Aquamation — also called alkaline hydrolysis, water cremation, resomation, or bio-cremation — comes up often in conversations about lower-impact end-of-life options, including among families near Ottawa exploring alternatives to conventional burial. (For how it compares with burial options across the province, see our complete guide to green burial in Ontario.) It is not permitted in every province — British Columbia does not currently allow it. It belongs in that conversation, but it's a different category of disposition than green burial: it reduces the body, the way flame cremation does, rather than returning it to the earth intact.
How It Works
The process takes place in a sealed stainless steel vessel filled with a solution of roughly 95 percent water and 5 percent potassium hydroxide. Gentle heat and circulation accelerate the same breakdown that happens naturally in soil, without any combustion. Depending on the system, it takes between four and eighteen hours. What's left afterward is bone mineral, processed into a fine white powder and returned to the family — similar to flame-cremated ashes, though usually somewhat greater in volume.
Is It Legal in Ontario?
Yes. Ontario legalized aquamation in May 2015, making it one of the first provinces to do so, alongside Saskatchewan, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Northwest Territories — currently the only five Canadian jurisdictions where it's permitted. The Bereavement Authority of Ontario regulates it under the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, 2002, where it's defined as its own distinct category rather than folded into flame cremation. The framework is still relatively young in the province — in 2017, the BAO revoked one funeral home's licence over how it was operating a low-temperature machine — worth knowing mainly as context for how new all of this still is.
Where It's Available Near Ottawa
Availability remains limited compared to conventional cremation, but it does exist locally. The Funeral Co-operative of Ottawa offers aquamation to its members. Pilon Family Funeral Home in Arnprior, serving the Ottawa Valley, added the service in 2020. As with any provider, it's worth confirming current availability, process details and pricing directly, since equipment and licensing can change.
Aquamation vs. Green Burial: Different Kinds of "Green"
The two get grouped together often, but they answer different questions. Aquamation is a substantially lower-impact way to cremate — estimates range from roughly a 75 to 95 percent reduction in carbon emissions compared to flame cremation, depending on the study — but the outcome is still processed remains, not an intact body returned to the soil. Green burial's environmental case rests specifically on that direct return: no reduction, no vault, no chemicals, just natural decomposition in the ground. For families whose priority is that principle, aquamation isn't a substitute for it — it's a meaningfully greener form of cremation, which is its own, separate thing. We go deeper on this distinction in Green Burial vs. Cremation: Which Is Actually Greener?
Cost
Where it's offered, aquamation is typically priced in a similar range to flame cremation, though this varies by provider. As one reference point, a provider serving Southern Ontario publicly lists aquamation at roughly $1,993 total — useful as a benchmark, not a quote, since exact pricing depends on the funeral home and what's included.
See which Canadian cemeteries actually allow direct earth burial.
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