Notice to Consumers and Professionals: Thefts of bronze, metals, and damage to columbariums at several southwestern Ontario cemeteries

— Posted August 26, 2025 / Updated August 27, 2025 —

The Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO) is advising families and licensed professionals to be aware of thefts and damage at cemeteries in the province.

The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and municipal staff have informed the BAO of thefts of bronze plaques, urns, and metal artifacts from cemeteries at communities within Norfolk County, located on the north shore of Lake Erie in southwestern Ontario.  

The thefts have occurred at Delhi Cemetery, Courtland Baptist Cemetery, Bayview Cemetery in Port Rowan, and at Port Dover Cemetery and Sacred Heart Cemetery in Langton, plus new reports of this issue outside of Norfolk in Brant, Oxford, and Elgin counties. Additional cemeteries may also be affected.

The OPP has also informed the BAO that some urns have been stolen from columbariums, which house niches containing urns of cremated human remains. Some urns are valued for their recyclable metal content. Cremated human remains have been recovered during the police investigation, and criminal charges have been laid.

The BAO is liaising with the OPP in this ongoing investigation. These incidents are deeply upsetting for families, communities, and for licensed professionals who work every day to uphold dignity and care.

Requirements for licensed professionals

Under the law, the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, 2002, licensed cemetery operators are responsible for ensuring the safety, security, and dignity of interment sites in their care by:

• Conducting regular inspections of cemetery grounds, monuments, and columbariums;
• Ensuring that locks, fastenings, and other security measures on columbariums are intact;
• Reporting immediately to local police and the BAO if/when there are any signs of tampering, theft, or vandalism;
• Maintaining accurate burial and interment records to assist in the identification of recovered property.

Recommended cemetery actions

The BAO recommends that cemetery operators be vigilant by:

• Inspecting all columbariums, and mausoleums (above ground structures containing human remains), immediately for evidence of tampering or forced entry;
• Checking the cemetery grounds for missing or damaged plaques, urns, or monuments;
• Informing the families, as relevant to affected monuments and gravesites.

If theft or damage is discovered:

• Contact your local police or OPP immediately;
• Secure the area and preserve any evidence;
• Notify the BAO Licensing Unit without delay;
• Consider improving surveillance and visibility (signs, lighting, community awareness);
• Reassure families with empathy, and direct any additional concerns to the BAO.

Family

If family members discover theft or damage at their loved one’s gravesite, columbarium, mausoleum, or monument, they should contact the cemetery operator and the local police or OPP.

Reporting and support

If you discover theft or vandalism, have questions, or need assistance, please also contact us at the BAO Licensing Unit:

• Call 1-844-493-6356;
• Email Licensing@TheBAO.ca.

About the BAO

The Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO) is a government delegated authority and not-for-profit corporation administering provisions of the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, 2002 (FBCSA). Accountable to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement and the government, the BAO is responsible for the protection of the public interest. The BAO regulates, ensures compliance with the law, provides resources and services to licensed: 

• Funeral establishment operators, directors and preplanners;
• Cemetery, crematorium and alternative disposition operators;
• Transfer service operators; and
• Bereavement sector sales representatives across Ontario.

The BAO is wholly funded by licensee fees (not tax dollars).