Funeral services

By law, businesses that provide funeral services require a licence. Funeral directors, embalmers and apprentices also require a licence to carry out their role.

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.

How to get licensed

Funeral provider

You are required to provide the following to be licensed as a funeral provider.

Step 1: Provide proof of registration or incorporation

You must provide proof of incorporation or registration during the application process. To register your business in BC, visit OneStop BC Business Registry. If you are starting a new business, visit Small Business BC. If you are set up as a proprietorship, partnership, or society, you must provide:

names of all directors, senior officers, partners or proprietors
current copy of any trade name registration(s) under which you intend to operate

If you are set up as a corporation, you must provide:

names of all directors, senior officers, and beneficial owners with voting shares
current copy of any trade name registration(s) under which you intend to operate
copies of the most recent financial statements or, if a newly incorporated company, a statement of the proposed financial organization of the company

Step 2: Provide municipal licence

You must provide a copy of your business licence issued by your local municipality.

Step 3: Complete a criminal record check

Senior officers, partners or proprietors of your business must complete a criminal record check. For Canadian residents, get your criminal record check through our third-party supplier. The results will be sent directly to us. Get a criminal record check. For non-Canadian residents, a criminal record check from your home jurisdiction is required.

Step 4: Employees must meet licensing requirement

You must have at least one dedicated licensed funeral director assigned to your location. If you provide preparation and embalming services, you must have at least one licensed embalmer assigned to your location. If a funeral director holds both licences, they can act as the funeral director and embalmer for your location.

Step 5: Meet funeral facility requirements

As a funeral provider, your facility must meet specific requirements. You must make sure that your facility has:

a separate and private entrance from the street or public area
a separate and private arrangement or meeting rooms
adequate on-site refrigeration that is acceptable for storing human remains, or access to refrigeration elsewhere that is acceptable to the director
met the requirements for displaying containers

If you do not have on-site refrigeration in your facility, and you use refrigeration services from a funeral provider of a different business entity, you must complete a refrigeration agreement declaration in your application.

Read the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Regulation, section 33 and section 34.
Learn more about refrigeration agreements and fill out a refrigeration agreement declaration.

If you accept human remains but do not disinfect, preserve, or restore human remains at your facility, you must have at least one separate room for the care and preparation of human remains prior to disposition and meet the requirements outlined under the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Regulation. Read section 32(2).

If you disinfect, preserve, or restore human remains at your facility, you must have at least one separate room and meet the requirements outlined under the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Regulation. Read section 32(2) and section 32(3).

Step 6: Set up and maintain liability insurance

You must set up and maintain public liability insurance for each business location.

Step 7: Set up a trust account

If you offer preneed cemetery or funeral services, you must set up a preneed trust account with a savings institution in BC and provide:

a copy of your preneed trust agreement with your savings institution
a copy of your preneed cemetery or funeral services contract

Step 8: Complete Administrative Fee Payment Agreement

In BC, you must report and pay an administrative fee on a quarterly basis for each death registered under the Vital Statistic Act. Complete the Administrative Fee Payment Agreement Form

Step 9: Apply for a licence

You must submit all supporting documents with your application. If your business has more than one location, each location requires its own licence Review the application checklist. Submit a licence application form.

Step 10: Schedule a facility pre-inspection

A pre-inspection of your facility is required prior to licensing.

Step 11: Read and understand your obligations

It is your responsibility to review the law pertaining to your business sector and to understand your obligations. Review your obligations.

Funeral director and embalmer

If you received education or practical training in BC, you are required to provide the following to be licensed.

Step 1: Complete education program, supervised fieldwork, and training

You must complete a 2-year BC Funeral Services Apprenticeship Program offered by the BC Funeral Association. During your apprenticeship program, you must:

receive supervised fieldwork and practical training in BC
complete 3600 hours of supervised fieldwork and training
conduct 50 embalming operations
be directly involved in the process of making 50 funeral arrangements.

Step 2: Meet education and training standards

Once you have completed your education, you must receive a passing grade for each subject taken or pass a final exam. For embalming and funeral service practicum courses, you must receive a passing grade for courses graded on a pass/fail basis.

Step 3: Provide three letters of reference

You must include at least three letters of references from past employers, one of which must be from an employer or former employer who is a funeral provider and who can attest to your competency as a funeral director or embalmer.

