Planning

Pre-arrangements

We can help you make your burial arrangements in advance. This is known as pre-arranging.

Our approach is pressure-free, because our staff do not work on commission and have no vested interest in your decisions.

You can pre-arrange, and pay for, your ground lot, cremation niche or crypt, and also a monument or marker. Cremation can also be pre-arranged and paid for.

The top five reasons for pre-arranging:

• You decide exactly what you want.
• Paying in advance helps ensure your wishes will be met.
• Your family won’t have to make major decisions, and won’t have an immediate financial burden during an already difficult time.
• You have a greater chance of getting the lot, crypt or niche you want.
• Today’s price is locked in no matter how many years in advance the purchase is made.

Steps to Pre-Arranging

• A good first step is a meeting with one of our staff members. This is best done by appointment.
• Our staff can give you a tour of any cemetery or mausoleum. They will explain the options and costs involved.
• When you make a purchase, a contract is drawn up, and the pertinent details, including the cemetery by-laws, are provided to you.
• We’ll give you an Estate Planning Guide to help you keep all pertinent information in one place, e.g. location of important documents, funeral instructions, etc.
• Talk to your family about your decisions or preferences. Even if you do not purchase anything in advance, your family should be aware of what you want, and don’t want. If you fill out an Estate Planning Guide, make sure your family knows where it is kept.

When a Death Occurs

When death is imminent, or at the time of death, we are here to help you make immediate arrangements for burial or entombment and to provide any other information you need.

Steps to Follow:

1. If you are a member of a parish, contact your parish priest. He will assist you in making the liturgical arrangements. If you do not have a parish priest, we can assist you in making arrangements for committal prayers.
2. Contact the cemetery where you intend for your loved one to be buried. If, at one of the smaller cemeteries, you do not reach someone immediately, you may wish to contact our main office at 905-522-7727, toll free at 1-800-661-9585, or reception@thecatholiccemeteries.ca. A member of our team will arrange to meet with you and help you make arrangements for burial or entombment.
3. Contact the funeral home.

Questions to Consider

Here are some of the things our counselor will discuss with you when you meet:

• What cemetery or mausoleum are you most interested in?
• Will it be a full casket burial, cremation burial or entombment?
• Do you need a double or single lot, crypt or niche?
• Does any of your extended family want to pre-arrange at the same time?

The counselor’s job is to help you narrow the choices. Once some of these basic decisions have been made, the counselor will review the costs and options associated with the choices made.

More common questions answered.