Funeral Business Suffering Like Other Industried

Funeral Business Suffering Like Other Industries

Like most other businesses in the province, COVID-19 hasn’t been kind to funeral homes.


“With some families electing to do reduced or no services, of course the side effect is that our revenues will be down and therefore our bottom line,” Root said.


Funerals, like the rest of public gatherings, are beholden to the chief medical officer of health’s public restrictions. Currently, that means no more than 15 people spaced two metres apart. Anyone found violating those rules can be fined $1,000.


As the concerns of infections and staff safety dominate the planning funeral homes are doing, there are also thoughts about what this means for the future.

Funeral home chapels like this one are often closed because of COVID-19 gathering restrictions. (Pierson’s Funeral Service)

a person wearing a mask that says n95 on it

PPE is the New Contraband

September 22, 2020
PPE in the province has been earmarked for hospitals, family doctors and other medical staff. Alberta’s funeral homes are running out. “It will be a concern the longer that this goes on,” said Evan Strong, the owner of Evan J. Strong Funeral Home. He added he understands the necessary hierarchy of PPE distribution, but wants the government to understand the position funeral homes are in as well.
a man in a suit is opening a coffin in a funeral home .

'Death Doesn't Just Stop': How Funeral Homes are Coping with COVID-19

September 21, 2020
Looming shortage of personal protective equipment top of mind for funeral directors. The funeral home chapel may be desolate, but the phone is still ringing. Mortality is no stranger during a pandemic, but COVID-19 is bringing complications for businesses that deal with death. “Death doesn’t just stop. It’s not like we’re a service that can’t continue,” said David Root, the general manager at Pierson’s Funeral Service in Calgary. Funeral homes are listed as an essential service in Alberta. That comes with a host of new challenges as they struggle to adapt to increasing demand and fewer resources.