Resources in Canada — Post-Death Page

As pan-death alternatives are a very new development in Canada, we have only listed those which we are aware of.We hope to be able to eventually provide links to specific information for each of the provinces and territories.If you are aware of an alternative death-care service being offered in your area, please let us know at contact us.   Information on the actual pan-death process (what/when/where/how) is covered under the Post-death Care/Home Funerals page.

One of CINDEA's mandates is to bridge the gap between pre-death and post-death services — services that are rarely directly connected.We recognize that we are enforcing that gap by offering pre-death and post-death resources on separate pages of this site.However, it was necessary to avoid the Resources in Canada pages from becoming too long.We hope that you will consider both the pre-death and post-death pages when looking for resources to plan your end-of-life affairs.Alternative death-care providers are listed in the brighter blue text.

CINDEA has a formal recognition process for Death Midwives, Death Doulas/Thanadoulas, and Home Funeral Guides.    CINDEA-recognized Death Midwives are acknowledged by the symbol to the right.

Please contact us if you wish to be recognized in any of these roles on our CINDEA Recognition page.

Table of Contents for Canadian Resources

(click on any of the headings or sub-headings below to jump to that section)
(For pre-death resources, click here)

Throughout the pan-death process Death Midwifery and related services     CANADABritish Columbia Primarily during/post death care

At-home Post-death Care & Home Funeral Guides     CANADA British Columbia Nova ScotiaOntario     Legal Information and Regulations   CANADA by Province and Territory     Further Post-death Care Information     Funeral Consumer InformationInstructional Videos/Films Other Useful Information and Supports     Funeral Celebrants CANADA British ColumbiaOntario Quebec

Natural/Green Burials (including Green Cremation, ashes spreading, burial at sea, etc.)   CANADA AlbertaBritish ColumbiaOntario Additional more Natural/Green-friendly options for Remains     Eco-friendly Coffins/Shroud/Urns   Funeral/Memorial Poems   On-line Memorial Services     Grief/Bereavement Counselling     CANADA by province and territory

Throughout the Pan-Death process

Death Midwifery — offering direct and integrated support to Death Journeyers and their families from terminal diagnosis, through dying process, and to funeral/memorial and bereavement

CANADA

	CINDEA — Canadian Integrative Network for Death Education and Alternatives — see the Death Midwifery page for for a description of the Death Midwife, and the other services focusing on one specific facet of the pan-death process (Death Doula, Home Funeral Guide, Funeral Celebrants) Email:contact@cindea.ca
	Death Midwifery Canada — support egroup for those involved in some aspects of the development of Death Midwifery in Canada (contact us to subscribe)

British Columbia

Journeying Beyond — Victoria — Death Midwifery and related services Email: contact@beyonds.ca or phone Pashta MaryMoon (250) 383-4065; phone or Skype consultation also available

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Post-Death

At-Home Post-Death Care and Home Funeral Guides — 'Home Funerals' may involve keeping the body at home after death, or returning it there from a hospital, hospice or long-term care facility (which is legal in most provinces); washing/dressing/etc. the body; and having viewings/wakes/vigils at home, as an option to using a funeral home

General

Home Funeral Directory — Canada and U.S.A. — listings of Home Funeral Services by province/state

British Columbia

Journeying Beyond — Victoria — Death Midwifery (including Home Funerals) and related services — Email: contact@beyonds.ca or phone Pashta MaryMoon (250) 383-4065; phone or Skype consultation also available

Nova Scotia

Beyond Yonder — Cape Breton — Home Funeral Guide services — Cassandra Yonder is available by phone, email or Skype for consultation TeL: (902) 929-2578Email:beyondyonder@deathmidwifery.ca

Ontario

	Funeral Alternatives — Hamilton — Home Funeral Guide services — Rochelle Martin is available by phone or email for consultation TeL: (905) 746-3074Email: funeralalternatives@gmail.com and Facebook page
	Barb Phillips — Cobourg — Thanadoula, offering pan-death education and support to families for advance-care planning, home funerals, and funeral celebrant services

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Legal Information and Regulations

