Whether the death occurred out-of-province or out-of-country, the death must be registered in the jurisdiction where the death took place.  Generally, the local hospital involved will arrange to have a death certificate signed by a doctor.  A local funeral establishment in the community where the death occurred will need to transfer your loved one to a location where he or she can be prepared for transporting back home. 

i. If you were not with your loved one when the death occurred:

• Upon being notified of the death, contact a funeral home where you want the final arrangements to be carried out.  A funeral director there will arrange for an out-of-province or out-of-country funeral home to assist and then see through all the steps needed to repatriate your loved one. Once this is underway, the funeral director will help you through the next steps of preparing the final funeral arrangements.

ii. If you were with your loved one when the death occurred:

• The hospital may recommend a local funeral home that can transfer your loved one to a location where he or she can be prepared for repatriation.  Or, you can contact a funeral home in your family’s community or where your loved one lived. They will then contact a funeral establishment in the city or town where the death ocurred on your behalf.
• If the death took place outside Canada, and you are experiencing difficulties with the proceedure identified above, we recommend that you contact the Canadian Consulate office where the deceased is located and they will assist you.

If you haven’t done so already, contact a funeral home where you want the final arrangements to be carried out. A funeral director will co-ordinate all the steps to repatriate your loved one and then give you the information on how to proceed with preparing the funeral arrangements.