&
Definitions,
Values,
DJ's Rights, 7 Stages,
Alternative Providers,
CINDEA Recognition,
Why use Services?
Expectations,
Web of Facets,
Advantages of a DM,
CINDEA Recognition,
Philosophy in Practice
Final
Affairs,
Advance Directives & Representation/Proxy,
Dementia
History,
Why Consider It,
Basics, Videos,
Physical
Care,
6 Shroud Patterns,
DJ's Remains
By My Own Heart & Hand
Home Funerals, Greening Death, Children & Deathing Rites
Various forms
of
ecological disposition
National
& Provincial
National
& Provincial
National
& Provincial
U.S.A., U.K.,
etc.
for Adults & Children
and Donations
Articles & Updates
&
Definitions,
Values,
DJ's Rights, 7 Stages,
Alternative Providers,
CINDEA Recognition,
Why use Services?
Expectations,
Web of Facets,
Advantages of a DM,
CINDEA Recognition,
Philosophy in Practice
Final
Affairs,
Advance Directives & Representation/Proxy,
Dementia
History,
Why Consider It,
Basics, Videos,
Physical
Care,
6 Shroud Patterns,
DJ's Remains
Various forms
of
ecological disposition
By My Own Heart & Hand
home funerals, Greening Death, Children, and Deathing Rites
National
& Provincial
National
& Provincial
National
& Provincial
U.S.A., U.K.,
etc.
for
Adults & Children
and Donations
Articles & Updates
|
|
|
As
alternatives approaches to deathing* evolve, there
are four major categories of practitioners —
Death Doulas, Home Funeral
Guides, Celebrants, and Death Midwifery Practitioners
or Pan-death Guides. The
last category includes all of the former three, thereby providing a continuum of support for the Death Journeyer and their family. There
are, of course, many other practitioners who contribute
to alternative deathing practices; but there are
too many of them to list here. The
primary four kinds of DWENA practitioners in your area
will likely be able to recommend further practitioners.
As DWENA practitioners 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
all the available ones 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
—
contact us by email. Information
on the actual pan-deathing process (what/when/where/how)
is covered under the Post-death
Care/Home Funerals page. (Note*:
Deathing refers to the whole process before/during/after
death, as a process — as a verb, rather than
a noun)
(A similar list of practitioners and resources outside of Canada is on the Resources Elsewhere page.)
Death
Midwifery/Pan-deathing Care Guides
Death
Midwifery
—
offering
direct and integrated support to Death Journeyers
and their families from terminal diagnosis, through
the whole continuum of the dying process, and
to funeral/memorial and bereavement.
British
Columbia
| |
|
 |
Journeying
Beyond —
Victoria —
Death
Midwifery/Pan-death Guide and related services,
including MAiD support. Email
or phone Pashta MaryMoon (250)
383-4065 |
|
InWholeness — Surrey — End-of-Embodiment Support (pan-deathcare: before, during, and after-death) including Advanced Care Planning, support/education through the final-arc-of-life stages, Funeral Celebrant Services, Grief Support Explorations: Astro Death Charts, Woven Stories, Re-membering Circles, and more. Contact Tricia Keith, Email, phone or text (604) 655-9210
|
Ontario
|
Deathcare
Kingston — in
Kingston
— Offering
practical, heart-centered planning and support
for end-of-life, death, and family-directed
funerals. Contact Aileen
Stewart Email:
or (613)-539-3610. |
|
Dragonfly Collective — Greater Toronto Area –– Deathcare Practitioner and Educator in Toronto and the GTA since 2007. Support people and families with key decision making and navigating the system; designing personalized grief rituals; holding a funeral ceremony or celebration of life ceremony; experienced home funeral Guide; grief and bereavement support. Offers courses of all kinds. Contact Judith McGill Email: or (416) 997-3311 |
CANADA
|
CINDEA
—
Canadian Integrative Network for Death Education
and Alternatives — see the Death
Midwifery page for a description of the
interchangeable roles of practitioner of death
midwifery and pan-death guide, and the other
services focusing on one specific facet of
the pan-death processs (Death
Doula, Home Funeral Gude, Funeral Celebrants,
etc.) Email:
contact@cindea.ca
|
(return
to top)
Death
Doulas or Thanadoulas (including Death Educators)
Primarily
Pre/during Deathing Care
Death
Doulas/Thanadoulas
— focusing on the emotional and spiritual
elements of the pan-death process. This section
may also include those who refer to themselves
as Death Educators, or other similiar terms.
