Paying for a funeral or celebration of life in Ontario: your rights and the help available

Your rights before you sign

Funeral homes, transfer services, cemeteries and crematoriums in Ontario are licensed by the Bereavement Authority of Ontario (BAO), and the law gives you clear rights:

• A price list first. A provider must give you a price list of all the supplies and services it sells before a contract is made. The BAO suggests asking for a written price estimate too, so you can compare.
• Commissions disclosed. If the provider earns a commission or a benefit when you choose a particular florist or caterer, it must tell you.
• A detailed contract. The contract sets out the services, facilities and vehicles, and the supplies, such as a casket or an urn.

Take your time: you can ask two or three providers for their price lists before choosing.

30 days to change your mind

After signing a contract for funeral, cemetery or crematorium supplies or services, you have 30 days to change your mind and get a full refund. Give the provider written notice: it refunds what you have paid for supplies and services you haven't received, within 30 days of your notice. After 30 days, you can still cancel, but a cancellation fee may apply: no more than 10% of the contract, up to $350.

When the estate can't pay

If there isn't enough money to pay for a funeral, a transfer service, a burial, a cremation or an alkaline hydrolysis, you can apply to your local municipality for help. Apply before you sign a contract with a provider: you may not be eligible afterwards. Limits usually apply to the choice of casket, urn, grave and services, and some municipalities may ask you to pay part of the cost. In Toronto, for example, help is for residents whose estate can't fully cover the cost of a basic funeral, burial or cremation, and you start by calling 311.

Federal benefits

• CPP death benefit. For deaths on or after January 1, 2025, it is $2,500, plus a possible $2,500 top-up (up to $5,000) when the person never received a CPP or QPP retirement or disability benefit and leaves no spouse or partner eligible for a survivor's pension. The executor should apply within 60 days; otherwise, the person who paid the funeral expenses, the surviving spouse or partner, or the next of kin can apply.
• Veterans. Veterans Affairs Canada's funeral and burial assistance, provided through the Last Post Fund, helps when an eligible veteran dies of a service-related injury or illness, or when their estate can't pay some or all of the costs. Apply within one year of the death, by calling the Last Post Fund at 1-800-465-7113.

Simple ways to keep costs down

• Compare price lists, and choose only the supplies and services you want.
• Separate the ceremony from the rest. When the body or the ashes are not present, the BAO says that anyone can host a memorial service, a celebration of life or a reception, including renting a place for it. A gathering at home, in a community hall or in a park can cost less than a full service.
• Scatter the ashes yourselves. The family can scatter the ashes itself at no cost: see scattering ashes in Ontario.
• Keep the gathering simple: a potluck, a playlist, photos and memories. Our celebration of life ideas can help.

If something goes wrong

For a problem with a licensed funeral, burial or cremation provider, contact the Bereavement Authority of Ontario at 1-844-493-6356 or info@thebao.ca.

A celebrant, at a price shown upfront

If you would like someone to write and lead the ceremony, Celebrance can connect you with a celebrant from our local network in Ontario. The price is shown upfront, and if your celebrant becomes unavailable, we arrange a replacement. See our celebrants for funerals and celebrations of life. For the first steps after a death, see how to plan a funeral or celebration of life in Ontario.

Sources: thebao.ca: consumer rights · thebao.ca: bao cig eng july2025.pdf · ontario.ca: arrange funeral burial cremation alkaline hydrolysis or scattering · toronto.ca: funerals and burials · canada.ca: cpp death benefit · veterans.gc.ca: funeral and burial assistance