Remains from 'ancient' Indigenous burial ground found in North Riverdale: Toronto police

A construction crew working on a project in the heart of Toronto stumbled on a surprise late last week when its members unearthed "ancient" human remains from an Indigenous burial ground, the city has confirmed. 

Police said the remains were located on Withrow Avenue, which is in the city's North Riverdale neighbourhood, around 12:30 p.m. Friday. 

An anthropologist brought in by police identified them as being from the burial ground, which is marked in the area, according to police. 

Police are on scene to preserve the bones while awaiting further instruction from the anthropologist. A city spokesperson says construction at the site has been paused while the anthropologist investigates the remains. 

The remains were found near the Withrow Avenue Junior Public School, which sits on a site of Indigenous encampments where a 7,000-year-old spear was once found, according to a 2021 city planning document on the Danforth Avenue area that comprises Greektown. 

The area has been known to be an archeological site since at least 1886, when it's reported that crews excavating the initial construction of Withrow Avenue found communal gravesites in the area. 

Toronto sits on the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples.