How to buy a funeral home in Nova Scotia: licences, ownership rules and what transfers

Anyone looking at how to buy a funeral home in Nova Scotia is dealing with a licensed business, and the licence is provincial. Nova Scotia’s Embalmers and Funeral Directors Act puts funeral home licensing with the Registrar of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, who is appointed by the Minister. Pre-arranged funeral plans are covered by a second statute, the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act, which has its own Registrar of Cemetery and Funeral Services. This guide covers Nova Scotia only; do not assume any of it applies to a purchase in another province. This guide sets out what the two Nova Scotia Acts and the regulations say, and what to ask before closing.

Who regulates funeral homes in Nova Scotia

Under section 26 of the Embalmers and Funeral Directors Act, no person may conduct, maintain, operate or manage a funeral home, or hold themselves out as operating one, unless the person has been issued a licence under the Act and that licence has not expired, been cancelled or been suspended. Section 27 lets the Registrar issue the licence subject to the regulations, and lets the Registrar refuse to issue or re-issue it for any reasonable cause. A buyer therefore needs the Registrar’s decision before opening under its own name, and should ask what the Registrar would want to see.

Who may hold the licence

The Act says the Registrar may issue a funeral home licence to an association incorporated under the Co-operative Associations Act, so a co-operative is one possible licence holder. The regulations add a requirement that matters for ownership planning: the application must include the name of the licensed funeral director who is the manager of the funeral home, along with the names of all other persons employed there as embalmers, funeral directors, apprentice embalmers and apprentice funeral directors. A buyer without a funeral director’s licence should find out early who will fill the manager role.

Each location is licensed

Subsection 17(1) of the Embalmers and Funeral Directors Regulations bars anyone from operating an establishment, or a branch of an establishment, as a funeral home unless that establishment or branch is itself licensed. If the business has more than one location, ask the seller for a licence for each one and check how each is described, because the regulation requires a branch itself to be licensed.

What transfers on a sale, and what does not

Section 30 of the Act says a funeral home licence is deemed to be cancelled when the person it was issued to ceases to operate or own the funeral home. On a purchase of the home’s assets, the seller stops owning and operating, so the buyer should expect to hold its own licence. If the seller is a corporation and the plan is to buy its shares, the wording turns on who owns and operates the home, so ask the Registrar in writing how the Registrar reads section 30 on that structure before relying on either route.

Notice before closing

Section 30A requires every person holding a funeral home licence to give the Registrar written notice at least thirty days before an intended sale, change in location or cessation of operations. The seller carries that duty, but the buyer’s timetable depends on it, so ask for a copy of the notice and the date it was given. The Cemetery and Funeral Services Act adds a second filing, covered next.

Pre-arranged plans and trust money

Under subsection 8(1A) of the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act, an applicant for a licence to sell pre-arranged funeral plans must hold a funeral home licence. Section 13C(4) requires a seller of those plans to file with the Registrar, at least thirty days before an intended sale of a funeral home it operates, an interim report, a report on how the plans and trust accounts will be dealt with, and the name of the proposed purchaser. Under section 13B, a plan may be assigned to another licensed seller in accordance with the regulations, by the seller with the purchaser’s written consent or by the purchaser or the other persons that section lists, and the money held in trust for it must be transferred and continue to be held in trust. A buyer that is not yet licensed to sell plans should ask the Registrar what that means for existing plans.

What to ask the seller for

• The current funeral home licence for each establishment and branch, and the name of the licensed funeral director who manages it.
• A copy of the written notice of intended sale given to the Registrar under section 30A, with the date it was given.
• The seller’s licence to sell pre-arranged funeral plans and the filing made under section 13C(4) of the Cemetery and Funeral Services Act.
• A list of pre-arranged plans with the trust accounts that hold the money for them, so the transfer under section 13B can be reconciled.
• Any written undertaking the seller gave the Registrar and any terms, conditions or restrictions on the licence.

The Canada Revenue Agency also lists steps for a seller, such as contacting its tax services office about the business number and the GST/HST account, and closing the payroll account if the business has employees, so confirm who will deal with those at closing. For the general steps of a purchase, see how to buy a business in Canada.