CANADA

	Vital Statistics — Death Certificate
	Funeral Boards — links and/or contact information for most provinces
	Canadian Consumers Handbook — re funerals and links to each province/territory's branch
	Directory of Chief Coroners in Canada — all provinces and territories
	Deaths in the Community or Long Term Care Institutions — study on all provinces and territories

by Province and Territory      
[Note 1: we have included links for Consumer Protection Services and the office of the Coroner or Chief Medical Examiner, because they may be the best source of information for choosing to do post-death care yourself — including whether or not a permit is required to transport your deceased loved one.]  
[Note 2: if you choose to deal with post-death care at home, including all documents/forms — given that our culture is used to having a funeral home formally deal with things, such as Registration of Death — you will need to clarify to your Vital Statistics office that you are not using one and ask for the forms that the funeral home would usually address.   Ask for a supervisor at the Vital Statistics office, or someone who knows the law regarding not using the assistance of a funeral home.]

	Alberta	Government "Dealing with Death", Registration of Death Death Certificate, and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
	British Columbia	Government pages on "Dealing with Death", Expected/Planned Home Deaths, Notification of Expected Death in the Home, Registration of Death and Death Certificate, Consumer Protection info re Funerals (including information on burying on private property), Consumer Protection Information for families who do not plan to use a funeral home & Private Transfer Permit (of deceased) info (second last bullet), Consumer Protection contact info, Funeral Service Association, and Coroners Service
	Manitoba	Government "Dealing with Death", Registration of Death Funeral Board (including clarification that you don't need to use a commercial Funeral Home — #5), Death Certificate and How to apply, Consumer Protection contact info, and The Role of the Chief Medical Examiner's Office
	Newfoundland/Labrador	Death Certificate, and Coroner's Service
	New Brunswick	Death Certificate, and Coroner Services
	North West Territories	Government - Death Registration, Talking About End of Life Care Booklets (several pdfs, including Traditional options), Death Certificate (direct pdf download), and Coroner's Service
	Nova Scotia	What to Do When Someone Dies, Death Certificate, and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
	Nunavut	Death Certificate, and email for Office of the Chief Coroner
	Ontario	What to do when someone dies (info), Funeral Board PDF Brochures (which include information re non-funeral home options) or Arranging and Pre-arranging a Funeral: What You Need to Know Booket (direct pdf download), Funeral Board FAQs (including clarification that you don't need to use a funeral home), Death Registration — Statement of Death, Death Certificate and How to Apply, and Coroner's Office (Ask for or download 1. Warrant to Take Possession of the Body of a Deceased Person, and 2. Warrant to Bury the Body of a Deceased Person)
	Prince Edward Island	Death Certificate, and Coroner
	Quebec	Government re general death information, What to do in the event of Death (including a pdf guide to death issues), Death Certificate, and Office of the coroner (we couldn't find the English version, but you can google the page and have it translated)
	Saskatchewan	Government "Dealing with Death", Further information on Death, Registration of Death, Death Certificate, Consumer Protection , and Office of the Chief Coroner
	Yukon	Government Death-related services, Death Certificate, and Coroner's Service

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Further Post-Death Care Information

Canadian Funeral Consumer Information

	Funeral Consumer Alliance Canada — information on memorial societies and other organizations offering clarification of the funeral industry
	Canadian Funerals OnLine Guide and Directory of providers — information (by province and territory) on funeral homes and the funeral industry
	Canadian Consumer Handbook — Funerals — general information re the funeral industry

Instructional Videos/Films

	Home Funeral Videos Archive — videos on various elements of Post-Death Care/Home Funerals
	Natural Transitions — video overview of Home Funerals. as well as other resources
	Washing the body — YouTube video, thanks to Beyond Hospice [Note: Muslims also have several YouTube videos on washing and shrouding the body]
	Moving the Body — YouTube video, thanks to Beyond Hospice
	A family Undertaking — film for education on Home Funerals
	Shrouding the body — Thanks to Immarama
	How to Wrap a Body in a Shroud — Thanks to EHow

