Religions, beliefs, culture, and even local history influence what Canadians — especially immigrants — think should happen to the body after death. These beliefs and traditions surrounding death could impact medical research opportunities. In Ontario, medical schools depend on donated bodies to train future medical professionals. ‘Body donation’ involves a whole body given to schools of anatomy for educational and research purposes. Western University in London, Ont., is among the Canadian universities feeling the impacts of a lack of body donations, reporting that cadaver availability is down by 20 per cent during the COVID pandemic. Medical schools have been scrambling for bodies and even resorting to synthetic alternatives to continue their studies. Although cadaveric whole-body donations are of utmost importance for medical education, the number of persons who choose to donate bodies remains low. Organ donors, on the other hand, have more willing participants. According to a survey conducted by Ipsos Reid, 81 per cent of Canadian respondents are willing to donate their organs after death. Although most are willing and support the idea, the survey found that only 54 per cent actually carry documentation that indicates their consent to organ donation and 39 per cent have not discussed with their families their wishes when it comes to organ donation. Immigrants in Canada mostly stay clear of whole-body donations, and their numbers hardly make a dent in body supplies. Most of them owe allegiance to their faiths, religious practices and culture which do not encourage body donations. According to 2017 study, families of immigrants in Ontario are less likely to provide consent for organ donation compared with families of longterm residents (46.4 per cent versus 68.8 per cent). Another study shows that immigrants were much less likely to register for deceased organ and tissue donation in Ontario (11.9 per cent versus 26.5 per cent). The largest numbers of unregistered immigrants were from India, China and the Philippines. Respect for dead bodies manifests itself in diverse ways in different cultures. According to Nazira Tareen, a prominent community builder and spiritual caregiver of Ottawa’s Muslim community, Muslims do not donate bodies for religious reasons. “[The] Quran wants bodies to be interred as soon as possible after death. Islam forbids defilement of the body whether by dissection, removal of tissues or organs. A dead body deserves dignity with a timely burial,said Tareen. “We pay spiritual importance to an ‘intact’ body by following the standard practices of shrouding the body with five yards of white cloth and a coffin,” according to Tareen. Another study with interviews and focus groups about Chinese Canadian beliefs toward organ donation found that among its participants, religion or spiritual beliefs, a lack of knowledge about donation, and generational impressions of organ donation were factors that influenced decisions on organ donation after death. The study notably found that values and beliefs about keeping a body intact after death is a major barrier to organ donation. “There’s a saying in Chinese that in order to rest in peace, one needs to have everything intact in the body after one is dead. So if you take away something and then it’s considered to be something missing after death, then the person would not enjoy good after death or after life”, explains a participant of Chinese descent, interviewed for the study. A similar study among Indo-Canadians in British Columbia also found religion and beliefs about dying and death could influence decision-making in organ donation. The study also highlights that Indo-Canadians have little information and are not familiar with the B.C. system of registering as an organ donor, which could constitute a hurdle. According to some participants, language could possibly be another barrier, as presentations about organ donation in B.C. are not provided in Hindi. Vijay Dhavale, an Indian-born Canadian — who is a four-time recipient of two prestigious Government medals — chose to donate his parents’ bodies to medical colleges (in 2006 and 2009) and also donated his wife’s body in 2019. Dhavale, who has been in Canada for 49 years and is currently based in Ottawa, is a Hindu. “My family believed in being useful even after death. In my will, I have asked that my body be donated for learning purposes.” Dhavale said his decision to go for body donations was influenced by the example of Sage Dadhchi (a figure in Hinduism) who willingly gave up his life so that Lord Brahma (God of creation in Hinduism) could fashion weapons from his bones to defeat the demons.