Alberta
|
|
Dying
the Dream —
Calgary, AB — End of Life Doula and Consultant
compassionately supporting those approaching
end of life from receipt of terminal diagnosis
through to bereavement. Specializing in bedside
vigils to the actively dying. Contact
Janet Pillay att
Email
or
Call/Text
403-680-6441. |
British
Columbia
|
|
Journeying
Beyond —
Victoria —
Advance Care Planning consultant and services
throughout the pan-death process (including
home funerals and support in MAiD deaths). Contact
Pashta MaryMoon at
Email:
or phone (250)
383-4065;
Skype or Zoom consultation also available |
|
Vancouver
Death Doula —
Vancouver, BC — End of life doula services,
including end-of-life companioning, grief
work, self-advocacy, vigiling, and support
with legacy work, memorial, and burial. In
addition to working with clients of all ages
and backgrounds, I specialize in work with
marginalized and oppressed groups. Contact
Mono Brown at Email
or call or
text 604-449-8512 |
|
Karen
Hendrickson, Take the Journey —
Maple Ridge, Lower Mainland —
End of Life
Doula, Educator and Consultant, Grief Support
Facilitator, providing holistic and practical
support through education, resources, advocacy,
and conversation through all stages of EOL.
Contact Karen Hendrickson
at
Email
or
by phone 604-614-6696 |
|
End
of Life Alternatives —
Kelowna and Okanagan Valley —
Death doula
offering comfort, support and preparation
for your end of life journey. Contact
Jo-Anne Haun at Email
or
phone (250)215-6817
|
Ontario
|
|
Barb
Phillips —
Cobourg — Thanadoula, offering pan-death
education and support to families for advance-care
planning, home funerals, and funeral celebrant
services |
|
Jenn
Chalifoux,
Tree
Rings Death Doula Home Support —
Thunder Bay and district area— Death
Doula, Personal Support Worker, and Home Funeral
Guide. End of life /or older age
preparing and planning with options of pairing
personal support work, caregiver respite and
guided /or hands-on home funeral support.
Call / text Jenn,
807-626-9633
or
Email |
|
Death
Doula Ottawa —
Ottawa —
Integrated End-of-Life care in the greater
Ottawa area. Providing emotional,
psychological and spiritual support through
knowledge sharing, and guidance through
planning, vigiling, home funerals and grief.
Contact Email:
or
Phone: 613-301-6704 |
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to top)
End
of life/death Doula Networks or Organizations
in Canada
(return
to top)
Post-deathcare
and Home Funeral Guides
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. Some
funeral homes are supportive of home funerals
and will offer 'a la carte' services (usually
transportation and paperwork): they are
listed below.
Alberta
|
|
End
of Life Pathways — St. Albert —
family-directed post-death care, and funeral
alternatives. Contact Sarah
Wourms by
Email
or
Phone (587)
290-4465 |
British
Columbia
|
|
Journeying
Beyond —
Victoria —
death midwifery services —
offering pan-death
(before, during and after
death) education and support to families,
including home
funeral and funeral celebrant services, and
support in a MAiD death: as well as advance-care
planning consultation, particularly comprehensive
Advance Directives and Representation Agreements.
