SYDNEY, N.S. — There are no legislation, regulations or policies in place in Nova Scotia with respect to cremated remains in a funeral home.
“That is something we want to look into down the road,” said Rodger Gregg, registrar of cemetery and funeral services for Service Nova Scotia.
Funeral homes in Nova Scotia are regulated by the Nova Scotia Embalmers and Funeral Directors Act. Gregg said cremated remains are not specifically mentioned in the regulations.
Service Nova Scotia licenses funeral homes, which must be operated and run by licensed funeral directors.
Gregg said many provinces are similar to Nova Scotia and don’t have any specific regulations around cremated remains. Some provinces have certain requirements or processes that would require funeral homes to return cremated remains in a respectful manner.
If someone has difficulty accessing cremated remains from a funeral home, Gregg said they’d contact Service Nova Scotia, which is responsible for that licence and making sure the funeral home is accountable to the public. If it's an issue with a funeral director, then the Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors would get involved. In general, Gregg said all aspects of a funeral home are overseen by the province and licensed directors are held to a professional code of conduct.
“These are licensed professionals that are responsible for making sure human remains are handled in a professional and dignified manner,” he said. “They are held to their professional standards to ensure that happens.”
ISSUES RETRIEVING CREMATED REMAINS
The Cape Breton Post recently ran story about a family that had been trying to contact S.W. Chant and Sons Funeral Home to retrieve the ashes of a loved one but had been unable to reach anyone from the funeral home.
The burial had been paid for but not carried out yet.
Gregg said the issue of cremated remains hasn’t come up because they don’t receive many related complaints. Back in February, after Chant’s was substantially damaged by a fire and closed, Service Nova Scotia was contacted by some people concerned over accessing cremated remains. It was more of a short-term situation, Gregg said, where remains were being held pending the ground thawing for burial in the spring.
“We worked with the funeral home on that and they were able to provide those remains,” he said.
“As far as we know anyone interested in retrieving cremated remains from Chant's has done so. If anyone hasn’t, they should call our office and we’d work with the funeral home on that.”
The province wouldn't have a record of the number of cremated remains. Gregg said a crematorium would have records of cremations and remains returned to a funeral home.
“There would be no requirement of the funeral home to report back to government of any unclaimed remains.”
In a story in the Post in February, Service Nova Scotia had been surprised to learn Chant's was keeping cremated remains in a location outside the funeral home. Although they did comment that wasn't standard practice, there was no legislation preventing the funeral home from doing that.
Unclaimed remains at any funeral home could go back 20 to 30 years, Gregg explained, adding that what eventually happens to these unclaimed remains is up to a funeral home.
However, Nova Scotia does have regulations in place for operators of crematoriums under the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act.
Gregg said the regulations focus on record-keeping requirements and containers that can be used during cremation.
Sheldon Chant, owner of S.W. Chant and Sons Funeral Home, was contacted for comment and in an email response stated, “The chain of custody of cremated remains is a secure process followed on a case by case basis."
Chant said as per their funeral home's website, clients can contact them by emailing [email protected], or the “contact us” option on the webpage for any inquiries.
SERVICE NOVA SCOTIA MINISTER
In an email statement, Service Nova Scotia Minister Patricia Arab said all licensed funeral homes are expected to provide a high standard of professional service to Nova Scotians, including the handling of cremated remains.
“Funeral homes that are found to have not provided the level of service required will be reviewed to determine if any enforcement action is required.”
EMBALMERS AND FUNERAL DIRECTORS
In a recent story in the Post, Adam Tipert, chair of the Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, said there are no laws, regulations or policies under the board or the province about custody of cremated remains in funeral homes.
As a result, he said, it would be discussed between the funeral home with the next-of-kin as to what to do with those cremated ashes.
S.W. CHANT AND SON
In June 2018, Service Nova Scotia announced a six-month suspension of Chant's licence to sell prearranged funeral plans and permanently revoked its ability to sell trust funds after investigating a complaint of a prearranged funeral. In February, a fire caused substantial damage to the facility and it was closed.
Soon after Chant informed Service Nova Scotia they would be surrendering their licence. Since that time, the licence has been officially cancelled.
In the meantime, all individuals who came forward with unfunded pre-arranged funeral plans have been refunded.
The Cape Breton Regional Police recently confirmed an investigation into an allegation of fraud against S.W. Chant and Son Funeral Home Ltd. in Sydney has ended with no charges being laid. However, a formal inquiry by the Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors into the professional conduct of some of the funeral directors and/or embalmers of the former funeral home is moving ahead.
Anyone with concerns related to cremated remains is asked to contact Service Nova Scotia at 902-424-5819 or the Nova Scotia Board of Registration of Embalmers and Funeral Directors at 902-407-6002.
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