Other Useful Information and Supports

	ComfortDying — extensive information on end-of-life, death and dying (including a long list of books on the subject)
	Institute of Traditional Medicine — Toronto, Ontario — Contemplative 'End of Life' care training (click on "Contemplative End of Life Care program' under 'Explore Our Programs in Detail Below', to get a pop-up page on basic details of the program)
	Dying Consciously Program/Teachers — directory of teachers in Canada, as well as Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, U.S.A, and the U.K.
	Dying into Love — website of free and paid videos focused on 'conscious dying', or 'personal healing while dying' (vidoes by Ram Dass, Joan Halifax, Dale Borglum, Bodhi Be, and others — as well as articles, meditations, etc.)
	White Owl Messaging — online arrangements for deliveries to be sent to your loved ones after you have died — to express love, appreciation, and support, and to assist in the grieving process of the Death Journeyer & their survivors.   [Similar to movie "P.S. I Love You", but can deliver more than letters.]

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Funeral Celebrants — provide a funeral, memorial or celebration-of-life service that is highly personalized, to honour the personality, lifestyle and beliefs of the person who died   [Note: many Death Midwives and Home Funeral Guides also offer Funeral Celebrant services as part of their pan-death services.]

CANADA

	Canadian Funerals On-line — general information on Funeral Celebrants, low-cost funerals, etc.
	Finding A Celebrant — hosted by In-sight Books, Inc. — gives names, contact info and short bios for Funeral Celebrants in 5 countries (and by province or state).Many are Funeral Directors, but may have additional training in personalization of funeral/memorial services.
	Best Celebrant — locator for Funeral Celebrants in various countries and provinces/states/regions
	Celebrant Foundation and Institute locator — for Funeral (and other) Celebrants in Canada and U.S. See also the Funeral Celebrants page
	Certified Celebrants Association of Canada — "Our Celebrants" on left menu for those available in Ontario

British Columbia

	Journeying Beyond — Victoria — Death Midwifery and related services Email: contact@beyonds.ca or phone Pashta MaryMoon at (250) 383-4065; phone or Skype consultation also available
	Sandra Ollsin — Victoria and Vancouver Island —offering Funeral Celebrant services.Contact Sandra at Tel: (250) 592-7544 or Email: sandra@funeral-celebrant.com

Ontario

Remember Network — Toronto — creative funeral/memorial services support to develop them where and how the family wishes. Email: info@RememberNetwork.ca or phone Kory McGrath at (416) 451-6900.Kory also offers Home Funeral Guide and Elder Planning Counselling services.

Quebec

Voluntas Commemorations — Montreal — creative alternative to traditional Funeral Services (related to Remember Network) Email: scote@voluntas.ca

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Natural/Green Burials — burials that don't include embalming the body, any non-biodegradable parts to the coffin, cement grave liners, etc.The body is allowed to return to the cycle of life, and the graves are usually maintained as a reclaimed indigenous eco-system. [Note: a full body burial at sea is also a 'green' burial, but logistically prohibitive and expensive in Canada. See 'Burial at Sea' below.]

CANADA

	Natural Burial Cooperative — Toronto — Information on Natural/Green Burial grounds across Canada and elsewhere
	Green Burial Council — developing eco-friendly end-of-life rituals; protecting the legitimate benefits of environmentally sustainable deathcare; and using burial as a means of acquiring, restoring, and stewarding natural areas; registry of certified Funeral Providers, Cemeteries, and Cremation Disposition Programs for the U.S. and Canada
		Finding a Provider (Green Burial Sites, Green Funeral Homes, and Approved Products) — Please note: listings for provinces and states are by alphabetical order
	Natural Burial Association (of Canada) — association to further the development of Green Burial grounds in Canada
	Novaterium.com — directory of Green Burial grounds across the world, including Canada
	Canadian Provincial Laws Re: Green Burial Policy (by Forest of Memories)
	Forest of Memories — government policy development on natural death/burial in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico
	From the Natural Death Centre by Mike Salisbury: Landscape Architecture Thesis A Feasibility Study of the Woodland Cemetery, and Woodland Cemetery Master Plan. Both are available for free download on Earth Artist.Site includes Woodland Cemeteries Design Thesis (in Canada); and excellent resource of dissertations, books, journals, and websites
	Funeral Consumers Alliance — list of memorial societies in Canada
	Burial at Sea — information on logistics for a full body burial at sea (rather than cremains) — courtesy of Carnell's Funeral Home

