Elmbank Cemetery once located near the runway at Toronto’s Pearson International airport

Elmbank Cemetery: A Lost Burial Ground Beneath the Tarmac

Originally opened in 1833, Elmbank Cemetery served as the final resting place for many of the earliest Catholic settlers in rural Malton, a community located northeast of present-day Toronto. For over a century, it stood as a quiet marker of early Irish and Catholic immigrant life in Ontario.

But as the Greater Toronto Area grew, so did the infrastructure around it. In 1939, Elmbank Cemetery was officially closed, and over time, the landscape around it transformed dramatically. What was once a rural burial ground eventually became completely enclosed within the grounds of Lester B. Pearson International Airport, Canada’s busiest airport.

With airport expansion and security considerations in mind, a major relocation effort was undertaken. Between 2000 and 2004, the cemetery was carefully exhumed and relocated to Assumption Cemetery in nearby Mississauga. This sensitive operation ensured that the remains of those early settlers were respectfully moved and reinterred, preserving their memory in a more accessible and peaceful setting.