Densification comes to us all: Strangers now allowed to share graves at Vancouver's only cemetery

Daryl Peloquin never imagined he would dig anyone's grave growing up — a job he's done for the last 30 years now, although he rarely tells people what he does for a living. 

As acting foreman at Vancouver's Mountain View Cemetery, Peloquin is in charge everything from preparing gravesites to digging the holes and lowering the coffins. 

"I don't like talking about it because people don't really understand," said Peloquin, 56. "It's a lot of back work, digging and multitasking."

He also digs up bodies if they need to be exhumed — an infrequent task but not for the faint of heart — which has sent some cemetery employees running in the past, he said.

Over the decades, Peloquin has dug many of the 92,000 graves at Vancouver's only cemetery. "I've been doing the job so long it's become automatic," he said.

"You get desensitized [to death], I guess. I'm still sensitive but I just don't let it really affect me."

Peloquin, who once worked in logging and for the railways, was drawn to the job's security and benefits, and the chance to work outdoors.

Space at premium

The graves Peloquin digs at Mountain View are not cheap — the price tag for a gravesite at the 42-hectare cemetery is nearly $30,000 — because, like other land in the city, graveyard space is limited.

However, the city of Vancouver is attempting to address the squeeze by approving changes aimed at increasing the density of the cemetery.

Those changes would, among other things, allow strangers to share grave spaces. The cemetery previously allowed family members to share a site, but now unrelated people can also share a spot. 

The city's changes would also permit more people to be buried in one site. Previously, the number of caskets was limited to two in a 40-year period.

"The same economic pressures that work in real estate also apply in terms of cemetery space," said cemetery manager Glen Hodges. 

Before the new bylaw, the cemetery had about 400 spaces left — a shortage of space other graveyards in the Lower Mainland also face, according to Hodges. 

Marking a memory 

Sharing a grave reduces the cost for individuals, Hodges said, because it's split among the people buried there — not that different from people getting roommates and sharing the rent. 

Right now, a casket space with a headstone at Mountain View costs more than $27,500. Underground interment spaces for those who are cremated, while cheaper, still run into the thousands of dollars. 

Despite the cost, burials and grave markers at cemeteries are still in demand because, for many people, a physical gravesite is a way to mark a loved one's memory.

Weekly conversations 

Every week, Alan Siddons visits the spot where his wife is buried. She passed away from cancer last year after 20 years of marriage. 

On a sunny morning earlier this month, Siddons set up a fold-up chair in front of her gravestone — a spot he selected near a cherry  tree overlooking the city — and talked aloud to her. 

The one-way conversation was about the day-to-day. Siddons told her about the mechanical problems with his car and the Christmas gift he's chosen for his sister. "I miss her so much," he said, tears pooling in his eyes. 

He said it's important that one day they'll be buried together.

Witness to grief

For gravedigger Peloquin, witnessing grief is part of his daily job.  "You can't get involved because you're there to do a job," he said. 

Ultimately, digging graves and dealing with death is just that — a job. But it's brought Peloquin stability and gainful employment over the years. 

"It's not as scary as it seems," he said. 

But after being around death so much, Peloquin said, he plans to be cremated when his time comes — and not buried.