Should You Purchase A Prearranged Funeral?
(A condensed version of a talk presented at the Annual General Meeting, Edmonton AB May 7, 2001 by President,
Mae Cox)
Funeral directors are business people who offer their goods and services for sale. They are responsive to what
their customers want: customers want clean and attractive, even elegant facilities and hearses, and someone to
answer the phone 24 hours per day. Any funeral director who veers from this norm quickly loses business. Funeral
directors supply an essential service to the community because very few people are willing or able to arrange and
carry out a complete service for a loved one.
But during the past century, the retail funeral business has undergone major changes. As public demand for more
choices and better service increased, so did costs. In response, the funeral providers could do one of three
things:
(1) They could go out of business.
(2) They could merge with other companies: now ¼ of all the funeral homes in the U.S. and Canada are owned by
three large funeral chains.
(3) They could sell pre-need funerals. We need to consider the options, shop around, and hopefully make
wise decisions when we’re not under stress.
In Canada, regulation of the funeral industry is a provincial responsibility which varies from province to
province. But there is no national code in place.
In Alberta, funeral directors and funeral businesses are licensed and regulated by the Alberta Funeral Services
Regulatory Board, (AFSRB) through powers granted under the Funeral Services Act and its associated regulations.
This Board consists of three funeral industry representatives and three consumer representatives, and maintains
an office and an Administrator. Two years ago, the AFSRB was given responsibility for overseeing and auditing
the sale of pre-need funeral service contracts in this province.
The May 2001 issue of Consumer Reports includes an excellent article on purchasing pre-need funeral contracts.
The authors conclude, “Don’t buy one!” On average it will cost you more than you need to pay for such a service.
With a public trend toward smaller, simpler funerals all three funeral home chains are in financial difficulties.
The Loewen Group of Burnaby, B.C. has had to obtain bankruptcy protection; the other two have severe cash flow
problems. Getting cash from customers before having to provide the services is how they’re trying to solve their
difficulties. And they tend to use high pressure sales techniques.
The Alberta Funeral Services Act makes it illegal for a funeral service business to contact you over the
telephone or door-to-door to offer prearranged funerals unless you have specifically requested a presentation.
The Memorial Society has opposed this contact for years.
The funeral industry does advertise on radio and TV and in the newspaper. Such advertisements are
perfectly legal.
continued...
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updated March 27, 2008
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