Making Arrangements

In an effort to serve your family in an efficient manner, the following information will be asked of you when you meet with a Funeral Director. Please know that the information requested is for both legal and ceremonial purposes.

1. Vital Statistic Information - ( - Download)
2. Deceased's Social Insurance Number (required for Government notification)
3. Deceased's Alberta Health Care Number
4. Deceased's Driver's Licence Number, if applicable
5. Spouse's Social Insurance Number, if applicable
6. Spouse’s Alberta Health Care Number
7. Marriage Certificate if there is a surviving spouse (required for CPP benefits)
8. A "VOID" cheque (if there is a surviving spouse) for direct deposit in the event the surviving spouse is eligible for a survivor's pension
9. A copy of the Power of Attorney or Enduring Power of Attorney document if the surviving spouse is not able to sign the application for Survivors Benefits from Canada Pension
10. A copy of the deceased's will, if applicable
11. A full set of clothing including under clothing
12. The deceased's glasses, if applicable
13. The deceased's dentures, if applicable
14. Jewelry and/or important items to be placed with your loved one
15. A photograph for the obituary
16. Information about family and a brief biography for the funeral home to use in preparing/formatting the obituary for the newspaper
17. Photographs for the service folder (program)
18. Photographs for a video tribute (if requested) (50 photos and 2 selections of music)
19. Pallbearers names
20. The name of the person giving the tribute/eulogy

The death of a loved one can be a very emotional and stressful time. We understand that you may not have everything in order when you first come to the funeral home to meet for arrangements. That is why we are here to help. Bring as many of these items as you can gather and we will arrange for the rest later. The important thing is that you come in to let us know how we can help make this time be easier for you.

The Arrangement Conference

The arrangement conference provides the family the opportunity to create a service that will be meaningful to them in celebrating the life of the person who has passed away. Due to the numerous details involved, you can expect to spend approximately two hours meeting with a licensed funeral director.

There are four components to the arrangement conference.

1. CREATING A SERVICE MEANINGFUL TO YOU
   “Celebrating Life” means acknowledging the life of the person who dies. It means applauding their life and rejoicing in the fact that they lived. It is important that the service touches everyone present with an understanding of who the person was that died and what they lived for. The service brings meaning to people by allowing them to feel how that person touched their lives and it created something that touches everyone with the gift of that person’s life. We will be discussing the ways in which the service you select can be meaningful to you and will assist you in determining how you would like to acknowledge the deceased; the day, time, location and who will lead and participate in the service. We will help you create the obituary and we take care of having it placed in the newspapers.
2. WRITING THE OBITUARY
   For those unable to attend the funeral service, an obituary may be the only opportunity they have to reflect on the life of a friend or colleague who has died. An obituary, therefore, can be much more than an announcement of death – it can be an acknowledgement of a life lived, a difference made or a passing from this world to the next.
   We place special emphasis on the writing, wording and placing of a picture in the obituary, knowing it serves a very special purpose for many of its readers.
3. SELECTING MERCHANDISE
   We will assist you with decisions regarding merchandise for the deceased such as: casket, vault, cremation container, urn and flowers.
4. COMPLETE PAPERWORK (Legal Documentation)
   We obtain the necessary certificates, file the required documents with the Provincial authorities and secure the applicable permits. Our Funeral Home notifies both the Provincial and Federal governments of one's passing. Our people are “Commissioners of Oaths” for the Province of Alberta and thus we complete and file, on behalf of the family, all the required documents with regards to the Canada Pension Plan.