Glossary of Terms
Administration/Clergy Vehicle
Used for a variety of purposes, this vehicle is available for use as a lead car in the funeral procession for both the funeral director and clergy involved in the funeral ceremony. It may also be used to transport a limited number of floral tributes to the church/cemetery, attendance at the interment of cremated remains, at a Memorial Service or perhaps a Graveside Service. This vehicle is also used to ensure the death registration has been properly completed by the day of the funeral service or used to transport consulate officials to the funeral home for the completing of documentation before shipment of a deceased person outside the country.
Alternate Care
Alternate care services may include, when necessary, the bathing, exterior sanitation and disinfection dressing cosmetology and placement of the deceased into a vinyl enclosure and then into the selected casket or container.
Alternate Care Facilities
This is a specialized area/room located in the funeral home as required by law in accordance with the Funeral Directors and Establishment Act in the province of Ontario. The preparation room along with the surgical instrumentation used therein must be regularly inspected by the Board of Funeral Services and local Health Department officials satisfying set regulated standards. It is a specific location for the purpose of conducting disinfection and preservation procedures on the deceased. These procedures are completed by a licenced embalmer. It may also be used as a room to shelter the remains until the commencement of visitation, funeral ceremony, transfer of the deceased to the cemetery/crematorium or participation by the family members in ritual ceremonies such as washing or dressing of the deceased. Our standard charge for the use of this room is for a maximum of three days after which there is a daily extended sheltering fee applicable.
Audio Visual Staff
Many families choose to have an organist play in either our chapel or at some other location selected for the funeral service. Most organists are able to accommodate family selections that can be played prior to, during and after the ceremony to assist in making the time together meaningful and special. Should a family decide to have a special piece of music played from a tape or CD during the ceremony or to accompany a vocalist we would need to make arrangements for an individual to look after the audio equipment used to play these selections. A minimal fee is charged to cover the individual's time and to maintain the audio/visual equipment. Audio/Visual recordings of funeral services are available however advance notification would be necessary and should be arranged through a funeral director.
Basic Use of Facilities
This is a minimum fee charged all families for the use of our facilities to cover basic operating costs. They include facilities such as parking accommodations, areas that are open to the public within our funeral home, our arrangement offices, the casket selection room, administration offices and equipment used to carry out daily routine business, cleaning equipment and other such facilities and specialized equipment.
Burial
Earth burial at a cemetery is one several methods for final disposition of the body. This is also called interment.
Casket
The literal definition of the word "casket" is "a chest for precious items." A casket provides the means for the appropriate and dignified handling of the body when there is to be a visitation, funeral and/or graveside service and burial.
Columbarium
An aboveground structure for final disposition of the cremated body. Many cemeteries have columbaria where individual or family niches may be purchased.
Committal Service
A brief graveside ceremony held with the casket or urn present before it is lowered into the ground. A committal service can also be held for the scattering of the cremated body.
Cortege
When the funeral ceremony and the cemetery/crematorium services are both held within the local area, friends and relatives may accompany the family to the cemetery. The procession is formed at the funeral home or place of worship. The funeral director can advise participants of the traffic regulations and procedures to follow while driving in a funeral procession.
Cremation
Cremation reduces the body through intense heat to ashes. After cremation, the cremated body can be buried, entombed, scattered or retained by the family.
Disbursements
This is in reference to any funeral related charges from individuals or companies providing merchandise or services not directly available from our funeral home. These may be cemetery or crematorium fees, clergy/church honorariums, organist, newspaper notices, death registration and regulatory fees, police escorts, long distance telephone calls, to name just a few. Where we have been requested to advance disbursement funds for the family/purchaser, the Funeral Home is considered to be acting as an agent on their behalf.
Documentation
The obtaining and completion of the necessary government forms to register the death with the Registrar General's Office and the procurement of the necessary documents and permits required for the disposition or transportation of the deceased. This fee also includes the provision of five (5) Funeral Director's Proof of Death Certificates and is for the recording and maintenance of information pertaining to the arrangements that are kept on file for future reference. This service does not include the separate charges that may be incurred by other professionals such as a Coroner, Department of Health of Government Consulates.
Embalming
Embalming preserves the body for a number of days following the death, allowing for the family to view the body and hold the funeral services on a day that is convenient for out-of-town friends and relatives. However, embalming is not mandatory.
