Cemeteries

A portion of the right of interment price goes to a maintenance care trust fund, which provides regular care and maintenance at the cemetery in perpetuity. Care and maintenance activities include grass cutting, regrading of graves, planting and caring for trees and gardens, and maintaining water supply systems, roads, drainage, etc. The minimum amount to be contributed to the endowment care fund is governed by provincial law.

A right of interment can only be surrendered back to the City and cannot be sold privately. A refund equal to the purchase price, less the maintenance and care fund contribution and HST, is issued back to the interment right holder or designate.

You receive a right of interment, not a deed. When purchasing a right of interment, you are purchasing the right to either have your own remains or designate someone interred at a specific location. The land and control over that land remain the responsibility of the cemetery. You also acquire a right to place a memorial, subject to City cemetery by-laws.

As outlined in the cemetery by-laws, each full burial lot can accommodate one casket and four cremated remains. Each individual represented on a grave site requires a right of interment and should be kin to the original occupant. A full burial lot can be used for cremated remains only; however, the first right of interment will be the fee of the full burial lot.