities
A housing crisis of a different sort is causing grave concern in some B.C. municipalities.
As cemeteries run out of space, cities are scrambling to find new land for burials or maximize the land they already have, while some residents are seeking cheaper plots in the suburbs. Familiar housing terms like affordability and density are beginning to have meaning in both life and death.
“We are at, or soon to be at, a crisis in cemetery space,” said Vancouver landscape architect Erik Lees, whose company, Lees & Associates, plans cemeteries across North America. “The Lower Mainland is likely the poorest-served region of all the major cities in Canada.”
Some of the same factors that have driven up the price of housing in B.C. — including geography, zoning and population — have also led to rising cemetery prices, with the remaining 400 to 500 casket spaces at Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery priced at $25,000.
On the classified website Kijiji, a single plot at Forest Lawn in Burnaby is being offered for $9,500 by a family that no longer needs it, while two side-by-side plots in a sold-out garden at Valley View in Surrey are for sale for $10,000.
Environmental planner Nicole Hanson said a lack of affordable cemetery space is making it difficult for people to be laid to rest in the communities where they lived their lives.
“Death has become unaffordable for many people,” said the cemetery planner, who lives in Ontario but does consulting work in Vancouver.
The cost of space can lead some people to compromise their cultural and religious values — for example, they might choose cremation over burial even though their culture or religion dictates burial.
It also creates inequality in death, as only those who can afford to buy an expensive plot receive space.
“We need to change our way of thinking about cemeteries,” said Hanson. “They are places of great importance and cultural value.”
Lees agreed, calling cemeteries the “forgotten landscape.”
“Sadly, they’re usually an afterthought in planning and zoning,” he said. “The advent of cremation has put off the pain for a little while, but I think we’re going to be feeling that pain very soon.”
At Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver, space has been an issue for a long time. The cemetery has run out of casket space at least twice in its history, in 1964 and in 1986, explained manager Glen Hodges.
Both times additional space was eventually created, first by infilling pathways, and later by reclaiming through a legal process, old plots that had been purchased but never used. But while it’s still possible to be buried in Vancouver, the cost — $25,000, compared with $110 in 1986 — can be prohibitive.
Hodges said the cemetery is working on building up its cemetery care fund to prepare for the day when grave sales stop and that source of income ends.
“When you purchase a space, the current legislation is very specific in saying that it is in perpetuity,” he said. “We have to be careful when we do our planning. We don’t get a second chance — it’s forever.”
Dwindling space isn’t only an issue in the Lower Mainland.
The tiny community of Argenta in the Kootenays recently appealed to the Agricultural Land Commission to expand its historic cemetery by 0.375 hectares. The commission approved the landuse change.
In October, the City of Vernon issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to develop a master plan for its city cemetery.
“The existing cemetery is nearing capacity,” reads the document. “The city needs to find ways to maximize capacity at the existing site and develop a plan to implement a functional second-cemetery site within the next five years.”
The RFP also said the cemetery has had “funding challenges” in recent years, and maintenance and upkeep have become a problem.
Surrey completed its cemetery master plan a few years ago, and seven additional acres were recently developed at Surrey Centre. At Sunnyside Lawn, only six acres out of 29 are developed, said cemetery services coordinator Anna Christian. “We want to be proactive in ensuring there are affordable options for people to be interred in the future,” she said.
Like many Lower Mainland municipalities, Surrey residents are given a preferential rate at city-owned cemeteries. A casket space is $2,100 for residents versus $3,200 for non-residents. Some municipalities with greater space restrictions will no longer bury non-residents. According to the City of Coquitlam’s website, full burial at Robinson Memorial Park is only available to current and past residents of the city.
Hanson called on municipalities to take the lead. She believes city planners already have the tools to make cemeteries part of their development conversations in the same way as roads, schools and community centres. When new housing is built, the eventual death of its residents should be a consideration, she said.
The increasing preference for cremation will also help to preserve some space, with 84 per cent of British Columbians choosing cremation in 2016, according to statistics collected by the Cremation Association of North America. By 2021, that rate is expected to rise to almost 87 per cent.
Hodges said Europe might offer a solution to North America’s cemetery-space crisis. In many countries, plots are leased for a specific time, and family must renew the lease to preserve the space.
The Vancouver cemetery already allows families to share a casket space, and several relatives can be buried above each other in the same plot. If an old grave is exhumed and the remains reburied deeper, some plots can hold three or four family members.
But Hodges said he doesn’t think there is the “political appetite” to change the current legislation.
“Canada just marked 150 years. It hasn’t really been enough time to experience this issue, but we’re going to,” he said.
We have to be careful when we do our planning. We don’t get a second chance — it’s forever.