Burch retired to Toronto, where he died in 1950. "Montreal Gazette" sportswriter Tommy Shields praised Burch as a quality NHL player: "He broke in and played in the days when the going was rough and a player had to be good to stick. If you didn't make it, there was no going back to the amateur ranks. Billy turned pro and never looked back. He was a major leaguer all the way." He was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1974.