Know your obligations
As a BC-licensed operator of a place of interment, you need to make sure you understand all applicable laws and maintain your good standing as a business. This is a general overview of our expectations and the laws we oversee. We recommend that you review the laws in detail, become aware of the municipal bylaws, and get independent legal advice, if necessary.
As part of our inspection or investigative process, we may impose an administrative monetary penalty (financial penalty) for certain violations of the laws we oversee. Every contravention has a base penalty amount, based in part on the seriousness of the infraction.
Read the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act.
Read the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act.
Read the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Regulation.
Read the Consumer Contract Regulation.
Understand all our policies, including about administrative penalties.
Manage your Care Fund
If your business is required to set up a Care Fund, you must review your obligations.
Read the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, part 7.
Read the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Regulation, section 20-22.
Manage your preneed contracts and trust accounts
If you offer preneed cemetery or funeral services, you must review your obligations.
Read the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, division 3.
Read the Consumer Contracts Regulation, part 2.
Changing your savings institution (trust)?
By law, there are obligations when it comes to maintaining and releasing preneed trust accounts.
Read the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act, Section 40
Read the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, Part 7
If you are changing your savings institution (trust), here are the steps you must take:
- Step 1: If required set up a new preneed trust account with a new savings institution in BC. You must wait for our permission prior to transferring your preneed trust. Visit the BC Financial Services Authority to find a list of regulated trust companies.
- Step 2: Fill out our change request form, along with a copy of your new preneed trust agreement to businesspractices@consumerprotectionbc.ca.
- Step 3: Wait for our permission to transfer the preneed trust. We will review the trust agreement that you sent us in Step 2. Once approved, we will send you a letter with permission to proceed with the transfer of the preneed trust funds from the previous savings institution directly to the new savings institution.
- Step 4: Send us the closing and opening balances of the previous and new preneed trust accounts. Email us at businesspractices@consumerprotectionbc.ca with:
- A bank statement with the closing balance of the previous trust account
- A bank statement with the opening balance of the new trust account
Fill out our change request form
Submit your preneed financial report
If you offer preneed cemetery or funeral services, you must annually submit a preneed financial report within 90 days of your fiscal year end.
The report must include the account information for each preneed contract for the previous fiscal year including:
- client name and address
- client contract date
- total sale price
- amount received or held at the beginning of the year
- monies received during the year (scheduled payments or new accounts)
- amount placed in trust
- monies paid out including cancellations, refunds and monies converted at need
- year-end balance (total amount received, placed in trust and interest credited)
- investment account number
Preneed financial reports must meet our requirements and incomplete reports will not be processed. If you submit your report more than 90 days after your fiscal year-end date, you will be charged a late fee.
Log in to your MyAccount to submit your report.
