Image Credit: CFJC Today / Adam Donnelly

By Dylana Kneeshaw

cemetery master plan

Planning for where and how people want to be laid to rest in Kamloops

Oct 21, 2020 | 5:00 PM

KAMLOOPS — As the cost of living goes up, so does the cost of dying. The City of Kamloops is making changes to its Cemetery Master Plan, which includes a 25 per cent increase for burial prices.

In line with changing funeral styles, city staff will also be expanding Hillside Cemetery in a less traditional way. More and more people are opting for cremation, or less-formal funerals, but the desire for cemetery space has not totally dissipated. Civic Facilities Manager Jeff Putnam says the City is looking at these burial trends to determine how much additional land at Hillside Cemetery will be needed decades from now, and what it will be used for.

“This particular plot of land was purchased about 60 years ago and at the time it was on the outskirts of Kamloops, and now it’s about two thirds full so we have to start thinking about the future.”

As part of recent changes made to the master plan, Putnam says the city’s prices will rise by around 25 per cent in 2021. The average adult burial will then go from $3,400 to about $4,000.

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“Part of our goal is to make this operation completely cost recovery. So the taxpayer doesn’t have to pay for the cost at all. So all the fees generated for cemetary services – our plan is to cover them completely going forward in 2021. Therefore, we did increase some fees quite significantly.”

There are several historic cemeteries throughout the city, and the Pleasant Street Cemetery is technically one of two active locations. However, it is at capacity with reserved slots so if you were looking to be laid to rest in the ground, Hillside would be the only option.

“Right now, we have about 257 services per year, and that’s divided up between cremated and adult burials,” explains Putnam, “I would say the majority of those are adult burials – so say two-thirds. But again, as we look forward 30 years from now there will be more than double – looking at about 600 services per year so that’s why we have to plan the land.”

There are fewer requests for traditional in-ground burials, but demand for cremation, or even the occasional green burial has increased.

“So 90 per cent of the people who die are being cremated now,” notes Drake Smith, owner of Drake Cremation and Funeral, “And that’s a real change from even say 30 or 40 years ago where it was reverse.”

Smith says even the way funerals or memorial services are held has changed. Many people now opt for a less formal process.

“I don’t think it’s so much running out of space, it’s just that people’s attitudes and wishes are changing.”

“Mostly, people want something very simple,” notes Smith, “They want to be cremated and they’re going to look after the ashes. Whether it’s going to go up into the cemetery, or more likely it’s going to go on to the mantle piece and maybe scattered out by the river, up in the mountains or something like that. Or the golf course.”

To keep up with the trend, the City says the next section of Hillside Cemetery will have a different look. In the coming years it will have another columbarium, a mausoleum, a scattering garden, and extra scenic amenities.