Saskatoon's Woodlawn Cemetery is running out of burial sites, report says

Saskatoon's planning committee has approved in principle a 257-page master plan for the future of Woodlawn Cemetery.

Among other objectives, the plan is meant to guide the development of the remaining undeveloped areas at the cemetery. It also looks at developing new cemetery lands so the city can continue to provide cemetery services for the next 125-150 years.

"Woodlawn Cemetery is approaching an important threshold. Much of the current interment inventory at the Cemetery is in limited supply," says the report by Lees + Associates.

Only two to three years of developed, traditional in-ground burial lots are currently available for sale, along with one to two years of cremation lots and one to two years of columbaria niches, the firm says.

"While there is the potential to develop new cremation burial inventory to last several decades, it is estimated that Woodlawn Cemetery only has the potential to develop 25 years of sales of traditional in-ground burial.

"In addition, it is expected that the City’s population will grow to nearly half a million people over the next 30-40 years, and that Woodlawn Cemetery will experience increasing demand for cemetery services and increasing numbers of interments."

Saskatoon's population is expected to increase by roughly 60 per cent over the next 25 years to over 445,000 people, largely through immigration from Asia, India and Pakistan, according to the report. The city will also see growing Indigenous (11 per cent) and Asian populations (13 per cent.)

To meet the demand, the report recommends:

• The construction of the northern burial area of the cemetery, providing 25 years' worth of inventory. Burial inventory could expand to 34 years with an infill strategy.
• Building a west cremation garden and infill cremation options including columbaria walks in developed sections of the cemetery, allowing the cemetery to be operational for cremation services for at least 60 years.

Phase 1, which includes the start of construction of the northern burial area and various site improvements, would cost around $1.6 million.

The total cost for all the recommendations over 60 years is $7 million.

The report also says the city should acquire a parcel of at least 30 acres for a new cemetery, which would serve families for the next 125-150 years. Its target opening would be 2040.

The plan will go to city council for final approval.