Susanna McLeod
Special to Canadian and Design Construction Report
The rich history of Indigenous nations surrounds us, with valuable facets invisible from sight, yet close enough to touch. Thriving throughout Ontario, Indigenous nations formed families and homes, subsisting in nature over generations, and establishing burial sites to lay their loved ones to rest. The hurried growth of development projects means that the chances of coming across unmarked remains are dramatically increased. Once assuring protection of sacred burial sites, legislation has changed to speed development. However, discovery of Indigenous remains continues to hold revered significance.
Long before colonization, Ontario was home to First Nations communities, now with over 130 recognized Indigenous groups. Notes are often added to university, governmental, and other websites, acknowledging that the enterprises are operating on “traditional, ancestral unceded homelands” of specific nations. Within each community, burial grounds were set aside but Indigenous burial grounds in Ontario do not resemble the European/Canadian-style of cemeteries.
“Aboriginal burial often involved very distinctive cultural rituals such as the use of burial mounds, or burial sites built above ground, drying and embalming the remains, burying bodies in a sitting position or marking them with red ochre,” described Dr. Peggy J. Blair in “Fact Sheet-Non-Protection of Aboriginal Burial Sites,” October 2005 (Scow Institute). Marked in accordance with each nation’s traditions, Indigenous burials may include belongings of the deceased as well, such as beads, amulets, and other possessions. Gravesites were indicated by natural materials, with wooden posts or carved grave poles resembling totems, or perhaps rocks with symbolic artworks. Over time, markers disintegrated or disappeared, leaving gravesites invisible and forgotten.
“The discovery and potential destruction of unmarked cemeteries, during rapid times of urban development over the past 150 years, is an ongoing concern throughout Ontario,” said Dr. Katherine Bishop, Consultant Archaeologist with TMHC Inc. at a “Brown Bag Series Talk” at University of Waterloo, March 25, 2025. Unexpected discoveries of First Nations villages are made when earth is moved for construction, or may be re-discovered decades after homes are already built and lived in, such as at Orillia in central Ontario.
Before the 20th century, few laws protected Indigenous sites. An Algonquin burial ground was found along Orillia’s Mount Slaven Creek in the 1870s. No note was made in city records or plans. “The Mount Slaven site was largely forgotten as the city grew out over the site, block by block,” wrote Colin McKim in “A city built on graves,” Peterborough Examiner, November 1, 2008. “None of 32 sites inhabited by the Huron and Algonquin” in the area “have been located on municipal maps or marked with historical plaques.” County administrators have since established archaeological master plans and policies for burial grounds assessments.
More recently, homeowners Christine and Dan Reio in Wainfleet, west of Welland, were shocked to find what was officially determined to be ancestral Indigenous remains during a home renovation project launched in 2023. An archaeology supervisor with Six Nations of the Grand River, Tanya Hill-Montour arrived “to ensure archaeological work is done with respect to Indigenous traditions,” said Idil Mussa and Kimberly Ivany at CBC Investigates, March 5, 2026. Hill-Montour “believes the remains are at least 1,000 years old.”
The Wainfleet project has been halted. The Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement, overseeing the Registrar of Burials, “requires homeowners to hire a licensed archaeologist to determine the burial site’s history, borders and the best way to properly handle the remains,” according to Moussa. The homeowners are mortified by the quote for the archaeological assessment—estimated at $310,000. More worrying, the fee is only an estimate and may rise depending on what is found.
When a burial site is discovered, mandatory archaeological work is intensive. “An archaeological firm stated a crew of six would need to work for about 27 days to sift through about 100 square metres of dirt with three-millimetre mesh screens,” described Moussa. The quote given to the Reios “also included the participation of Indigenous communities to monitor the process.”
The Funeral, Burial, and Cremation Services Act 2002 Section 96 (4) grants financial relief in certain cases in which an unmarked burial site is found. The homeowners applied in 2024, but have had no response yet. There is no specified time frame for resolution. The legislation states, “Where registrar investigates (4) If the registrar is of the opinion that an investigation under subsection (1) would impose an undue financial burden on the land owner, the registrar shall undertake the investigation. 2002, c. 33, s. 96 (4).”
“The ministry says 19 applications for financial relief for burial site investigations were received between 2023 and 2025,” said Moussa, with six claims approved for relief.
Expediting development, in December 2025, Ontario passed Bill 5 amendments to the Ontario Heritage Act, legislating governmental power to override archaeological protections. Indigenous history, culture, and burial sites are at risk of loss. END 800 words
Susanna McLeod is a Kingston-based writer specializing in Canadian history.
