Widow's battle to resell burial space underscores Metro Vancouver's real estate crunch

A little more than 25 years ago, John DouglasCarnahan bought the rights to two burial plots in the northeast corner of ahilly cemetery in a dense area ofBurnaby, B.C.

Back then, they cost $750 each.

As years passed and space grew scarce, the cost of a single plot in the same cemetery surgedto more than $10,000.

After Carnahan's death at 91, his widow decided not to use the plots. Her battle for the rightto sell the plots privately to any buyer at market value has now spilled over into B.C. Supreme Court in a case experts say again provesthe region's real estate crunch is also squeezing itsgraveyards.

"We are running out of space, particularly in the Lower Mainland," said architect BillPechet, who's worked in cemetery design for roughly 30 years.

"Just like we have a housing crisis for the living, we're also encountering a housing crisis for those who want to be buried."

Cemetery blocking resale, widow says

Carnahanbought both plots atPacific Heritage Cemetery in March1998. At the time, there was a clause in the purchase agreement saying cemetery directors "may"buyback owner's plots at the original purchase price.

Carnahan's widow, Sheila Carnahan, contacted the cemetery after her husband's death in 2021 to ask how she could go about privately selling the plots she no longer needed to a third-party buyer.

Her claimsaid staff told her in an email last October that, according toits bylaws,she could only sell her plots back to the cemetery for the original purchase price of$750 each.

Sheila Carnahanhas arguedthe cemetery "misinterpreted" its own bylaws because the clause said cemetery directors "may purchase" plots backnot "must purchase."

"The claimants say that the position taken by the [cemetery], while invalid in law, effectively prevents a sale to third parties because the [cemetery] controls the ownership record and the operation of the cemetery, including the preparation of the grave for use," the lawsuit said.

"The [cemetery] could effectively prevent the new owner from using the plot."

The cemetery has not responded to her claim in court.

In B.C., rights to interment sold in perpetuity

In B.C.,buying a plot is just buying the right to interment, meaninga buyer is paying for the right to be buried in the space but not purchasing the land itself. Those rights are sold in perpetuity, sobuyers can hold plots for however long they choose unless a plot has been empty for more than 50 years and the rightsholder is more than 90 years old, in which case a cemetery can launch the complex process of applying to get the space back.

Each cemetery sets its own rules around resales. Some bylaws allow private sales, othersdon't.

Most cemeteries in Metro Vancouver are full or nearly full.As the value ofreal estate has skyrocketed over the last decade, so has the value of that scarce burial space especially in urban areas. Private plots in Metro Vancouver have been listed on Craigslist or Kijiji for anywhere from $5,000 to $50,000.

Resales are common enough to warrant caution from Consumer Protection B.C., urgingbuyers to check online ads carefully to ensure whethercemeteries honour private sales.

Limited space, poor planning part of the problem

There's a shortage of traditional cemetery space in B.C. for the same reason there's a shortage of space for new homes builders have nowhere else to go.

"The housing crisis that we're encountering is a result of our inability to expand horizontally because we encounter the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other," said Pechet.

"We have a land shortage for housing, and cemetery spaces are a form of housing."

City planning was also an issue.

"For some reason, the Metro Vancouver area seems to have significantly less cemetery space through some planning than most other municipalities," said Glen Hodges, who manages Mountain View Cemetery, the only graveyard in Vancouver.

"It's some magical mystery as to why."

Some European countries, like Switzerland, Sweden, Italy, France andGermany, limit cemetery leases to anywhere between three and 30 years to free up more plots.

In Spain and the United Kingdom,bones can bemoved after a certain period so theplot canbe recycled to be sold again. TheCity of London Cemetery, for example, reusesgraves left untouched after 75 years.

In 2019, the City of Vancouver passed a series of bylaws to save space at its only cemetery. Gravesitesat Mountain View Cemetery are nowallowed to be shared by multiple families, and the cemetery candecide when additional remains can be added to an existing space.

Pechet said B.C. might have to consider vertical cemeteries, like those in Japan, or find a way to tactfully incorporate gravesitesinto existing public parks. Recycling could also be an option.

"I think it will inevitably have to lead to a lot of invention," he said.