Want to be buried on your farm? Could you? Would you? Should you?

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Don Eirickson acknowledges that his family’s decision to establish a cemetery on the farm may not be one that everyone would agree with.

   “Some people might think we’re a little bit off the wall but we’ve never regretted it,” says the Elfros, Saskatchewan farmer.

   The Eirickson family cemetery is on a slight knoll overlooking a lush green pasture and the gently sloping ravine that runs through it. A small herd of horses graze contentedly in the coulee. Don and his wife, Margot have planted cherry trees, lilacs and other shrubs there. A little stone bench invites visitors, while a statue of St. Francis of Assis, watches over the graves of Don’s parents, Oli and Irene Eirickson, laid to rest there in 2010 and 2013. 

    The summer of 2010, when Oli passed away, was one of the “wet years” (50 inches of rain) that are becoming increasingly common in east central Saskatchewan. Burial was just not happening in the nearby Elfros cemetery but Don had a friend who had recently established a cemetery on his farm and it got him thinking.  Maybe they could do the same? “The family discussed it and thought about it a lot,” he says. “We asked our funeral director if it was possible.”

    Their funeral director assured them that it was. A call to June Draude, then MLA (member Legislative Assembly) for the area put the Eiricksons in touch with Saskatchewan’s Registrar of Cemeteries.

    Oli Eirickson was the first to be buried in the Eirickson family cemetery and before Don’s mother, Irene Eirickson died in 2013, she had made it clear that she wanted to be buried beside her husband. Don and Margot expect to carry on the tradition.

    “The process wasn’t that difficult,” Don says. “And it was worth it. It’s so nice to know they are here. When you bury your loved ones in any other cemetery, you maybe make a point of going there once a year. This way, we think of them every time we drive past.”

So, why all the regulations?

It’s your land and your loved one, some may say, why does anyone else have to be involved?

   “People just can’t bury a person without having certain questions answered,” says retired police officer, Ken Gartner. “There has to be records, verifying the cause of death as well as other information and the location of the deceased in a designated cemetery.”

   The rules and regulations that govern cemeteries are provincially written. Seven out of 10 Canadian provinces say, ‘Yes,’ to on farm burials. Alberta says, ‘No.’ Newfoundland Labrador says, ‘No but . . .  ‘ and Quebec says, ‘Oui, but it will not be easy.’

   In Quebec, it would not be possible unless the region is declared a cemetery as well, says Sophie Desgagnes, director Magnus Poirier Funeral Homes in Montreal.” We have some zones for agriculture, etc. Otherwise, no. You must ask the (municipal) government to zone the land which is quite a procedure.”

    In Alberta, Tyler Weber, director for Alberta Funeral Association, quotes the Alberta Cemeteries Act. “No person shall bury a dead human body in any place other than a cemetery and . . . no new cemetery can be established except for a religious auxiliary, religious denomination or a municipality.”

   “That means no corporate entity or private individual can start a cemetery in Alberta,” he says, and explains the rationale behind this regulation.

   “When it comes to the burial of human remains, it would not be practical for every farm to have its own cemetery. For the same reason their farm land is sacred, our cemeteries are just as sacred. Our local cemeteries have generations of those who have gone before us buried within that sacred ground. To our ancestors, the establishment of a cemetery was not just a practical need, but a deliberate decision to stake out ground that was meant and will remain deliberately intended for the safe keeping of the community’s dead.”

   In Newfoundland Labrador, there is no legislation that speaks directly to the burying of a casket but the burial of an urn containing cremated remains is not permitted, says Geoffrey Carnell, past president of Newfoundland Labrador, Funeral Service Association and past president of the Canadian Funeral Service Association. 

   But he doesn’t completely shut the door on the subject. “Anyone who wants to do this would have to contact me,” he says. “I would have to be convinced this would be the right thing to do. I would assist that person by pointing him to the legislation, doing a letter, things like that. That’s the only way it’ll happen.”

   “And,” he adds, “They’d have to start from scratch. Anybody contemplating being buried on their farm had better get cracking now.”

   Among the provinces that allow on farm burials Nova Scotia would appear to be the most user friendly. In that province, says Heather Desserud, media relations advisor, government of Nova Scotia, “There are no restrictions on being buried on your farm or property under the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act.”

   Cemeteries that operate for a profit are regulated and licensed but those that operate as non-profits are exempt from this legislation.

   However, before establishing a cemetery on your farm in Nova Scotia, you should notify the Land Registry to ensure that the burial is noted. As in all provinces you are to disclose this if and when the property is sold. Questions on specific regulations for burial such as how deep the casket must be buried, distance of cemetery from roads, water courses etc. should be directed to the county or rural municipality.

Seven are similar

For the other provinces that allow on farm burials, the rules and regulations are somewhat similar. None allow a burial in any place other than a cemetery and they all require that the applicant establish that cemetery within certain regulations. Generally, there is a licensing fee plus an annual charge to retain the license. But usually in the case of on farm cemeteries, with fewer than 10 burials per year, the annual charge is waived.

   In Saskatchewan, for example, the first step is to get permission from your rural municipality (RM.) In short, the registrar of cemeteries needs to know that you want to establish a cemetery, that you own the land where the cemetery will be located and that the rural municipality in which the cemetery will be located is okay with your plans.