Contact Pashta MaryMoon
viaEmail
or
Phone
(250) 383-4065 or text 778-967-2956
and
Facebook
page |
|
Moving
Ceremonies
— Victoria
— funerals, 'celebrations of life', 'cremation
witnessing', etc., as well as home funeral
guidance and other death-related support services. Contact
Penny Allport via Email
or
phone 250.592.6400
(Cell)
604.803.4607 |
|
Daisy Deathcare — Comox Valley — Madeline Christie is a death companion with a focus on home funerals, pet loss, nature-based support, and grief rituals |
|
Sacred
Journey Pathways —
New Westminister and area — home funerals,
funeral celebrant, supporting families in
child loss (including home
funerals for them), and death education
and support for children. Contact
Holly Milton
online,
Email
or
Phone (778)
709-9917 |
|
Salt
Spring Island Home Funerals —
Salt Spring Island
—
home funerals. Contact
Email
or
Phone
(250) 537-0096 |
|
the
Centre for Sacred Deathcare —
Victoria — funeral celebrant and educator,
free
introductory video lessons and
for-pay
courses Contact Sarah
Kerr via Email
or Contact
Page |
| |
|
| |
and
friendly funeral homes/directors that are
willing to offer 'a la carte' services (transportation,
paperwork, provide casket, etc) |
| |
|
|
KORU
cremation/burial/ceremony
—
Vancouver
— funeral home supportive of DIY/home
funerals, as well as 'a la carte' services
(transport of the body, etc.). Contact
KORU
online,
Email,
or Phone Vancouver
(604) 324-8285 or
North Vancouver (604)
770-1471 |
|
ANORA
cremation/burial/ceremony —
Coquitlam
— funeral home supportive of DIY/home
funerals, as well as 'a la carte' services
(transport of the body, etc.). Contact
ANORA
online,
or
Phone Coquitlam
(604) 475-7322 |
|
Ancient
Burials —
Aldergrove
— supportive
of DIY/home funerals (see 'a
la carte' services for home funeral towards
the bottom of the page) Contact Ancient
Burials online
or Phone 1-800-888-2806 |
|
Evergreen
Cremation Centre —
Ladysmith/Vancouver
Island — supportive of home funeral,
as well as 'a la carte' services. Contact
Evergreen
Email
or Phone Nanaimo (250)
591-8426, Ladysmith
(250) 924-8484,
Duncan (250)
597-8484 |
|
Earth's
Options —
Victoria — funeral home supportive of
DIY/home funerals, as well as 'a la carte'
services (transport of the body, etc.). Contact
Earth's Options online,
Email
or Phone
(778) 440- 8500 |
Nova
Scotia
|
Death
Matters — Halifax — home funeral
guide and funeral ceremony services (including
pre/post-death 'celebration of life') — as
well as spiritual and personal care directives
and on-going support for 'exit planning',
regular 'end of life'-related film night,
Death Cafes and development of green burials
— Deborah
Luscomb and Dawn Carson are available
via email or
Phone (902)
403-7590 |
Ontario
|
|
Funeral
Alternatives —
Hamilton —
offering education sessions and individual
consultations re after-death care and home
funerals, green funeral and burial options,
Ontario regulations pertaining to after-death
care and burial. Rochelle Martin
is available by phone or email for consultation
Email or
Phone:
(905) 746-3074
|
|
Barb
Phillips —
Cobourg — thanadoula and life-cycle celebrant
services —
offering pan-death education and support to
families for advance-care planning, home funerals,
and funeral celebrant services. Barb
Phillips is available by phone, email
or Skype for consultation
Email
or
Phone
(705)
924-3763 |
|
Brigid's
Balm —
Smith Falls — thanadoula providing spiritual
and emotional support for individuals and
their families with regard to end of life
care, via Advance Care Planning, thanadoula,
legacy, home funerals, and funeral/other celebrant
support (as well as local Death
Cafes) Debbie Seddon
is available by email consultations
Email,
and
WordPress
blog |
|
The
Soul Circle —
Waterloo/Wellington — Advance Care Planning,
death doula/thanadoula, legacy projects, home
funerals, pan-death ceremonies, grief support
and a variety of 'energy therapies'. Contact
Krista Brenner at
Email
or
Phone
(519) 591-0494 (Call
or Text) |
|
End
of Life Navigation
—
London —
Pre and Post-death care support and education. Contact
Shannon Calvert via Email
or Phone
(519) 494-8851 |
|
Death
Doula Ottawa
—
Ottawa —
caregiver support circles, Advance Care Planning,
legacy work, vigilling, home funeral guidance,
and grief support. Contact
Christiane Zeithammel, Lisa Rhoades, Debbie
Charboneau, or Joey Ward via
Online
|
|
Tree
Rings Death Doula Home Support —
Thunder Bay and district area— Death
Doula, Personal Support Worker, and Home Funeral
Guide. End of life /or older age
preparing and planning with options of pairing
personal support work, caregiver respite and
guided /or hands-on home funeral support.
