Funerals fill an important role for those mourning the loss of a loved one. By providing surviving family and friends with an atmosphere of care and support in which to share thoughts and feelings about death, funerals are the first step in the healing process. It is the traditional way to recognize the finality of death. Funerals are recognized rituals for the living to show their respect for the dead and to help survivors begin the grieving process.

You can have a full funeral service even for those choosing cremation. Planning a personalized ceremony or service will help begin the healing process. Overcoming the pain is never easy, but a meaningful funeral or tribute will help.

• Pick up the deceased and transport the body to the funeral home (anytime day or night)
• Assist the family with funeral arrangements (including purchase of casket, urn, burial vault and cemetery plot)
  
• Notify proper authorities to obtain documentation required for burial or cremation
  
• Prepare and submit obituary to the newspaper(s) of your choice
• Bathe and embalm the deceased body, if necessary
• Prepare the body for viewing including dressing and cosmetizing
• Schedule the opening and closing of the grave with cemetery personnel, if a burial is to be performed
• Coordinate with clergy and musicians if a funeral or memorial service is to be held
• Prepare memorial stationery if requested for a funeral or memorial service
• Arrange and prepare funeral director statements of death
  
• Provide certified copies of legal documents for insurance and benefit processing

The funeral home will help coordinate arrangements with the cemetery and/or crematorium.

• Bring the following information to complete the Provincial vital statistic requirements:
  • Full Legal Name
  • Birth Date
  • Birthplace
  • Father's Name and Place of Birth
  • Mother's Name and Place of Birth (including maiden name)
  • Social Insurance Number
  • Occupation
    
  • Marital Status
• Contact your clergy. Decide on time and place of funeral or memorial service. This can be done at the funeral home.
• Make a list of immediate family, close friends and employer or business colleagues. Notify each by phone.
  
• Decide on appropriate memorial to which donations may be made (church, hospice, library, charity or school).
• Gather obituary information you want to include such as age, place of birth, date of death, occupation, college degrees, memberships held, military service, outstanding work, list of survivors in immediate family. Include time and place of services. The funeral home will normally assist with writing article and then submit to newspapers.

If the death occurs at a hospital, the funeral home will attend once proper documentation is prepared, which can be the same day or the following day. 

If the death occurs in a nursing home, the funeral home will attend once the proper documentation has been completed, typically within a few hours.

If the death occurs at home unexpectedly, the police and coroner will attend the home; they will contact the funeral home to attend as soon as possible. 

If the death occurs at home and is expected, you may request immediate assistance, or if the family wishes to spend a short time with the deceased to say good-bye, that’s perfectly acceptable; the funeral home will arrange a specific time to attend.

Burial in a casket remains the most common method of disposing of remains in Canada, although entombment also occurs. Cremation is increasingly selected because it can be less expensive and allows for the memorial service to be held at a more convenient time in the future when relatives and friends can come together.

A funeral service followed by cremation need not be any different from a funeral service followed by a burial. Usually, cremated remains are placed in urn before being committed to a final resting place. The urn may be buried, placed in an indoor or outdoor mausoleum or columbarium, or interred in a special urn garden that many cemeteries provide for cremated remains. The remains may also be taken home or scattered, according to Provincial laws.

Viewing is a part of many cultural and ethnic traditions. Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death. Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity is voluntary.

Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body. Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them.

Embalming is not a legal requirement in Canada, though some provinces have applicable regulations on embalming or sealing remains that will not be buried within three days of death.  Ask a member of staff about local legislation that may affect this decision.

When compared to other major life events like births and weddings, funerals are not expensive. A wedding costs at least three times as much; but because it is a happy event, wedding costs are rarely criticized. A funeral home is a 24-hour, labor-intensive business, with extensive facilities (viewing rooms, chapels, transfer vehicles, hearses, etc.), these expenses must be factored into the cost of a funeral.

Additionally, the cost of a funeral includes not only merchandise, like caskets, but the services of a funeral director in making arrangements; filing appropriate forms; dealing with doctors, ministers, florists, newspapers and others; and seeing to all the necessary details. Funeral directors look upon their profession as a service, but it is also a business. Like any business, funeral homes must make a profit to exist.

It really depends entirely on how you wish to commemorate a life. One of the advantages of cremation is that it provides you with increased flexibility when you make your funeral and cemetery arrangements. You might, for example, choose to have a funeral service before the cremation; a memorial service at the time of cremation or after the cremation with the urn present; or a committal service at the final disposition of cremated remains. Funeral or memorial services can be held in a place of worship, a funeral home or in a crematory chapel.

With cremation, your options are numerous. The cremated remains can be interred in a cemetery plot, (i.e., earth burial) or placed into a cemetery niche; retained by a family member, usually in an urn; scattered on private property, or at a place that was significant to the deceased. (It would always be advisable to check for local regulations regarding scattering in a public place-your funeral director can help you with this.)

Today, there are many different types of memorial options from which to choose. Memorialization is a time-honored tradition that has been practiced for centuries. A memorial serves as a tribute to a life lived and provides a focal point for remembrance, as well as a record for future generations. The type of memorial you choose is a personal decision.

You might choose ground burial of the urn. If so, you may usually choose either a bronze memorial or monument. Cremation niches in columbariums are also available at many cemeteries. They offer the beauty of a mausoleum setting with the benefits of above ground placement of remains. Many cemeteries also offer scattering gardens. This area of a cemetery offers the peacefulness of a serene garden where family and friends can come and reflect.

If you wish to have your ashes scattered somewhere, it is important to discuss your wishes to be scattered ahead of time with the person or persons who will actually have to do the cremation ashes scattering ceremony, as they might want to let your funeral professional assist in the scattering ceremony. Funeral directors can also be very helpful in creating a meaningful and personal ash scattering ceremony that they will customize to fit your families specific desires. The services can be as formal or informal as you like. Scattering services can also be public or private. Again, it is advisable to check for local regulations regarding scattering in a public place-your funeral director can help you with this.

Yes — Depending upon the cemetery's policy, you may be able to save a grave space by having the cremains buried on top of the casketed remains of your spouse, or utilize the space provided next to him/her. Many cemeteries allow for multiple cremated remains to be interred in a single grave space.

Uncertainty about income tax issues can add to the stress experienced from the death of a spouse. You should meet with your family attorney and/or tax advisor as soon as possible to review your particular tax and estate circumstances. Bring a detailed list of your questions to the meeting.