Over 75% of Canadians choose to cremate their loved ones every year. A great percentage of them choose to scatter the ashes of their loved ones. For some, it’s fulfilling their loved one’s final wish; for some, it’s a financial decision. But why do people have mixed feelings about scattering ashes?
Scattering ashes may take away your opportunity to grieve and heal, and the psychological consequences can be severe. You lose your chance to establish a family legacy and step into legal gray areas where you risk being fined. Also, there are severe adverse environmental impacts of spreading cremated remains without proper management, such as water and soil contamination.
In 2015, the rising cost of burials forced a large number of people in Greater Vancouver to scatter their loved one’s ashes in public spaces. This was a cause of alarm, for both legal and environmental reasons. Although the legal aspect of scattering ashes has slackened quite a bit over the years, the emotional and environmental consequences of it are quite severe. In this article, we will take a look at 8 reasons why you may regret scattering your loved one’s ashes.
8 Things That Can Go Wrong When Scattering Ashes
Scattering cremated remains is now a common practice, especially after burial plots and cremation niches have skyrocketed in price. Now, many people spread their loved ones’ ashes across places of significance. However, this practice has consequences, and not all of them can be felt personally. Here are 8 things you may regret after scattering the ashes of your loved one:
Adverse Impact On Soil
Cremated remains retain their potent chemical properties, which may endanger local soil ecosystems of the lower mainland. Research shows that cremated remains are highly alkaline and rich in sodium, a composition that threatens the natural balance of Canadian soils. In regions such as the Fraser Valley, soil chemistry is critical for native plant survival, concentrated deposits of ashes can inhibit plant growth and alter the habitat for beneficial microorganisms. Such alterations may lead to decreased soil fertility and long‐term ecological imbalances.
Gray Legal Areas
Legal regulations for the disposition of cremated remains differ significantly across Canadian provinces and territories. Restrictions regarding scattering cremated remains have been lifted mostly, but in many areas, you can only scatter ashes under certain conditions. You’ll likely find online that you can spread the ashes of your loved one on crown lands without a permit, but that rule does not apply to national parks near Greater Vancouver.
National parks may let you scatter cremated remains without a permit, but you have to agree to at least 6 conditions. In most parks, you must:
- Choose a location that is approximately 30 metres away from trails, day-use areas, roads, campgrounds, and facilities.
- Avoid areas of cultural significance.
- Avoid scattering ashes within 30 meters of bodies of water.
- Not leave any memorial items such as flowers, plants, containers, identification discs or cards behind.
- Choose a quiet season and time to bury.
- Follow all applicable federal and provincial regulations.
Failure to follow the specific regulations that apply to each memorial park can result in hefty fines. So, you’ll likely have to spend a large amount of time researching regulations for each national park or run the risk of scattering the ashes.
Cultural And Religious Boundaries
Religious and cultural traditions in Canada underscore the importance of treating human remains with utmost reverence. Many Canadian communities, particularly those with strong Catholic, Orthodox, or Indigenous traditions, view the scattering of cremains as inconsistent with sacred burial rites. For example, the Vatican mandates that cremated remains be interred in a cemetery or a columbarium niche, emphasizing a fixed place of remembrance. Such practices honour the belief in the resurrection of the body and provide a specific sacred site for ongoing spiritual commemoration.
Losing A Chance To Grieve
Another reason why you should reconsider scattering ashes in Canada is the permanence of memorial sites. Many families in Greater Vancouver invest considerable time and resources into creating a tangible focal point for remembrance. Because a burial plot or niche provides a safe space for people to come back to, it provides the opportunity for the grief-stricken to mourn the loss of their loved ones.
However, once you scatter your loved one’s ashes, you lose the opportunity to preserve a permanent memorial. You lose the opportunity to grieve how you wanted. You lose the safe space where you could feel your loved one’s presence, and come to terms with your loss.