Call / text Jenn
Chalifoux,
807-626-9633
or Email
|
| |
|
| |
and
friendly funeral homes/directors that are
willing to offer 'a la carte' services (transportation,
paperwork, provide casket, etc) |
| |
|
|
Circle
of Life
—
Dundas Ontario —
Contact Circle of Life via Phone (905)
628-8558 or Fax (905)
628-0404 |
CANADA
|
|
CINDEA
'By My Own Heart and Hand'
—
Canada — online training program in
Home Funerals, Greening Death, Deathing
Rites, Children and Death, and Communities
of Grieving |
| Barb
Phillips —
Cobourg — thanadoula and life-cycle celebrant
services — offering pan-death education and support to
families for advance-care planning, home funerals,
and funeral celebrant services. Barb
Phillips is available by phone, email
or Skype for consultation Email or Phone (705)
924-3763 |
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Celebration of Life/Funeral/Memorial Celebrants
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 pan-death guides and home funeral guides
also offer funeral celebrant services as part
of their pan-death services.]
Alberta
|
|
Anam
Care Soul Services —
Airdrie — end-of-life planning, death
doula and funeral celebrant. Conact
Daria Skibington-Roffel Email
or
Phone (403)
837-3078 |
British Columbia
|
Journeying
Beyond —
Victoria —
death midwifery and Advance-care
Planning services, including personalized
funeral/memorial services. Contact
Pashta MaryMoon via
Email
or
Phone
(250) 383-4065
or
text 778-967-2956;
Skype or Zoom consultation also available;
Facebook
page |
|
|
Moving
Ceremonies
— Victoria
— funerals, 'celebrations of life', 'cremation
witnessing', etc., as well as home funeral
guidance and other death-related support services.
Contact Penny Allport at
Email
or
phone
(250)
592-6400(Cell)
(604) 803-4607 |
|
Sacred
Journey Pathways —
New Westminister and area — home funerals,
funeral celebrant, supporting families in
child loss (including home
funerals for them), and death education
and support for children. Contact
Holly Milton
online,
Email
or
Phone
(778) 709-9917 |
|
Healing
Through Ceremony —
Gabriola Island — End of Life Funeral
and Grieving ceremonies (and
other rites of passage) — healing-focused
counselling, as well as a knowledge of the
practicalities of a home funeral. Contact
Michele Fire-River Heart at
online |
|
Life
Celebrant BC —
Richmond —
funeral celebrant
(including final blessing when
the body is still home), scattering
ceremonies, etc. Contact
Kimberley Evans by Email
or Phone (604)
603-5540 |
|
New
Narrative Memorials
—
Vancouver —
help families create personalized and meaningful
Celebrations of Life on their own terms. Contact
Christina Andreola by
Email
or Phone / Text:
+1 (778) 960 8782 |
|
The
Centre for Sacred Deathcare —
Victoria — funeral celebrant and educator,
free
introductory video lessons and
for-pay
courses Sarah
Kerr Email
or Contact
Page |
Ontario
|
|
Ready
or Not —
Ottawa city and valley — life-cycle
celebrant specializing in funerals/ end-of-life
celebrations/ memorials — one-of-a-kind,
personalized, memorable ceremonies.
