Burlington, Ont., United church unearths human bones during sidewalk restoration

After dealing with endless freezing and thawing temperatures that had turned their sidewalk into a community hazard, East Plains United Church in Burlington, Ont., thought that repairing it would be an easy and quick project.

In early May, work had begun to complete the sidewalk, only to be halted when construction workers hit an old oil tank in the ground. In late June, the tank was set to be removed, but crews were met with an even bigger surprise underneath the church property.

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A partial human skull laid among the soil and stones. With the police and the Bereavement Authority of Ontario notified, a coroner and anthropologist examined the property to try to gather more information and notified the church.

“It was definitely human remains. It was very old. It had been buried in a casket, and it was not Indigenous,” said Rev. Jan McCormick, the minister at East Plains United.

The investigation of the property also found other bone fragments belonging to the same individual. The Bereavement Authority of Ontario instructed the church to collect all the found pieces together in a safe box inside the building until they provided next steps on how to properly bury the individual.

“Police conducted an investigation and determined nothing criminal in nature had taken place … it is not common to be called after the discovery of human remains, and this is the only situation that I’m aware of,” said Const. Ryan Anderson of Halton Regional Police.

While a shocking discovery for the congregation and local community, McCormick says that the property lines between the church and the next-door cemetery owned by the city, have blurred over time. Since 1843, various churches have resided by the nearby cemetery, and as the area began to quickly urbanize and expand in the 20th century, the lines between the two properties became unclear.

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The repair, removal of the oil tank and excavation of the remains have cost the church roughly $120,000. Meanwhile, the church has been participating in fundraising initiatives and counting on generous donations from the community, other congregations and even a historical society to cover the steep costs. Currently, the church has raised a bit more than 50 percent of the estimated costs.

“Many people have sent us donations, some $5 or $25, and some $100, and every bit counts … different people have heard about our problem and have been generous with sending us donations to be helpful, which we greatly appreciate,” McCormick said.

David Brazeau, communications manager with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, said that incidents like the one at East Plains United happen several times a year. He said that the registrar is working with the landowner to determine next steps.

But the church is still waiting to hear back from the Bereavement Authority of Ontario to move forward with a proper burial for the person. McCormick said she would love to do a special service to honour them.

“The disturbance of human remains was a big shock to everybody. It’s very disturbing to me personally, and many people in the congregation were shocked that we’ve disturbed the resting place of an individual,” she said.

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Russul Sahib is a writer in based in Markham. Ont. Her work has appeared in THIS Magazine, Spacing, Maclean’s and more.

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