Give us a call. Our team will walk you through the process of transferring the deceased into our care and making final arrangements.

Our doors don’t close at 5pm on a Friday. Our team is available by phone to serve your family when you need us. Simply call 1.877.264.3848 and our team will be ready to assist you.

Our funeral directors can assist you if a death occurs anywhere in the province or on the globe. Contact us right away. We will assume responsibility and coordinate the arrangements for the return of the deceased person to the community. We may coordinate with a funeral director in the place of death who will act as our agent. If a death occurs while you are visiting our community, we can also assist in returning your loved one home.

Every life lived is unique and as should be every memorial service. At Yates, we recognize that your wishes may not fit within a traditional funeral format. Our team will help to coordinate and plan the type of service that meets your personal needs. We have facilities to accommodate any event from a small tea to a large gathering of friends and family or a religious ceremony. We can work with you to design unique media presentations or facilitate the use of our equipment. Our funeral directors are expert event planners that will assist you from start to finish.

Yes. Cremation doesn’t replace visitation or service options. If cremation is chosen, the deceased can still be present at a service or for viewing. Cremation is simply an alternative option to casket burial.

In BC, we must wait a minimum of 48 hours before cremation can take place. Additionally, the death needs to be registered with Vital Statistics. This requires coordination with a Doctor or Coroner and meeting with the deceased’s family to gather information and authorization. At times, this does cause delays depending on the circumstances of the death. Rest assured, our team is working as fast as they can behind the scenes to make sure everything happens in a timely manner. After the documentation is complete, we can move forward with cremation. Our crematorium is onsite as part of our Parksville facility. This means once we transfer the deceased into our facility, they do not need to leave our care.

More and more, individuals are deciding that they would like to pass away in the comfort of their own home. If this option is fitting for your family, there are a few steps that can be taken to make things easier. Most importantly, make sure that you communicate with your doctor. Your doctor can issue an “Expected Death at Home” form. Having this in place means that when the death occurs, all your family needs to do is call the funeral home and we can transfer the deceased into our care. If this form isn’t in place, the death must be reported to the Coroner and may require attendance by the RCMP and emergency services. Other steps such as pre-planning with our team can alleviate some of the stress after a death has occurred.

We understand that death doesn’t always happen at a convenient time. Whether you are away for work, vacation, or simply not available to come in, we can still help. After the death occurs, we will need to speak with you to give us permission to take your loved one into our care. At that point, all necessary arrangements can be handled by phone, fax, and email. If you travel often and are hard to reach, discuss with your family whether you are the best choice for executor.

If you aren’t happy with our service or our charges, give us a call. Our team is always willing to listen and it is our goal to give you the best possible service. If the dispute cannot be solved by talking with the funeral director or management, you may wish to contact Consumer Protection BC. Consumer Protection BC is a not-for-profit corporation that protects consumers and encourages a fair marketplace in British Columbia. To contact Consumer Protection BC, call 1-888-564-9963 or online www.consumerprotectionbc.ca