British Columbia

	Royal Oak Burial Park, The Woodlands — Victoria — and Green Burial Victoria, offers Green Burials (as well as 'hybrid burials', which use a cement liner on top of the grave, but otherwise natural/biodegradable materials) — the first Green Burial ground in Canada
	Memorial Society of B.C. — working on a range of green burial options, as described on its website.Contact: Ellen Le Fevre, Executive Director, Memorial Society of BC, 212-1847 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C. V6J 1Y6;Tel: (604) 733-7705; Email: elefevre@telus.net

Alberta

Hodych, Anastasia Disturbing Ground: A Socio-environmental Model for the Green Cemetery — in Manitoba, University of Manitoba, Department of Landscape Architecture, MLA 2004.Email: ahodych@scatliff.mb.ca

Ontario

	Cobourg Union Cemetery Eco Burials — Cobourg Union — offers Green Burials (the first in Ontario)
	Green Burials Yahoo group — focusing on the development of Green Burials sites in Ontario and elsewhere

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Additional Natural/Green-Friendly Options for the Remains (green embalming, outdoor funeral pyres, scattering/burial of ashes, etc.) — more to come as it becomes available

CANADA

Resomation or Aquafication (bio-cremation, by dissolving) — check Transition Science Inc. for more updates

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Eco-friendly Coffins/Shrouds/Urns

	Doing It Yourself
	6 Designs for Shrouds — written and graphic instructions (by CINDEA)
	Last Things: Alternatives at the End of Life — blueprints and instructions for making your own coffin
	WikiHow How to Make a Coffin — blueprints and instructions for making your own coffin [Note: it would need to be revised to be used in a Green Burial ground — no paint, metal,etc. — nothing that isn't biodegradable]
	Shelves for Life — blueprints available for a bookcase (usable during life) that reassembles into a coffin
	How to Build Your Own Coffin — coffin blueprints (PDFs) or fits, variations for Green Burials
	Products and Supplies
	Casket Outlet — your rights re purchasing a casket in Canada
	First Nations Casket Co — Manitoba — made with various woods, but no metals
	Northern Casket — Ontario — made with wood or cloth without metal — urns also available
	Natural Burial Products — U.S.A., and available in Canada — coffins catalogue shipped directly to clients in U.S.A. or Canada
	Eco-pod — U.K., and available in Canada — distributor for North America is the Natural Burial Company, Oregon
	Natural Funeral Company — Australia, and available in Canada — Eco-Weave casket (from bamboo) and other products — 71 Colin Shaw Lane, Ponsonby 1011, Auckland
	Eco-coffins/caskets — Britain, and available in Canada — pine wood
	Green Burial Council Finding a Provider (under 'Approved Products' at bottom — caskets, urns, shrouds, etc.) — Please note: listings including products available in Canadian provinces, but are listed in alphabetical order by business name.

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Funeral/Memorial Poems

	Elegant Memorials — poems for various family members
	En~chanting Beyond — death poetry page
	Eulogy Speech — grief poems and eulogy verses from various well-known poets
	Famous Poets and Poems — for funerals/memorials
	Funeral Etiquette — information/links on poems, liturgy, etc. for various kinds of religious (and other) funeral/memorials
	Funeral Poems — see left-side menu
	Funeral Poems — by relationships
	Next Gen Memorials — poems for funerals/memorials
	Verses 4 Cards — non-religious funeral/memorial poems

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On-line Memorial Services
Note that many newspapers now offer on-line memorial services if an obituary is placed in their paper, although you may need to specifically ask for it.Some Funeral Homes may also provide this service.

On-line Memorial Services make it possible for family members and friends especially those who lived at a distance, and/or were otherwise unable to attend the funeral/memorial to share their memories, and celebrate the life, of the person who has died.Those listed below are only a sampling of those available free of charge.Others are easily Googled; and for a small charge, offer a more extensive website tribute, the ability for family and friends to add tributes, and/or maintenance the site for at least a year's time or more.

