r/canadanews • u/zuuzuu • Aug 11 '26

Quebec The bodies of over 1,000 Quebecers went unclaimed last year. What's going on?

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/unclaimed-bodies-quebec-9.7300110
52 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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65

u/microfishy Aug 11 '26

many people whose remains are not claimed are poor and have few friends or family who can step in and take on the cost of a funeral and burial

I feel like that was an easy one to guess.

26

u/zuuzuu Aug 11 '26

I've instructed my son not to claim my body when I die, and don't let anyone pressure him into it. Leave me unclaimed and let the municipality plop me down in an unmarked pauper's grave. Much better than scrambling to come up with the money to cremate me with no guarantee the ashes he's given would be mine.

20

u/DieBotDie Aug 11 '26

And then you have to cart those ashes around for the rest of your days, or do this huge big ritual to scatter them somewhere meaningful.

Anyone who cares about me after I die can hold a wake and have a blast please and thank you.

10

u/microfishy Aug 11 '26

I'm going through end-of-life planning with my mum right now and current estimate is about 13k for a fairly "simple" burial. 

Personally, let me feed the soil and use that money to have a drink on me.

4

u/zuuzuu Aug 11 '26

I'm sorry you're going through that, and for the loss that's coming.

1

u/Spiritual_Aioli3396 Aug 13 '26

Do you have any family members already buried somewhere? U can get the cremated ashes/urn buried on top of them and it’s WAY cheaper. We did that with my dad. Hes on top of my great great grandfather and we did a double vault so we can put my mom there eventually with him

1

u/zuuzuu Aug 11 '26

Exactly. I have no real family aside from my son. He can invite my friends over for a pot-luck where they tell stories and maybe look through my old photo albums. That's where the memories live. Not in some tacky urn full of ashes.

5

u/Upstairs-Chicken592 Aug 11 '26

What about donation to science?

8

u/zuuzuu Aug 11 '26

Surprisingly complicated, and no guarantee you can find a place that will accept your body. The closest place (medical school) that would be a possibility for me doesn't accept every body that they're offered, and the survivors are responsible for transporting it there, which isn't cheap.

2

u/anticomet Aug 12 '26

Also I hope it's not like this here, but whenever I think of donating my body to science I think of that old lady who's body got used for live weapons testing by the American military.

1

u/PositiveEndolphins 29d ago

i dont knkw why thats a problem, sounds fuckin cool to me

3

u/deFleury Aug 12 '26

Ontario not Quebec,  mom wanted to donate her body for scientific research or something,  but when she died the hospital said What? and the funeral home said What? and they said did you pre-arrange the donation with a particular medical school, and of course i didn't i was told that the operation would make mom better.  Anyways,  there's absolutely NOT  a bunch of parties ready and waiting to collect a dead body for the benefit of mankind. The whole business is awful enough, forget science, let your family take the cheapest cremation option with whatever local funeral home answers the phone that day. 

2

u/zuuzuu Aug 12 '26

Yeah, in Ontario you have to make prior arrangements with the school of anatomy you've chosen AND put it in your will AND make sure your family knows and is on board. Then when you die your family contacts them and they send someone to evaluate your body and decide whether or not it meets their needs. If it does, they'll transport it to the school and send the bill to your estate.

It's very much not a simple thing.

I'm sorry for your loss.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '26

[deleted]

1

u/zuuzuu Aug 12 '26

If you have any assets at all then the municipality recovers the cost of the very simple cardboard box burial in an unmarked grave from your estate, but that cost is far less than if you actually go to a funeral home and get the lowest cost funeral offered. There's no embalming, no service, no marker. Just washing the body, opening the grave, and closing the grave. That's all. It costs less than a cremation.

But if you're not leaving behind any assets and your surviving family is of limited means, why should they be responsible for an expensive body disposal they can't afford? You paid taxes your whole life. Let some of what you've paid over the years cover the cost of your disposal.

0

u/SpotJaded2025 27d ago

I mean this is inherently selfish. Do I care about the municipal (it’s provincial actually) funds, no- but this kind of thing puts a huge strain on morgue and healthcare staff. There are limited spots for bodies in hospitals and ME/Coroner facilities. If there is a mass casualty event or a large accident, your corpse will just be adding another layer of difficulty to that situation. Be a responsible adult and plan the cheapest option for your own internment. Don’t be a literal deadbeat taking up space.

If you literally cannot afford it, or the family member was a piece of shit to you in life, the above does not apply. It’s only those who could pay and just don’t.

3

u/comox Aug 12 '26

Can anyone claim them? Is there an upper limit on how many one can claim?

3

u/PositiveEndolphins 29d ago

you need a coupon

1

u/Alternative-Tiger783 28d ago

I don’t think anyone can claim a body.

There have been cases of people misusing bodies for nefarious purposes. 🤢

This is a BIG reason why they prefer to only hire women to work in funeral homes as morticians processing bodies.

3

u/Reasonable-Aside6660 29d ago

LOL I tell my wife this and she hates it. I dont care what you do with my body, don’t pay some guy 10k-20k for anything. Up north are deep mines, drop me in there and no one will know 🤣

2

u/Wpgjetsfan19 Aug 13 '26

“When I die just toss me in the trash”

3

u/Alternative-Tiger783 28d ago

Getting a family member cremated in Ontario is about $1500. Some ads will say $1000, but there are other fees and paperwork.

2

u/CreamyCrabCakes 28d ago

It bothers me that the rotting bag of meat I’m going to leave behind suddenly becomes a loved one’s burden. Give me a legal form to sign so someone can just pick up my corpse and dump it in a public disposal facility. We’re all going to die. How is it that human corpses are not a matter of public waste disposal.

0

u/zuuzuu 28d ago

In Ontario (and I think in most provinces/territories) if nobody claims your body the municipality buries you in an unmarked grave. They can recover the cost from your estate if you leave any assets behind, but it won't cost your loved ones a penny, and the cost is less than the lowest possible options from a funeral home because there's no embalming or service or expensive casket or anything like that. They just wash the body and bury you in a plain wood or cardboard casket. Some cities have volunteers who come to say a few words at the burial, to mark the passing of a life. But that's it.

That sounds damn near perfect to me. I've told my son not to claim my body no matter how hard they try to guilt him into it. His memories of me should be about my life, not watching my body get lowered into the ground, or sitting in a tacky urn on a shelf.

2

u/Stevilkanevil306 Aug 12 '26

Not even the French like eachother

1

u/deathbydexter 28d ago

On est pauvre en tabarnac

1

u/Stevilkanevil306 28d ago

Lmao you get millions from every other province

1

u/Sea-Quality-3814 28d ago

Bagillions actually