Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax

One of the most important things that you can do is to plan your estate, funeral and final burial arrangements within the guidelines of your faith.

Our approach is pressure-free, because our staff do not work on commission and have no vested interest in your decisions.

You can pre-arrange, and pay for, your ground lot or cremation niche. Cremation can also be pre-arranged and paid for.

There are a number of benefits to pre-planning your cemetery and funeral arrangements.

• Pre-planning will greatly relieve your family of the emotional stress of making difficult decisions at the time of death. To pre-plan is an act of kindness to those we love.
• Pre-planning will relieve your family of the costs associated with making arrangements at time of death. Pre-planning is a essential part of estate planning. It allows you to make informed decisions concerning your burial decisions and memorialization options.
• It allows families to work within a budget that they can afford at today’s prices no matter how many years in advance the purchase is made.
• Interest free monthly payment plans are available
• Pre-planning provides direction to the executor of your estate.
• Secures a final resting place in consecrated ground.

• A good first step is a meeting with one of our staff members. This is best done by appointment.
• Our staff can give you a tour of any cemetery and explain the options and costs involved.
• When you make a purchase, a contract is drawn up, and the pertinent details, including the cemetery by-laws, are provided to you.
• Talk to your family about your decisions or preferences. Even if you do not purchase anything in advance, your family should be aware of what you want, and don’t want. If you fill out an Estate Planning Guide, make sure your family knows where it is kept.

Cemeteries are necessary because they provide a dedicated space for communities to remember and mourn their deceased loved ones, offering a place for quiet reflection, a connection to the past, and a sense of closure while also serving as a historical record of a community and its people; essentially acting as a physical manifestation of our shared mortality and providing solace during grief.

The cemeteries are open to all.

Cremation Burial Options

Cremation Columbaria are granite structures with niches where urns with cremated remains may be placed. Memorialization of the deceased is engraved on the granite front of the niche.

Cremation Garden in ground burial provides for the cremated remains to be placed in a protective and commemorative urn and buried with the same ritual as a traditional burial.

Cremated remains may also be placed in an existing family grave when space and burial rights allow.

Memorial Urns are available for purchase at the cemetery office. We offer the finest collection of urns in a variety of unique colours, materials and designs. Both single and companion urns are available.

Ground Burial Options

In-ground burials describe traditional burials for casketed or cremated remains which are buried in the ground. A final resting place for you and/or your loved one also provides the comfort of knowing family and friends have a place to visit and reflect that’s in a beautiful, peaceful, serene setting that is maintained throughout the year.

Cremation has been an acceptable option for Catholics since 1963. Today, an increasing number of Catholics are choosing cremation as opposed to casket burial or entombment in a crypt. The cremated remains must be treated with respect. They should be interred or entombed. We don’t provide scattering gardens because separating cremated remains ins contrary to Catholic teaching.

We offer a variety of choices for cremation, all of them in keeping with the requirements of the Church. All of our Catholic cemeteries have graves for burials of cremated remains, as well as outdoor niches for the placement of cremation urns.

People choose cremation for many different reasons:

• Cultural or family tradition
• Personal preference
• Cost

To respect the remains of all those interred in our cemeteries, there are certain rules regarding what type of decoration is acceptable. Decorations must be contained within your plot/niche boundaries. Please see our Rules and Regulations for more information.

Cremated remains may be interred in existing family plots of the original interment rights holder if permission has been granted. Plots purchased before 1970 without prior permission granted are no longer open to burials.

Cremated remains my be interred in ground or above ground.

A burial vault is the outside container into which the casket is placed. A burial vault is designed to protect the casket and keeps the grave surface from sinking. Concrete burial vaults are available for purchase at Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

An interment fee includes administration and permanent record keeping (determining ownership, obtaining permission and completion of other documentation, entering the interment particulars in the interment register, maintaining all legal files); opening and closing the grave (locating the grave and laying out the boundaries, excavating and filling the interment space); installation and removal of the lowering device; placement and removal of artificial grass dressing at the grave site, leveling, tamping and re-grading.

A portion of the purchase price of a plot or niche is contributed to a maintenance and care fund. Income from this fund is used to provide regular care and maintenance at the cemetery, including cutting grass, regrading of graves, planting and caring for trees, roads, drainage, etc. This fund does not cover costs to repair or upright any monument. These costs are the sole responsibility of the monument owner.

The owner has exclusive and permanent right of use through an Interment Rights License. The owner's spouse, who has full control and the first right of burial after the death of the original owner. A married couple is considered a joint owner. Additional burials are permitted if permission has been granted and approved by Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax. Only the original owner of the Interment Rights License can grant permission for additional burials.

No. Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax does not recognize the sale of burial rights between private parties.

Our 150-year historical databases are not updated to reflect generations beyond the original owners of burial rights. Contacting all owners, heirs of burial rights and other interested parties is, therefore, not possible. We make significant effort to communicate policy changes.

When you purchase a grave you are in fact purchasing the right to designate who may be interred in the space, rather than purchasing the actual land in which the grave is found. The land remains the property and responsibility of Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax. You will receive a copy of the Rules and Regulations for Catholic Cemeteries of Halifax.

It is very helpful for family members to:

• meet with their parish priest as soon as possible after the death of their loved one in order to plan the funeral celebration in accordance with Archdiocesan policy.
• the priest is ready to meet and support the family by offering the consolation that comes from faith and expressing the care and concern of the entire parish community.
• contact their choice of funeral home.
• contact our cemetery office  at (902) 429-9800 ext. 308

At this time, we are unable to fulfill genealogy research requests.

Please visit the following resources to assist you in your search:

1. Holy Cross Historicial Trust
2. Nova Scotia Archives
3. Find a Grave