Quick Links

• Vital Statistics Fees
• What To Do When Someone Has Passed Away Guide
• Funeral Service Association of Nova Scotia
• Death Certificate & Registration
• Division Registrar of Deaths
• Stillbirth Registration
• Burial Permit

Funeral Directors

Funeral Directors are appointed as Division Registrars of Deaths under the Vital Statistics Act. As Division Registrars, they assume responsibility for certain activities when someone dies and is entrusted to their care. For example, the Funeral Director is responsible to obtain the Medical Certificate of Death and to collect personal information to complete the Death Registration form and issue a Burial Permit.

Licensing and Registration

Division Registrars for Deaths must hold a valid Funeral Director's Licence issued by the N.S. Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors and be approved by the N.S. Deputy Registrar General of Vital Statistics.

For more information on becoming a Division Registrar of Death, please contact Vital Statistics.

Registered Users

To access this section, you must be a registered user with Vital Statistics. If you are a registered user follow the link below to log in.

• Log in as Registered User

Burial Permit

The Vital Statistics Act requires that a burial permit must be issued prior to the interment of a body. The burial of a body without the receipt of a burial permit is a contravention of the Vital Statistics Act.   The electronic death registration system allows funeral directors to generate and print burial permits quickly and accurately.

Legislation

Listed below are links to the legislative acts that apply to funeral directors in Nova Scotia.

• Embalmers and Funeral Directors Act, Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1989, Chapter 144
• Vital Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1989, Chapter 494
• Cemetery and Funeral Services Act, Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia, 1989, Chapter 62