Shortly after the Titanic sank the White Star Line chartered four Canadian vessels; two Halifax-based cableships, the MacKay-Bennett and the Minia, a Canadian government vessel Montmagny and a St. John's-based Bowring vessel, Algerine. There were 328 bodies recovered, with 209 being returned to Halifax; the badly damaged, or deteriorated bodies were buried at sea. Of the 119 buried at sea, about 60 were unidentified at the time and 49 remain unidentified.

Once victims were returned to Halifax, a temporary morgue was set up in the Mayflower Curling Rink near the northwest corner of Agricola and McCully Streets. From there, identified bodies were shipped out to families' or interred in Halifax according to families' wishes. The Halifax Deputy Registrar of Deaths, John Henry Barnstead, supervised the handling of victims, with all personal effects kept in small canvas bags, numbered to match the body number assigned at sea. Careful records of the artifacts were kept and can be inspected today at the Public Archives of Nova Scotia. J. H. Barnstead's son, Arthur S., was to be appointed head of the Mortuary Committee five-and-a-half years later after the devastating Explosion in Halifax Harbour when Halifax and Dartmouth had 10 times as many victims to deal with.

Ultimately 150 Titanic victims were buried in ceremonies from May 3, to June 12, 1912. Nineteen are in the Mount Olivet Catholic Cemetery, ten are in the Baron de Hirsch Jewish Cemetery, and 121 are in the Fairview Lawn Cemetery. Of these, 44 remain unidentified.