Step 4: Make sure you meet residence and language requirements

You are not required to be a Canadian citizen to be licensed as a funeral director or embalmer; However, you need to reside in BC and be proficient in English.

Step 5: Complete a criminal record check

All funeral director and embalmer applicants must complete a criminal record check. For Canadian residents, get your criminal record check through our third-party supplier. The results will be sent directly to us. Get a criminal record check. For non-Canadian residents, a criminal record check from your home jurisdiction is required.

Step 6: Apply for a licence

You must submit all supporting documents with your application. Each application may take up to two weeks to process. Review the application checklist Submit application form

Step 7: Read and understand your obligations

It is your responsibility to review all applicable laws pertaining to your industry and to understand your obligations. Review your obligations.

If you are licensed or received education or practical training outside BC, you must meet our entrance requirements to get your funeral director and/or embalmer licence in BC. Read our BC funeral director and embalmer entrance requirements.

Funeral or embalmer apprentice

You are required to provide the following to be licensed as a funeral or embalmer apprentice.

Step 1: Provide a copy of your ITA trainee registration card

To get your license, you must show proof that you are enrolled in a formal apprenticeship program in your application. To do this, you must provide a copy of your ITA Trainee Registration Card, issued by the Industry Training Authority.

Step 2: Complete a criminal record check

All funeral director or embalmer apprentices must complete a criminal record check. For Canadian residents, get your criminal record check through our third-party supplier. The results will be sent directly to us. Get a criminal record check. For non-Canadian residents, a criminal record check from your home jurisdiction is required.

Step 3: Complete the employer supervisory and facility declaration form

Before submitting your application, you must have your employer complete and sign a supervisory and facility declaration. Submit the employer supervisory and facility declaration form.

Step 4: Apply for a licence

You must submit all supporting documents with your application. Each application may take up to two weeks to process. Review the application checklist Submit a licence application form

Step 5: Read and understand your obligations

There are a number of rules that you need to follow, including refrigeration requirements and the transfer of human remains. It is your responsibility to review all applicable laws pertaining to your industry and to understand your obligations. Know your obligations.

How to renew your employee’s (funeral director’s and embalmer’s) licence

Steps in MyAccount

You will receive automated emails once your employee’s licence is ready to be renewed. The email will include a list of all your employees whose licence will expire soon, along with the licence number of the business they work for. Click on the link in the email to go to MyAccount.
Log in using your credentials. The username would be the email address that received the reminder and if you have forgotten the password, click on the “Forgot Your Password” link.
You will see information about your business licence and any branches you have.
Click on the licence number where the employee you wish to renew works. Please note that you can renew multiple employee licences if they are all at the same business location but not across different business locations.
Click on the “employees” tab, this will bring up a list of employees. Tick the renew box to the left of the employee names.
Once you have selected all the employees you wish to renew, click on the “renew individual licences” button at the bottom of the page.
Follow the on-screen instructions and fill out the payment details.
Once you submit the payment, you will get a “success” pop-up screen to let you know that the renewal has been submitted to us.
The status of the employee will change to “renewal submitted”. Once their licence is issued, the status will change to “issued”.

Tips when renewing your employees in MyAccount

You can renew multiple individual licences at once but only if they all work at the same business location. If you have multiple licences that are up for renewal but at different locations, you will have to renew them in separate transactions.
Prior to renewing on behalf of your employee, please get the most updated information from them. You will be able to update their personal and contact information and will be asked if they have been convicted of a criminal offence within the last year. For funeral directors and embalmers, if the criminal conviction checkbox is ticked, we will email you the link your employee can follow to complete a criminal record check.
We will review the renewal submission and if approved, a new licence will be emailed to you. MyAccount does not instantly grant you an employee licence renewal.

If an employee is at status “Renewal Form Sent” and you are unable to select the box to renew, please contact us.

Licence application forms

Funeral provider application checklist
Funeral provider application form
Statutory declaration for a residential address
Refrigeration agreement declaration form
Administrative Fee Payment Agreement Form
Administrative fee brochure order form
BC funeral director and embalmer entrance requirements
Funeral director and embalmer application checklist
Funeral director and embalmer application form
Funeral apprentice application checklist
Funeral apprentice application form
Supervisor and facility declaration form
Credit card authorization form

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