Eulogy
The eulogy is a brief oration or visual presentation that offers praise and celebrates the life of the person who had died. A eulogy may be delivered by a member of the family, clergy, a close friends or a business associate of the deceased.
Funeral Support Staff
These individuals are responsible to assist the funeral director on the day of the funeral and are for a period of time up to four hours in length. They are responsible for the direction of any visitors attending the funeral ceremony and assist in the coordination of the many funeral services options that we provide. As well they will assist with the funeral procession to the cemetery or crematorium. This services also includes our clerical administrative staff and the various documents needed for the funeral related ceremonies
Facilities for Ceremony
A chapel facility or visitation suite specifically designed or setup for funeral ceremonies equipped with both an organ and/or audio-visual equipment. Should a funeral service/ceremony be held at some other location this charge would be deducted and then included under our Professional Services category. The credit for not using our chapel is used to offset the additional personnel, transportation and equipment costs arising from the function being held away from our funeral home facilities and longer associated time commitment.
Funeral Coach
A specialized vehicle used to transport the casket or container from the funeral home to the cemetery/crematorium, for transportation to a church or another location for a funeral ceremony or possibly to the local airport if the deceased is being sent out of the city or country.
Family/Pall Bearer Limousine
The use of this vehicle is insured for up to seven(7) passengers and is used to transfer family members (if desired) on the day of the funeral from a predetermined address at a specific time to our funeral home or the six(6) selected pall bearers. It is then further used from the funeral home or church as required, on to the cemetery or crematorium and back home or other location for a reception. Additional limousines may be provided with the costs involved at livery rates usually on a per hour basis
Floral Vehicles
This may be either a closed flower van provided by the Ogden Funeral Home or an open flower car may be obtained from a livery company with cost incurred at their rates. An open flower car will accommodate approximately 35-40 floral tributes and may be used to transport flowers in the funeral procession. A closed flower car will accommodate more floral tributes than the previously mentioned open vehicle but is usually not part of the funeral procession. The vehicle will take the floral arrangements to the cemetery ahead of the funeral procession and arrange to have the flowers on the gravesite or mausoleum location prior to arrival.
Gathering
Most funerals are followed by a gathering of friends and family. This informal time allows family and friends to tell stories about the person who died, to cry, to laugh and to support one another. It is an informal time of release after the more formal elements of the funeral ceremony. the gathering is also a transition, a rite of passage back to living again. It demonstrates the continuity of life, even in the face of death.
Honorarium
The fee typically paid to a clergy person or officiant for the funeral ceremony.
Local Transfer of Beneficiary
This vehicle is used to transfer the deceased from the place of death to the funeral home available on a 24 hour basis.
Municipal Registration Fee
The city of Toronto imposes a registration fee for each death and charges for the local municipal completion and recording of this information. The funeral home collects and submits these fees on a monthly basis.
Mausoleum
A small building in a cemetery, a mausoleum is like a burial plot aboveground where the casket is placed into a compartment protected from outside elements.
Memorial Service
A ceremony without the body present that honours the end of a person's life.
Obituary
The short article in the newspaper that announces the death to the community, summarizes the person's life and invites readers to attend the funeral. Usually the funeral director will handle submitting the pertinent information to the newspaper. Some newspapers, however, allow families to write more personalized obituaries.
Pallbearers
The people who carry the casket for the funeral service. Traditionally, the six pallbearers were male however today it is also appropriate to honour women as pallbearers. If there are more friends than are needed (or friends who are unable to carry the heavy casket), they can be considered honourary pallbearers.
Preparation or Alternate Care Facilities
This is a specialized area/room located in the funeral home as required by law in accordance with the Funeral Directors and Establishment Act in the province of Ontario. The preparation room along with the surgical instrumentation used therein must be regularly inspected by the Board of Funeral Services and local Health Department Officials satisfying set regulated standards. It is a specific location for the purpose of conducting disinfection and preservation procedures on the deceased. These procedures are completed by a licensed embalmer. It may also be used as a room to shelter the remains until the commencement of visitation, funeral ceremony, transfer of the deceased to the cemetery/crematorium or participation by the family members in ritual ceremonies such as washing or dressing of the deceased. Our standard charge for the use of this room is for a maximum of three days after which there is a daily extended sheltering fee applicable.
Procession/Cortege
Also called the cortege, this is the funeral procession from the service of the gravesite. It is usually led by the funeral coach containing the casket. The procession is a symbol of mutual support and a public honouring of the death. Mourners accompany one another to the final resting place of the person who died.