   The applicant must also supply two paper copies of a plan prepared by a qualified person, or a reasonable scale drawing for the proposed cemetery showing the subdivision of the cemetery into lots and plots.  (A lot is space for one grave, a plot is space for two.) “Hiring a land surveyor may not be necessary,” says Eric Greene, cemetery registrar for Saskatchewan.

    A draftsman may prepare a plan according to instructions without viewing the property. The owner must stake out the cemetery according to the plan.

   The cemetery must be located on suitable ground (rocky or sandy soil may create future problems) at least 100 m from any watercourse or well and at least 500 m from any waste disposal ground.

   “Our legislation requires that remains are handled with dignity and care and with respect to the environment to ensure they do not pollute water sources. (That’s why graves) must be a certain distance from water sources,” says Matthew Barton, communications consultant, financial and consumer affairs authority, government of Saskatchewan.

   Unless given special permission by the Registrar the cemetery shall not be located less than 55 m from the centre of a public highway.

  Public access must be provided. Roads at least seven metres in width are to be arranged throughout the cemetery so that every grave lot will be within 75 metres of a road. The cemetery must also have access to a public road at two or more locations or a suitable turning area at least 15 m in diameter

   Records must be kept showing the name of each deceased person in the cemetery, the location of each grave and the date of each interment. If a casket is buried less than 76 centimetres below the ground’s surface, reason must be given.

   The registrar says he gets about three or four applications for a farm cemetery each year. “Most are accepted. Those refused are usually turned down because the proposed location is too close to a water way, or the applicant is not prepared to do the care and maintenance required,” he says.

   Once it becomes a cemetery public access must be provided. “There is no such thing as a private cemetery,” Greene says. “It becomes a public place. Hours can be restricted to certain times but that’s not an issue. The issue is 50 years down the line if the land has transferred, the relatives of those buried there should continue to have access for perpetuity.”

“Generally, if the home quarter is seen as a cemetery, I want people to file in my office for permission (to sell),” he says, but adds, “A lot of people don’t know about that. I fully suspect a lot of transfers are happening without me knowing.”

Things to consider: Is a cemetery on a farm a deterrent to future property sales?

In Quebec, a law suit was launched when the cremated remains of the previous owner were discovered buried in the yard (in an urn) by the new owner, as he dug a pool.       

   Although cremated remains are not considered an environmental threat and generally they can be dispersed anywhere within reason, when a property is for sale it should be disclosed that ashes have been scattered or buried on the property, just as the presence of a cemetery should be disclosed.

   As to whether the presence of a cemetery would lower the value of a piece of land, Eric Greene says

“I don’t have any stats that would show that one way or the other.”

Looking ahead

On the corner of the home quarter of what used to be the Kilburn* place, 14 miles east of Anytown*, Saskatchewan, there’s a little rise of ground where a man was buried over 100 years ago.  He had travelled at Easter in 1912, from his home in Ontario to visit his daughter and her family on their homestead. He died there and was buried there.

   This was not unusual at the time. The province was only seven years old. Few cemeteries were established, regulations were not in place and even into the 1920s it was a common practice to bury the dead on the homestead.

   Over the years, the land may have been sold, markers may have deteriorated or be lost.  In many cases, no one now living is exactly sure where these graves are located or even that they are there.

   There are graves like this, across Canada where the dead lie sleeping, undisturbed, their stories lost, their names forgotten under a cover of grass or woods or wheat or maybe someone’s flower garden. Regulations now in place, make that much less likely than it was 100 years ago, but it could happen. If one hundred years from now, yours was one of those forgotten graves, would you be okay with that?

*not the real name of the person, persons or place

Who are you going to call?

If you are interested in establishing a cemetery on your farm, the quickest way to get the information you need would probably be to call your local representative to the provincial government. That person will be able to tell you the name and contact information for the Registrar of Cemeteries or his/her equivalent in your province.

Before you go be sure they know

About 10 years before his death in 1990, *Steven, a Saskatchewan farmer, began work on the casket he wanted to be buried in. “Those damned undertakers charge too much,” he muttered. “Just put me in this box and I’ll be fine.”

    The ‘box’ was made of mahogany plywood, a simple design, wider at the head and shoulders end, tapering to a narrower foot. Those who saw it said it reminded them of the coffins seen in Western movies.  While he freely discussed it with anyone who happened to drop by his farm shop that winter, no one can say for sure if Steven’s wife knew of his plans. He finished the casket, hoisted it up onto some sheets of drywall lying on the rafters of the shop and there it stayed.

   It’s still there. Steven died suddenly just a few months after his 80th birthday. His widow wrote a cheque for the most expensive casket in the funeral home’s showroom and never batted an eye. “He was the best and he deserved the best,” she firmly told anyone who looked like they might question her judgement.

   A few years later, preparing for her own death, she told her daughter not to do as she had done. “I wasn’t thinking clearly,” she said. “I wanted to honour him but he would have considered that such a waste of money. Don’t buy me the most expensive casket.”

   Her daughter said she wouldn’t. “But, don’t get the cheapest either,” her mother added, with a smile.

   People who are experiencing the immediate shock of overwhelming grief, are not thinking clearly. When asked to do anything out of the ordinary, be it bury their loved one in a homemade casket, bury them in jeans or bury them on the farm, they might balk. Tell them what you want, make sure they understand, long before it is necessary.

- Shirley Byers