Certification of the absence of contagious diseases in human ashes after flame-based cremation

This certification is based on the Québec legislation regarding the flame-based cremation process and the following elements:

  • The combustion process eliminates all organs and tissue;
  • The ashes contain only bone residues and non-organic particles;
  • The public health bodies, such as the World Health Organization and the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, consider that the temperatures reached during flame-based cremation deactivate and destroy all infectious agents, including prions.

Legislation regarding the flame-based cremation process

In Québec, two regulations govern the flame-based cremation process:

  1. The Regulation respecting the application of the Funeral Operations Act This hyperlink will open in a new window.
    Section 117 of this regulation requires that the cremation of a body must be carried out in a manner that completely eliminates all organs and soft tissue, to the centre of the bones and skull. This section is in force since January 1, 2019.
  2. The Clean Air Regulation  This hyperlink will open in a new window. (Chapter Q-2, r. 4.1)
    Sections 108, 125 and 127 of this regulation require:
    • that a crematorium have a primary combustion chamber and at least one secondary combustion chamber;
    • that the gases reaching the last secondary combustion chamber must be brought to a temperature greater than 1,000°C for at least one second.

For more information

Information for Funeral and Crematory Practitioners This hyperlink will open in a new window.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

WHO infection control guidelines for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies This hyperlink will open in a new window.. Report of a WHO consultation, Geneva, Switzerland, 23-26 March 1999
World Health Organization

Guidance for Importation of Human Remains into the United States for Interment or Subsequent Cremation This hyperlink will open in a new window.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Memorandum D19-9-3 - Importation and exportation of human remains and other human tissues  This hyperlink will open in a new window.
Canada Border Services Agency