Contact Julie Keon
Email
or
Phone
(613) 646-9912 |
|
Barb
Phillips —
Cobourg — Thanadoula and life-cycle celebrant
services —
offering pan-death education and support to
families for Advance-care Planning, home funerals,
and funeral celebrant services. Barb
Phillips is available for consultation
by Email
or
Phone
(705) 924-3763 |
|
Funeral
Alternatives —
Hamilton —
'End of Life' and home funeral guide services
—
supporting families before, during, and after
a death; and in saying good-bye, in whatever
ways they find most meaningful. Rochelle
Martin is available by phone or email
for consultation
Email
or
Phone
(905)
746-3074 and Facebook
page |
|
Divine
Heart Centre —
Aurora/York — Sacred Ceremony for End
of Life transition and spiritual
last rites, Celebration of Life, memorials,
funerals, and interment; as well as pastoral
and spiritual care for bereavement. Tracy
Cox is available by phone or email for
consultation
Email
or
phone
(289) 879-0177 |
|
Thresholds
of Life
— Carleton
Place — life celebrant offering healing
and memorial ceremonies Including: celebrations
of life, funerals and memorials, loss of baby
in utero, and stillbirth and early infant
death, as well as other 'loss' ceremonies. Patti
Koeslag is available by phone or email
for consultation
Email
or
Phone
(613) 699-2153
(h)
or (613)
809-7115 (c) |
|
Woven
Threads – Handcrafted Ceremonies
—
Guelph — life-cycle celebrant creating
meaningful, custom, secular or spiritual funerals,
memorials, and celebrations of life as well
as pre-death ritual support. Contact
Christine Lafazanos by
Email
or
Phone/text at
519-823-0038
and
Facebook
Page |
|
The
Soul Circle —
Waterloo/Wellington — Advance Care Planning,
death doula/thanadoula, legacy projects, home
funerals, pan-death ceremonies, grief support
and a variety of 'energy therapies'. Contact
Krista Brenner at
Email
or
Phone (519)
591-0494 (Call
or Text) |
Quebec
|
|
Lorraine
Cowan —
South Shore of Montreal and surrounding areas
— life cycle celebrant offering custom
and personal end of life ceremonies and rituals
including: celebrations of life, funerals
and memorials, miscarriage, stillbirth, early
infant death, ash scattering, interment as
well as pet and other loss ceremonies. Service
includes accompanying bereaved to register
the death with a funeral director as required
by Quebec law. Contact Lorraine
Cowan by
Email
or
by Phone
(450) 659-2603.
|
|
Voluntas
Commemorations — Montreal —
creative alternative to traditional funeral
services, and offering aquamation
Contact by Email,
online
or by phone 514-695-7979
|
Nova
Scotia
|
|
Death
Matters —
Halifax —
home funeral
guide and funeral ceremony services (including
pre/post-death 'celebration of life')
— as
well as spiritual and personal care directives
and on-going support for 'exit planning',
regular 'end of life'-related film night,
Death Cafes and development of green burials
— Deborah
Luscomb and Dawn Carson are available
via
email or
Phone
(902) 403-7590 |
Saskatchewan
|
|
Karla
Combres —
Saskatoon and area — multilingual life-cycle
celebrant, creating and performing custom
ceremonies for the milestones of life. Specializes
in personalized, meaningful funerals, memorials,
celebrations of life (pre- and post-death),
home funerals, and other observances of loss.
Karla Combres is available
by phone or email for consultation. Email
or
Phone (306) 491-9176
and
Facebook
Page. |
CANADA
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|
Last
updated June 2023 © CINDEA
(To use more than a brief extract, please
contact us
for permission.)
|
|
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