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Nor can these spaces be re-appropriated for other means. Just ask Barry Slawsky, a B.C. resident who fought a multi-year battle to build on a private island he owned off the coast of B.C., which some believe is the site of an ancient aboriginal burial ground. In other words, forget about putting land containing old human remains to productive use for the rest of eternity.

It’s true that Canada is a large country with a relatively small population. If we shipped all our deceased to some place no one cares about — like, say, rural Saskatchewan — it likely wouldn’t be a problem for quite some time. But many cities are quickly running out of space, which is steadily driving up costs.

Many of Calgary’s public cemeteries filled up years ago. And housing is not the only commodity that has become unaffordable in Vancouver: cemetery space in Metro Vancouver is in such short supply an in-ground plot for two caskets can cost a grieving family well over $50,000, while a double crypt mausoleum can cost more than $60,000.

Moreover, given that any land used to house the dead necessarily takes away space that could be used to house the living, young families should be angry that they’re paying an average of $1.5 million for a dwelling in Metro Vancouver, while granny gets to keep that plot of land she purchased for rock-bottom prices during the Great Depression for the rest of time.

This problem is not unique to Canada: a 2013 survey by the BBC found that nearly half the graveyards in the U.K. would be filled to capacity in the next 20 years. The problem is even more acute in densely populated countries, some of which have had to think outside the box to find ways to store the dead more efficiently.