Losing Family Legacy
When you choose a permanent burial option, such as a grave or columbarium niche for your family members, you have the chance to create a family legacy. You can leave a lasting legacy, one that future generations can visit to reconnect with their heritage. You can create a family identity, powerful family history and culture while providing future generations with a goal that is larger than themselves. Essentially, you offer your future generations a chance to feel pride, confidence, and purpose, and give them a tangible presence in the world.
Scattering your family member’s ashes instead robs you of the option entirely. You lose the ability to propagate your family culture. Fixed burial options such as graves and burial urns provide a physical marker for your family history, and you no longer have that option. This is a consequence that you can likely never recover from.
Potential Water Pollution
The lower mainland’s great lakes and other waterways require careful protection from pollutants. Water is an abundant but vital resource for life, and contaminating it has dire consequences. Legally speaking, you can scatter cremated remains on any waterway so long as you avoid areas frequented by wildlife and people. However, you must use biodegradable urns and consult local authorities about bylaws that may protect certain high-traffic or ecologically sensitive areas.
When you scatter ashes in these aquatic environments, their inherently alkaline nature can disturb the water’s pH balance. Such chemical alterations risk triggering eutrophication, which is an over-enrichment of nutrients that causes harmful algal blooms and depletes oxygen levels in the water. The resulting impact on aquatic life can extend far beyond the initial scattering site, affecting entire ecosystems that are critical for both environmental health and recreational activities.
Risk To Public Safety
Scattering ashes may also lead to the loss of safety and public health controls if spread from high altitude areas. Although Greater Vancouver does not consider cremated ashes to be hazardous materials, their fine particulate form can pose risks if they become airborne. Cremated remains are essentially fine bone dust, a collection of calcium phosphates and carbonates. If inhaled, they act as irritants and may trigger mild to severe asphyxiation.
In the cold Canadian climate, wind-blown particles might remain suspended for longer periods, increasing the chance of accidental inhalation. Uncontrolled dispersion can also result in uneven accumulation, creating localized concentrations that may irritate respiratory systems or affect nearby populations, especially children and sensitive individuals.
Losing The Chance To Heal
The funeral process is a way to bid your loved ones goodbye, but the process is not complete. You and most others will go through 7 stages of grief, and require time to heal and accept the loss. Otherwise, the tokens and memories our loved ones left behind become a source of deepening emotional pain.
Many who have scattered the ashes of their loved ones have later reported feeling they have ‘lost’ that person or left them behind forever. While you may no longer be able to interact with your loved one directly, being in their presence helps at moments when you need them. Scattering ashes leaves behind no physical markers or places where you can go at such times, leaving you vulnerable and distressed. If you’ve spread your loved one’s ashes in a hard-to-reach spot, you won’t be able to visit easily and may not get closure.
You do not get to choose twice. Once you’ve scattered your loved one’s ashes, they are gone. The issues stated here are far from comprehensive, and your regret cannot undo that. So, before you choose to scatter cremated remains, you should consult experts and consider permanent burial options.
Bakerview Memorial Cemetery. Where Excellence Meets A Century Of Expertise.
Our staff at Bakerview Memorial Cemetery has over a century of collective experience in burials. We have expertise in every culture and religious practice in the lower mainland, and we always honour your loved one’s life, principles, and vision by creating the perfect memorial for them. And since we are Metro Vancouver’s newest cemetery, we offer abundant spaces such as family estates and memorial gardens for you to build a family legacy.
At Bakerview, traditional burial spaces start at 300/month and cremation spaces start at just 99/month, with a deposit. With no interest in a 3-year plan, you don’t have to worry about the financial viability of a permanent burial option anymore. So, if you’re already looking for cremation burial services in Greater Vancouver, reconsider scattering your loved ones’ ashes. Call us at (604) 856-0330 today.
Conclusion
No one wants to ponder death so we either keep pushing the thought back or never reconsider our choices till it’s too late. Unfortunately, some choices can never be taken back. Many who have scattered their loved one’s ashes have come to regret it dearly. So don’t risk your mental well-being, and choose burials that help you heal better.
Published: January 12, 2025
