City cemeteries running out of room
Most are full, so search is on for more land
The city must acquire up to 100 acres of land — the equivalent of about 50 Canadian Football League fields — to accommodate future municipal cemetery needs.
Edmonton must have a “minimum of 50 acres and up to 100 acres of usable cemetery land to accommodate the diverse needs of the community as well as designated space for special interest groups,” states a report prepared for the community services committee.
Coun. Amarjeet Sohi was one of the councillors who requested the report, which also outlines accommodations for religious and cultural groups at municipally-owned cemeteries.
“We need to be proactive in acquiring the land. It’s a huge amount of land that is needed, but this is something that we have to look at,” said Sohi, noting Edmonton’s population is growing and also aging.
Edmonton has seven municipal cemeteries, but five are full. Most burials now take place at South Haven Cemetery, near the Whitemud and the Anthony Henday, or Northern Lights Cemetery, near St. Albert Trail.
The report was prepared after some members of the city’s Hindu community raised concerns about their traditional funeral rites, which can involve scattering the ashes of a cremated person into a body of flowing water.
Fishery and water regulations prohibit the practice from taking place in the North Saskatchewan River.
“This can’t be done in the North Saskatchewan River because of various water acts. One option to explore is if there is a possibility of creating a flowing body of water (in a municipal cemetery) that can at least symbolically accommodate the need of disposing of the ashes in a respectful way,” Sohi said.
The city accommodates the requests of religious and cultural groups in various ways, such as ensuring plots for Muslims are oriented toward Mecca, ensuring no shadows are cast upon the plots of members of the city’s Chinese community, and ensuring a traditional full-sized burial for members of various Christian groups. There are “fields of honour” for military veterans. Linguistic, cultural or religious groups may ask for a designated area in a city cemetery and purchase plots individually or as a group.
Sohi said he “felt very proud” of the work done to accommodate burial rituals.
“I think our administration has been very proactive in making sure they’re sensitive to the needs of various groups and that they understand the traditions and the rituals that different faith groups do.”
It could take up to 10 years to acquire the land needed for new cemeteries, likely in the west or southwest corners of the city, so city staff have already started the process.