• In 1988, a licensed funeral director in Toronto started a service called Direct Cremation and Burial Services, Inc., which struck a chord among Torontonians who were looking for an alternative to more elaborate funerals.
• In May of 1989, Toronto Trust Cemeteries (now Mount Pleasant Group), believing that consumers should be able to choose the type of caring and unique services the company provided, assumed responsibility for Direct Cremation and Burial Services, Inc. under the name The Simple Alternative.
• The new Funeral Directors and Establishments Act which took effect in October 1990, labelled The Simple Alternative a “transfer service,” and declared that, like funeral homes, transfer services could not be operated in connection with cemeteries. In response, The Simple Alternative was re-established under a separate non-profit, non-share capital corporation called Canadian Memorial Services.
  

The Funeral Directors and Establishments Act prevents Transfer Services from holding funerals in a place of worship, having staff present at services and visitations, and offering a large choice of caskets. People for whom a funeral service is important had no choice but to contact a traditional funeral home. After several years of lobbying the government in an effort to change this state of affairs to meet customers’ requests, The Simple Alternative sought a “funeral establishment” licence.

• In July of 1994, The Simple Alternative opened its first full service funeral centre at 275 Lesmill Road in North York, and in the first 10 days held 40 funerals.
• In 1996, a second funeral centre was established at 1535 South Gateway Road in Mississauga.
  

• In 1997, Commemorative Services Canada, Inc., also a non-profit organization, was established as a holding company, providing financial administration, human resources and marketing services to two operating companies: Commemorative Services of Ontario, operating ten cemeteries in the Greater Toronto Area and Canadian Memorial Services, operating The Simple Alternative Funeral Centres.
• In 1998, new corporate names were adopted for Commemorative Services Canada, Inc., which is now known as Mount Pleasant Memorial Services operating as Mount Pleasant Group; and, Commemorative Services of Ontario, which is now known as Mount Pleasant Group of Cemeteries. Canadian Memorial Services and The Simple Alternative did not change their names, but all three corporations were drawn together under the same logo of a dove in flight against the background of a sun.
  

• In September 2001, Canadian Memorial Services acquired a third funeral centre, purchasing an already established facility in Pickering and re-naming it The Simple Alternative - Pickering, thus providing more convenient access to the eastern GTA.

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