Making it happen
How to arrange a green burial.
Most people arrange a green burial through a funeral home or funeral provider. Families can also take on parts of it themselves. Here is the shape of it, and what happens on the day.
Who can authorise it
Who has the right to arrange the burial.
Under the provincial Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, the right to control what happens to a person’s remains passes, in order: the personal representative named in the will; then the spouse; then an adult child; then an adult grandchild; then (for a minor) a legal guardian; then a parent; then an adult sibling; then an adult nephew or niece; then an adult next of kin; then the public official administering the estate; then another adult with a close personal or kinship relationship.
A “spouse” includes a married partner, a common-law partner, and a person who lived with the deceased in a marriage-like relationship (including same-gender) for at least two years immediately before the death.
Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, s.5 and the definition of “spouse”; also excerpted on Interment Licence Form CCR 2026/01.
Step by step
Arranging the burial.
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Secure a green burial lot at Elk Falls
An interment right in the green burial area can be bought at the time of need or in advance. Lots are assigned by the City only when one is needed for a burial.
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Arrange care of the body
The body is not embalmed. Someone — usually a funeral provider — arranges refrigeration or cool storage, transport, and delivery of the body to the lot. The family, rights holder or their provider keeps custody of the body until it is handed to the City’s staff at the graveside, and is responsible for providing the people and means to carry it there.
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Choose a shroud, casket or container and get it approved
It must be fully biodegradable, with a rigid base and a safe means to lower it. The City must approve the specific container for the green burial area before the service.
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Register the death and get the permit
Once the death is registered with the BC Vital Statistics Agency, a BC Burial Permit is issued. It is surrendered to the City before the burial. For a death outside BC, an equivalent disposition document acceptable to the City is used.
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Sign the City’s interment authorization and pay
The person with the legal right to control disposition completes and signs the City’s interment authorization. All fees — the interment right, the interment fee, and any other City services — are paid in full before the burial.
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Give notice and book the time
Normally at least 24 hours’ notice; shorter notice may be accepted with a short-notice fee. Burials can be on any day, at a time set with the City, and no more than 60 days ahead. Bookings for a Monday or a day after a holiday must be in by 2:00 p.m. the previous business day. Weekend, holiday and after-hours burials carry an overtime fee.
City of Campbell River Cemetery Management Bylaw No. 3733, 2019, arts. 8.4–8.8, 8.19–8.20, 9.3–9.4, 9.8–9.10; Burial Permit definition, Part 2.
On the day
What happens at the graveside.
Only the City opens and closes the grave, and every interment is carried out by, or directly supervised by, City staff. The City may use equipment, including motorised equipment, to open and close a green burial lot, and will make “every reasonable effort” to replace the soil sensitively. It gives no warranty about the effect of that on the container or the remains.
Witnessing. Ask to witness the burial when you make the arrangements. The City directs proceedings in the green burial area and may limit how many people stand close to the grave for safety.
Helping to close the grave. With advance notice, family and friends may take part in filling the grave, under City supervision. Anyone taking part must be physically capable of it and accepts responsibility for their own safety. A witnessed service may carry a fee.
Afterwards. Remains buried in a green burial lot are treated as non-recoverable from the day of the burial. A green burial lot cannot be reopened for disinterment except on the order of a court or a medical health officer. If a lot was bought to hold cremated remains alongside future body burials, the cremated remains are not placed until all the permitted body burials have been made.
Bylaw arts. 8.12–8.13, 8.26, 9.7, 9.15–9.22, 9.18.
Provincial law
How BC law fits in.
Registering the death
A medical practitioner, nurse practitioner or coroner completes the Medical Certification of Death within 48 hours. The death is then registered. A funeral home usually does this; if no funeral home is used, the legal representative can register the death at a Service BC location or through the BC Vital Statistics Agency.
The Disposition Permit (Burial Permit)
When the death is registered, BC issues a Disposition Permit (formally the “Disposition Permit and Acknowledgement of Registration of Death”, often called a Burial Permit). It is required before a burial or cremation and is given to the cemetery or crematorium. The City’s bylaw already requires a BC Burial Permit for human remains, or a Certificate of Cremation for cremated remains, before an interment at Elk Falls (art. 8.4).
Can a family do it all themselves?
Yes — BC law does not require you to hire a funeral home. Consumer Protection BC confirms that a family with the right to control disposition can arrange things themselves: obtain the Medical Certificate of Death, register the death, get the Disposition Permit, apply for and carry out a private transfer, supply a compliant container, and arrange the burial with the cemetery.
A licensed party is still involved for a few things:
- The interment itself is carried out by the licensed cemetery operator — at Elk Falls, the City, which reserves the opening and closing of graves to its own staff.
- The private transfer permit must be approved by Consumer Protection BC, and the receiving cemetery must agree to accept a private transfer.
Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act and Regulation; Consumer Protection BC — funeral rights and private transfer; BC Vital Statistics — death registration; City Cemetery Management Bylaw No. 3733, arts. 8.4, 8.12–8.13. See also Rules & requirements.
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