Canadian Funeral directors say they’re paying to bury war vets

Funeral directors say they’re paying to bury war vets because Canadian gov't help falls short
BY ANDREW DUFFY
OTTAWA CITIZEN
OCTOBER 25, 2012

OTTAWA — Canadian funeral directors say they’re routinely subsidizing the burials of this country’s most impoverished war veterans because the federal government pays so little for the service.

Veterans Affairs Canada provides eligible veterans with up to $3,600 for funeral services through the Last Post Fund.

But that amount — it has remained unchanged for more than a decade — now covers only about half the cost of a veteran’s funeral, according to the Funeral Service Association of Canada.

“It’s mostly the members of our association, or the families themselves, that are making up the difference,” said Phil Fredette, the association’s government relations chair.

Depending on the province, Fredette said, it now costs between $6,500 and $9,000 to provide the funeral services mandated under the Veterans Affairs Canada Funeral and Burial Program.

Among other things, the program requires funeral directors to bury war veterans in wooden caskets of a specified quality.
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