The rules

Rules & requirements.

Green burial at Elk Falls is governed by the City of Campbell River’s Cemetery Management Bylaw No. 3733, 2019, which sits under BC’s funeral and cemetery law. This page collects what the bylaw requires.

The bylaw and cemetery information are on the City of Campbell River cemeteries page.

The body

Condition of the body.

Must be in a natural state and not embalmed.
Clothed, wrapped or shrouded in natural, fully biodegradable fibre or material.
Enclosed in a City-approved shroud, casket or container with a rigid base for safe transport and handling.

Bylaw art. 9.8.

Container

What the container must be — and must not be.

Required

Approved by the City for the green burial area before the service.
Primarily made of fully biodegradable, environmentally sustainable materials, inside and out, including natural-fibre interior finishing.
A safe, secure design feature for lowering the remains into the grave.
Any cremated-remains urn used in the green area: fully biodegradable (may be recycled, unbleached paper or cardboard), with no plastic or metal liner.

Not permitted

Plywood, particleboard, fibreboard, non-sustainable or exotic wood or hardwood.
Metal, bleached or non-recycled cardboard, or other artificial or non-biodegradable material.
Extraneous plastic or metal parts, fixtures or decoration — apart from minimally necessary structural hinges, nails and screws.
High-gloss or polished finishes made with synthetic or hazardous chemicals; synthetic or hazardous glues, epoxies or bonding agents.
Any non-biodegradable interior liner, shroud, bag or lining.
Any non-biodegradable personal item, memento or article placed inside the space occupied by the remains.

Bylaw arts. 9.9–9.12 (containers), 9.19 (urns for cremated remains). The City may refuse any container it does not approve.

The grave

Depth, liners and lot types.

Grave liner / vault: Not permitted in a green burial lot. (In the City’s other lots a standard grave liner is normally required; green burial and infant lots are the exceptions.)
Soil cover: As with any single-depth lot, at least 30 inches (76.2 cm) of soil between the finished surface and the top of the container. For cremated remains, at least 6 inches (15.2 cm).
Double depth: Where offered, the first burial is at the lowest depth, with at least 2 feet (60.9 cm) of soil between burials.
Lot capacity: Single-depth green lot: one body plus up to three sets of cremated remains. Double-depth: two bodies plus up to two sets of cremated remains. Cremation-only green lot: up to four sets of cremated remains.

Bylaw arts. 8.17, 9.5, 9.13–9.14; Schedule A s.2.2–2.3.

Still to confirm with the City

The bylaw’s fee schedule notes that a double-depth burial requires a concrete grave liner, while green burial lots do not allow grave liners. How that applies to a double-depth green lot needs clarification.

Memorials, plants and grave goods

What can and cannot be placed.

Memorials

No individual marker, monument, edging, grave cap, stone, vase, ornament or decoration on or around a green burial lot.
Inscriptions are made by the City on a communal memorial, on one line: given name(s) or initial(s), surname, year of birth and year of death. There is no obligation to have an inscription; the City adds new inscriptions at least twice a year.

Flowers and grave goods

Floral tributes that come with the burial service may stay on the site for up to two weeks; after that the City may remove them without notice.
Nothing else — other tributes, artificial flowers, planting, vases, decorations — may be placed on a green burial lot.

Planting

Only the City plants or supervises planting in the green burial area, following a set planting plan.
Only trees, shrubs, groundcover and wildflowers native to the local climate.
Planting is seasonal — a late-winter burial may not be planted until the following autumn or winter. The family may be offered a choice of planting, or a role in planting, depending on the lot. The City makes no guarantee that a planting will survive.

Bylaw arts. 9.23–9.39; Schedule B s.3.2(e).

Provincial law

Three layers of rules.

An interment at Elk Falls has to satisfy three separate things, and it helps to keep them apart:

BC law — the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act and its Regulation, administered by Consumer Protection BC, plus death registration under the Vital Statistics Act. This sets the floor for the whole province.
The City of Campbell River’s bylaw — the cemetery-specific rules on this page, which the green burial area adds on top of the provincial floor.
What a funeral home offers — services a business may provide. Using a funeral home is a choice, not a legal requirement, with the narrow exceptions noted below.

Embalming

BC law: embalming is not required by law. Consumer Protection BC states this directly. If embalming is done, it must be by a licensed embalmer.
City bylaw: in the Elk Falls green burial area, embalming is not permitted at all (art. 9.8).
Funeral home: may offer embalming; you can decline it.

Refrigeration of unembalmed remains

BC law: the refrigeration rule is a duty on licensed funeral providers. Where a funeral provider holds unembalmed remains, they must be refrigerated “as soon as practical (but within 24 hours)” and kept refrigerated except for scheduled care, transfer, a service or disposition; time in a care-and-preparation room is capped at 24 hours. Because embalming is not required, a provider may not use embalming to avoid refrigeration.
City bylaw: does not address storage; the City sets the interment time and needs at least 24 hours’ notice.

Transporting the body

BC law: without a permit, only licensed funeral directors, their staff, and people working under a licensed funeral director’s direction may transfer human remains. Anyone else — including a family member — needs a private transfer permit from Consumer Protection BC. The legal representative applies; there is no fee; it must be approved before the transfer; it is valid only within BC. The body must be in an enclosed, rigid, leak-proof container that is not visible to the public, and the vehicle must have someone with it or be locked and secure. The receiving funeral home, crematorium or cemetery must be willing to accept a private transfer — not all do.
City bylaw: the family (or their provider) keeps custody of the body and provides the people and means to bring it to the graveside; the City takes custody at the lot (arts. 8.19–8.20).

Supplying your own casket or container

BC law: you may supply your own casket or container for burial or cremation if it meets the requirements, and a funeral provider must not refuse a compliant container you supply. A burial container must be rigid, leak-proof, able to close completely, strong enough to contain and move the remains, and not a health hazard. A cremation container must additionally be combustible and rigid and must not contain plastic, fibreglass, foam, rubber, PVC or zinc. Full specifications are in the Regulation.
City bylaw (green area): on top of those minimums, the Elk Falls green burial area requires the container or shroud to be primarily biodegradable and sustainable, City-approved in advance, and free of the materials listed above (art. 9.11).
Funeral home: may sell caskets but cannot require you to buy one from it.

Who may authorise the disposition

BC law: the right to control disposition sits with one person at a time, in the order set by the Act (section 5): the personal representative named in the will; then the spouse; then an adult child; then an adult grandchild; then (for a minor) a guardian; then a parent; then an adult sibling; then an adult nephew or niece; then an adult next of kin; then the minister or Public Guardian and Trustee; then another adult with a close personal or kinship relationship. “Spouse” includes a married, common-law, or two-year marriage-like partner, including of the same gender.

How BC law fits the Elk Falls process →

Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act (ss. 1, 5, 8, 55) and Regulation (ss. 3–10, 33); Consumer Protection BC guidance on funeral rights, the private transfer of remains and refrigeration rules; City of Campbell River Cemetery Management Bylaw No. 3733, 2019. General information, not legal advice.

Keep reading