Frequently Asked Questions

Mount Pleasant Group was established in 1826, which means we mark our 200^th anniversary in 2026! Our sites were established as follows:

• Potter’s Field: 1826 (closed in 1875)
• Toronto Necropolis: 1850
• Mount Pleasant Cemetery: 1876
• Prospect Cemetery: 1890
• Pine Hills Cemetery: 1928
• York Cemetery: 1948
• Beechwood Cemetery: 1965
• Elgin Mills Cemetery: 1979
• Meadowvale Cemetery: 1981
• Thornton Cemetery: 1984
• Duffin Meadows Cemetery: 1993
• The Simple Alternative Toronto: 1989
• The Simple Alternative Mississauga: 1996
• The Simple Alternative Pickering: 2001

Mount Pleasant Cemetery is the largest, spanning 205 acres. It runs from Yonge Street to Bayview Avenue, just north of St. Clair Avenue.

MPG’s story began in the early 1800s, when Toronto was known as the Town of York. Back then, only Anglicans and Roman Catholics could be buried in 'authorized' cemeteries. In 1826, we opened our first cemetery, Potter’s Field, to offer all families a dignified place to lay loved ones to rest, regardless of faith. Read the full story of our origins here. 

Based on data from the end of 2024, we have approximately 738,685 interments at our sites. That includes: 

• Potter's Field of Muddy York: 6,685
• Toronto Necropolis: 66,000
• Mount Pleasant: 213,000
• Prospect: 172,000
• Pine Hills: 119,000
• York: 63,000
• Beechwood: 32,000
• Elgin Mills: 24,000
• Meadowvale: 23,000
• Thornton: 13,000
• Duffin Meadows: 7,000

Our cemeteries are the resting place of many notable Canadians, including former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada’s first female surgeon Jennie Smillie-Robinson, renowned CBC broadcaster Barbara Frum, Métis artist Youngfox, former NDP leader Jack Layton, speed skating icon Percy Johnson, renowned pianist Glenn Gould and Tim Horton. You can explore all of the notable figures buried at our sites using the Notable Figure search on our Find a Grave tool.  

No. Visiting the installations is absolutely free. You can spend as much time as you would like with them. Please note that from April 1 to October 31, cemetery gates will be open daily from 8AM-8PM and from November 1 to March 31, they are open 8AM to 5:30PM.  

Installations will be installed at various points throughout 2026 and will remain there for the entire year and potentially longer. Keep checking our website for more details. 

Every deceased person brought into our care is valued and important to us. Every person’s life certainly has a story. In a manner fitting for our 200^th anniversary, we’ve compiled these 200 stories from those of the more than 700,000 decedents interred across the 10 cemeteries of the Mount Pleasant Group today. The 200 Stories Project was never intended as a list of the most important or most famous individuals interred in our cemeteries. Instead, the goal was to create a representative snapshot of Toronto and Canada’s evolution over the past 200 years – one that captures visionaries, everyday community members, innovators, activists, artists and, at times, individuals whose lives reflect the more difficult parts of our shared past. 

Out of more than 700,000 decedents, these stories were selected because they help illustrate the breadth, diversity, and complexity of the people connected to Mount Pleasant Group’s cemeteries. Each selected story contributes something meaningful to the larger mosaic: an insight into a particular era, a window into our social or political history, or an example of how individual lives – ordinary or extraordinary – have shaped the city we know today. 

Our historians and researchers reviewed archival materials, public records, and leveraged staff and community inputs to curate a set of stories that collectively reflect Toronto’s multifaceted past. These 200 stories capture the richness and variety of our history. 

While we believe some stories will certainly inspire readers, it is not our goal to celebrate historical wrongs or injustices. Like a mirror, we’re here to reflect in as honest and accurate a way possible. The 200 Stories Project is rooted in the belief that telling the truth of history matters – even when that history is uncomfortable, contested or painful. Toronto’s story, like Canada’s, includes both inspiring progress and troubling injustices. To omit the individuals who contributed to those harms would be to present an incomplete and inaccurate account of our past. 

Including stories of people who caused harm is part of acknowledging that the development of our city and country has always been shaped by a mixture of idealism, ambition, conflict, power and inequity. Their legacies – however troubling – have influenced political systems, social structures, communities and the lived experiences of generations of people. Understanding that history honestly helps us critically examine the systems and attitudes that allowed harm to occur, many of which still shape society today. 

Just as death itself does not discriminate, Mount Pleasant Group’s cemeteries hold the stories of all kinds of people. Our commitment is to tell those stories accurately, fairly and responsibly, while acknowledging the profound impacts – positive and negative – that these individuals had on the world we live in. Remembering both the idealized and the imperfect voices of our past is essential to building a more informed and thoughtful future.