	Buddhist Space		Imorial		Parting Wishes
	Forever Missed		Life Memory		Respectance
	Gone Too Soon		Last Memories		Valley of Life
	I remember you		Much Loved		Virtual Memorials (free trials)

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Grief/Bereavement Counselling (see also Canadian Hospice/Palliative Care — and check if your local Hospice has grief counselling available)

CANADA

	Canadian Professional Counsellors Association — see Directory for Provinces and Territories — choose youir province under 'Province' and 'grief counselling' under 'Counselling Approaches'
	Canadian Centre for Bereavement Education and Grief Counselling — 49 Gloucester Street, Toronto, Ont. Educates professionals who are working with the dying and the bereaved as well as providing counselling services and resources for those who grieve. Telephone: 416-926-0905
	Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (pastoral counselling) — also resources/directory for provinces
	The Centre for Grief Journey — wide range of books, videos, meditations, discussion forums, and seminars for grieving people -- including a online support forum called Among Friends
	Canadian Mental Health Association Branch locations — across the country — many branches offer grief/bereavement support
	Theravive Therapist Directory — listings by Province and cities (check individual listings for grief/bereavement or end-of-life counselling)
	Hospice International — list of hospices in Canada (by province) — most of which will have grief/bereavement support programs
	Room 217 Foundation Resources & Links — excellent list of resources for various end-of-life concerns (including grief/bereavement)
	And re specific grief/bereavement concerns
	Baby Steps — Infant Loss
	The Compassionate Friends (when a child dies) — province chapters
	Soul2soul — Youth Grief support
	Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime
	Theravive — Overcoming Loss And Death, Grief Counseling — plus directory of therapists for Canada by Province (includes U.S.A. by state as well)
	Canadian Centre for Pet Loss Bereavement (CCPLB)
	Pet Loss Bereavement Yahoo egroup

by Province and Territory

	Alberta	Canadian Mential Health Association Alberta branches, and Calgary Region — general therapy, grieving, or suicide bereavement Alberta Health Services re Grief support and Grief Support Program, Lethbridge Family Services, Primary Care Network re grief services (see below for further resources throughout Alberta) Red Deer Hospice ‘GOOD GRIEF’ – SUPPORT GROUP
	British Columbia	Canadian Mential Health Association B.C. branches, Living Through Loss Counselling Society of BC — information, counselling and referrals where necessary, BC Bereavement Helpline, Lower Mainland Grief Recovery Society, Mission Hospice Society Bereavement Support & Resources, Prince George Hospice Society Bereavement & Grief Support, and North Okanagan Hospice Society Grief and Bereavement Services,
	Manitoba	Canadian Mential Health Association Manitoba branches, Hospice & Palliative Care Manitoba Bereavement Support,
	Newfoundland/Labrador	Canadian Mential Health Association Newfoundland/Labrador branches,
	New Brunswick	Canadian Mential Health Association New Brunswick branches, Hospice Greater Moncton Grief and Bereavement sessions
	North West Territories	Canadian Mential Health Association North West Territories branches,
	Nova Scotia	Canadian Mential Health Association Nova Scotia branches, and GriefNS — society of grief/bereavement counsellors, for various areas in Nova Scotia
	Nunavut	(nothing that we could find)
	Ontario	Canadian Mential Health Association Ontario branches, Bereavement Ontario Network — diverse group of organizations and individuals (both professionals and volunteers) addressing grief, bereavement, and mourning (see directory for specific areas on right-hand menu under 'all regions — individuals') Bereaved Families of Ontario — regional affliliates in peer and crisis support in grief AIDS Bereavement and Resiliency Program of Ontario — counselling (and training) for multiple loss, complex grief, and ongoing transition related to HIV/AIDS
	Prince Edward Island	Canadian Mential Health Association Prince Edward Island branches, Hospice Palliative Care Association of PEI (directory of services pdf under "Bereavement")
	Quebec	Canadian Mential Health Association Quebec branches,
	Saskatchewan	Canadian Mential Health Association Saskatchewan branches, Regina Palliative Care Services Bereavement Care
	Yukon	Hospice Yukon Society Bereavement support

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