Process to bury unclaimed bodies will be ‘seamless,’ says NLHS – CBC

Health authority update says website will be online this week

May 27, 2025

Four months after legislation came into effect to speed up the process of burying dozens of unclaimed bodies that are being held in freezers at a hospital in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador’s health authority says the plan is nearly ready.

Earlier this month, CBC News reported Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services hadn’t buried a single body since legislation came into effect.

“What’s held it up is, really, us mobilizing around the new regulations, getting all the processes in place,” Ron Johnson, chief operating officer of the NLHS eastern-urban zone, told reporters on Monday.

Johnson said NLHS has issued a tender in search of a funeral home to partner with the health authority to handle the burials. The tender closes on June 10, and he expects it to be awarded before June 13.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/unclaimed-bodies-legislation-johnson-1.7543908