Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland. A funeral director blames government

Caul's Funeral Home in St. John's is shown on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. -

Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland, and a funeral director says they likely belong to people whose loved ones couldn't get enough government help to pay for a funeral.

Emails obtained by the provincial NDP show the number of unclaimed bodies kept in temporary freezer units at the province's largest hospital more than doubled between November 2021 and January of this year.

John Anderson, director at Caul's Funeral Home in St. John's, N.L., blames the province's funeral assistance program, offered to residents on income support or old age benefits to help cover the cost of cremations or burials. It's difficult to navigate and inadequate, costing funeral homes money and causing frustration and anguish for people looking to provide a dignified burial for their loved one, he said.

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"There's people that leave and don't ever come back, they don't have a funeral, they just leave them over in a freezer," Anderson said in an interview.

Paul Pike, the province's minister of children, seniors and social development, defended the government's aid program and said his department has "no idea" why there are so many unclaimed bodies at the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's.

"If a person is on income support, their funeral benefit is automatically paid and the qualifying family shouldn't have to pay anything," he said in an interview. "We will help in any way we can."

Emails obtained by the provincial New Democrat Party through access to information legislation show health officials warning in November 2021 that morgues were at capacity, and freezer units brought in to help were full. The emails involve officials with the province's former Eastern Health authority, which includes St. John's.

"We have seen over the last three years an ever-increasing number of unclaimed bodies," said a November 2021 email sent to the former head of the Eastern Health authority, David Diamond, by Kenneth Baird, who is now a top executive with the recently created provincewide authority, NL Health Services.

"There is only one morgue with a freezer located at (the Health Sciences Centre in St. John's) and it has a maximum capacity of two bodies," Baird wrote. "In 2020, we had to source an alternative storage unit (freezer container) to add holding capacity. Currently, we are holding 11 individuals, and were to receive a 12th body this afternoon."

By Jan. 9 of this year, there were 27 unclaimed bodies "in temporary storage" at the hospital, according to notes from a meeting of health officials held that day. It said someone was trying to purchase a refrigeration unit "that has stacking ability."

Other parts of the province are having the same problem, the notes say.

The email from November 2021 said it was taking "weeks to many months" for socials workers to locate a deceased person's next of kin to claim the body. "Some of the barriers seem to be related to the family's financial ability to pay for funeral expenses," the email said.

Anderson, the funeral director, said the bodies were being kept in mobile freezer units in an underground parking garage at the Health Sciences Centre complex. He figures many of them have been left behind by family members aged 65 and older who can't get much financial assistance for burials or cremations.

People receiving income support in Newfoundland and Labrador can qualify for a base funeral assistance rate of up to $2,300, Pike said. His department will also kick in for additional costs, such as burial clothing, mileage to transport the body and cemetery plots. The money is paid to funeral homes, and the province works with them to establish what it can cover, he said.

The province provided funeral benefits for almost 700 people in the last two years, and it paid an average of $3,000 for each service, he said.

Anderson said it's not nearly enough, adding: "Pretty much, when we do a funeral, it costs us money to do it for them." The base rate of $2,300 is roughly half the cost of a basic cremation at Caul's with no viewing or funeral service.

That means funeral directors can only offer minimal services and they have to refuse many requests. People get upset and feel hopeless, and some will abandon the idea of a cremation or burial altogether, Anderson said.

The situation is worse for low-income seniors older than 65 who receive old age security benefits, Anderson said. They typically qualify for smaller benefits, sometimes as little as $600, and very few funeral homes will take on that work for so little money. "So then they end up in the freezer," Anderson said.

If people launch a fundraising effort to cover more costs, such as a GoFundMe campaign, they risk having their income support benefits clawed back by the province, Anderson added.

The department is aware of some of the issues Anderson raised, and it is reviewing its entire income support program, including funeral benefits, department spokesperson Gayle St. Croix said in a followup email.

"We recognize that it is taking some time, but it is extremely important that all funeral home operators be provided the opportunity to participate in the process," St. Croix added. The department expects changes to be implemented this fall, the email said.

Jim Dinn, provincial NDP leader, said the emails his party obtained show that the government has been aware of the unclaimed body problem for years, as well as its root causes.

"Government must review the policy to make funding for burials more accessible, and to make the claiming of bodies easier for everyone," he said in a news release.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2024.