There is no doubt that there is a trend of greater mobility to preferred residential locales for retired citizens and we also know that the choice of cremation services, especially direct cremation with no services, over earth burials causes loss of margin for traditional funeral homes.  This article from CBC Canada titled “Grieving families struggle to find funeral services in British Columbia” gives us a glimpse of what happens when out-migration and loss of funeral home profit margins overlap in a remote locale.

 

The article points out that the last funeral home in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada, closed in 2022 and there is a difficulty for families that now have to bring their deceased loved ones 140 kilometers (86 miles) to the closest mortuary for services.

 

The interesting thing about this situation is that Prince Rupert is not a tiny community.  It is a port city and known as the transportation hub of British Columbia’s North Coast.  It is a city of, according to a 2016 census, 12,220 people with the Greater Prince Rupert area having a population of about 14,000.

 

So, it is surprising to me that no funeral home is in the city. . . maybe that is an opportunity for somebody.  But the fact does make one think, “how much higher is the death number demographic now necessary to make funeral and/or cremation businesses profitable than was necessary when the majority of the services included traditional services with retail caskets and vaults sold”?

 

Working against funeral home profits in Prince Rupert is the fact that the area has only an approximate 14% of its population over the age of 65.  According to some statistics the population of Canada that is over age 65 is approximately 19%. . . .so Prince Rupert is being affected by this statistic, possibly caused by a migration of retired citizens to what some may consider more desireable retirement locales.

 

For comparison, my community in Minnesota has 22.3% of its population in the over 65 age bracket demographic basket.

 

Regardless of the reason for no death care facility in Prince Rupert the article points out that consumers are being affected and are searching for solutions.  Here’s one quote from the linked article from a member of the community, “It’s (no funeral home in the community) brutal. It adds a layer to the grief of the family, and it’s definitely not an easy situation.”

 

Here’s what Brad Tuck, Executive Director of the British Columbia Funeral Directors Association says about the situation in the article, “Funeral services are not generally on the decline in B.C., but rural areas face more challenges due to resources. . . .When those communities start to have fewer individuals there, or there’s not a lot of health-care resources, so older people leave the community, then the sustainability of the business comes into question.”

 

Emily Bootle, a licensed funeral director in Kamloops, British Columbia, also made some comments in the article.  She said, “It’s important to know that the funeral industry is a private industry but is providing an essential service. . . . As the margins are shrinking and as it becomes less appealing to either purchase businesses in these areas or open them, the government may find a situation where they’re needing to take a hands-on role.”

 

Related Article— Click here to read the article titled “This U.S. city is #1 choice among Baby Boomers for retirement”

 

Funeral Director Daily take:  I think the last thing funeral home owners want is more government regulation of our businesses.  However, this may become a problem that needs solving if profit margins cannot be raised by existing funeral homes.  It should alarm all death care operators that a community of approximately 14,000 people apparently cannot financially support a single funeral home.

 

With an average-aged community and a “death rate” of 8.6 per 1,000 (Canada’s 2022 rate) there should be 120 deaths in Prince Rupert per year.  But when you think of it, if they were all low-priced direct cremations there is probably not a lot of margin to afford the recently inflated cost of investment in facilities, cremation equipment, and staffing to bring an adequate Return on Investment (ROI) to an operator. . . especially when you consider the “call schedule” time, the fact that it appears that retirees are leaving causing the deaths to drop each year instead of rise, and the other options available for investment capital.

 

I think these issues, out-migration from small communities and lower margins, will continue to exacerbate and continue the trend of death care facility consolidation via the “hub and spoke” model whereas the “regional hub” holds the main facilities and the workers who travel to the “spoke communities” to provide essential services.  It’s a proven method that can get the job done althought it generally leaves less choice for those consumers who need services in the “spoke” communities. . . . . But that is the reality.

 

Funeral service is not the only industry that is battling this phenomena of a mobile society.  The United States Postal Service just announced that they may slow down their delivery times to save money and, of course, the United States taxpayers have funded Essential Air Services and Critical Access Hospitals for decades.

 

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Funeral firm defends plan for mortuary by school.  BBC (Great Britain)
• Amid “green burial’ dispute, judge rejects Michigan township cemetery ban.  Bridge Michigan (MI)
• Michigan officials tried to stop a “green cemetery”.  They just lost in court.  Reason
• Oakley residents offer mixed reactions to green burial proposal.  The Park Record (UT)
• A place for everyone:  Expanding Sonoma’s cemeteries.  City of Sonoma (CA)

 

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