Professional Services
See visitation staff & funeral support staff
Provincial Registration Fee
The province of Ontario charges a per death registration fee
Reception Room
Subject to room availability, we can accommodate 100 people maximum in one of our reception rooms for a period of two hours. Included in the fee for this room is the provision of the room set up, coffee, tea, cream, sugar, fine china plates, cups and saucers, teaspoons, table linens as well as a hostess, and clean up following your event. A list of various catering companies located within the local area may be obtained for your review and consideration. The catering fees would be a separate transaction between you and the company selected and invoicing for such would not be included in our funeral home agreement sent to you following the funeral.
Register Book
With each family that we serve a standard register book and 50 acknowledgement cards are included in our costs. You will find in our selection room various other register books and acknowledgment cards available in a special package format.
Staff Surcharge for Sunday Funeral
This is a surcharge that is imposed when a funeral ceremony is conducted on a Sunday and there is a procession to a local cemetery or crematorium. Because additional staff must be employed beyond their regular working hours a surcharge is applied to cover these additional expenses.
Standard Preparation and Embalming
This charge covers the cost for a trained technician to conduct the vascular preservation of the deceased for the purpose of completing funeral, religious and cultural rituals. Embalming, though not a requirement by law, is our funeral home policy if a body is to be held in our premises in excess of 24 hours between death and disposition. Written permission is required by the funeral home for embalming to be completed. If there is to be public visitation without embalming we require that the deceased be placed into an appropriate vinyl enclosure with alternate care services applied and proper identification provided by the purchaser.
Special Treatment
In special cases such as trauma, additional services may be required by the trained technician beyond the standard preparation and embalming. Before any charges for these services would be incurred they would be reviewed and agreed upon with the Purchaser.
Shipping Administration
When a deceased is being transported to a destination outside of Canada there are additional requirements specifically pertaining to documentation. As such there are additional compensation charges applied for the completion of these forms in preparation for the various government agencies approval for the shipment.Taxes
This is in reference to any Municipal, Provincial or Federal taxes (i.e. GST, PST) that may apply to certain products and services as is required by law. These taxes are soon to be combined together in July 2010 to be known as Harmonized Sales Tax (HST)
Transportation
The prices shown on our General Price List are for the use of vehicles for a single occasion, such as from the place of death to the funeral home or from the funeral home to a church and then to a local cemetery or crematorium. These transportation fees are for a radius of 30km from the funeral home with an additional one-way charge per kilometer after the standard. The Clergy/Administration vehicle, Funeral Coach and Family/Pallbearer Limousine are for a time period of 3 hours. Overtime per vehicle is $50/half hour with the exception of any additionally leased vehicles that would be at cost in accordance to the agreement of the company from whom the vehicle has been leased on behalf of the family.
Urn
A container specifically designed for holding the cremated body. Urns can be engraved or customized to reflect the personality of a loved one. Smaller urns, called keepsakes as well as cremation jewelry, have been created to hold only a portion of the cremated body. This allows several family members to retain the cremated body of loved ones.
Vault
A concrete or metal container into which the casket is placed before burial at a cemetery. Most cemeteries require vaults because they stabilize the gravesite, preventing the earth from settling above the casket. This also reduces maintenance of the gravesite.
Visitation
Visitation is a scheduled time for family and friends to see the person who has died, perhaps for the final time. Viewing the body often helps families acknowledge the reality of the death and grants them the privilege of saying goodbye.
Visitation Staff
Includes but not limited to the staff of receptionists provided during the times of visitation, the receiving and placement of floral tributes, memory photo boards, co-ordination of memorial donations and the many other duties associated with rites and services held during the period of visitation.
These individuals also supervise and coordinate the basic funeral home functions on a 24 hour basis and would include staff to answer the telephone, daily maintenance of our premises and grounds, parking lot attendants and vehicle chauffeurs. They contact and arrange for the transfer of the deceased from the place of death, arrange for staff and vehicles for any support functions, obtain coroner's certificates, placement of press notices, etc.
Visitation and Setup
A room that is tastefully decorated and equipped to accommodate the needs of your family and friends for a period of four hours along with any any religious accessories if required. As well there are lounge facilities with tea and coffee available. This fee also includes funeral equipment such as floral and donation stands, casket bier, urn stand, register podium, etc. Should additional time be desired beyond the arranged timeframe, a per hour charge applies dependent upon the length of time the room is required.
