In March 2014, Dr. Dirk Huyer was appointed Chief Coroner for Ontario.
Dr. Huyer received his medical degree from the University of Toronto in 1986. He has served as a coroner in Ontario since 1992 and served as Regional Supervising Coroner for the Regions of Peel and Halton, as well as the Counties of Simcoe and Wellington. He has been involved in over 5,000 coroner’s investigations. He has specific expertise in the medical evaluation of child maltreatment and has worked with the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Program at the Hospital for Sick Children.
In partnership with Ontario’s Chief Forensic Pathologist, Dr. Michael Pollanen, in 2015 the Office of the Chief Coroner and Ontario’s Forensic Pathology Service delivered the province’s first unified strategic plan for Ontario’s Death Investigation System. Outlining the strategic direction for the organization for the next five years, a key priority is to provide high quality services that are responsive to Ontario’s diverse needs, both culturally and geographically. This includes a commitment to engaging with Indigenous leadership and community members for the purpose of enhancing death investigation services to their communities.
Recognizing the importance of finding answers regarding deaths that occurred at Indian Residential Schools and potential unmarked burials, Dr. Huyer has developed a community-directed approach to assisting in this endeavour. He has implemented a dedicated team of investigating officers and analytics support to assist communities in trying to determine what happened to their loved ones who did not come home as well as a province-wide approach to unmarked burials.