Cemetery
The City of Maple Ridge owns and operates two cemeteries in Maple Ridge:
Maple Ridge Cemetery
21404 Dewdney Trunk Road
Maple Ridge, BC
Whonnock Cemetery
27292 96 Avenue
Maple Ridge, BC
For introductory information, we encourage you to review our Cemetery Services brochure.
Hours of Operation
- Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
- Weekends and holidays (Spring/Summer) from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm
- Weekends and holidays (Fall/Winter) from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
- Pedestrians may access the cemetery daily from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm
- No one is allowed in the cemetery between 8:00 pm and 7:00 am unless they have special permission of the Caretaker, Clerk or other person authorized by the City to grant such permission.
- General: What are the cemetery hours of operation?
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The gates of the Maple Ridge Cemetery will be open:
- Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
- Weekends and holidays (Spring/Summer) from 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Weekends and holidays (Fall/Winter) from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
- Pedestrians may access the cemetery daily from 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM. No person may be in the cemetery between 8:00 PM and 7:00 AM without special permission of the Caretaker, Clerk or other person authorized by the City to grant such permission.
- General: Is your office located at a cemetery?
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Our office is not located at the cemetery. Our Cemetery Administrative Office is based at City Hall, 22470 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge. Office hours are 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday to Friday. If you wish to meet with the Cemetery Clerk, please call 604-467-7307 to book an appointment.
- General: When is the Cemetery Caretaker on duty at the cemetery?
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Our Cemetery Caretaker is on duty Monday to Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Periodically the Cemetery Caretaker is scheduled to work on a Saturday or Sunday if there is an interment.
- General: Which cemeteries are owned and operated by the City of Maple Ridge?
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The Maple Ridge Cemetery and Whonnock Cemetery are owned and operated by the City of Maple Ridge.
- General: What does ‘Right of Interment’ mean, and what does it include?
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The issuing of a Right of Interment does not entitle the holder to any title or interest in the land or lot, but instead provides for the right to inter the person(s) named on the Right of Interment. The payment for a Right of Interment does not include fees for interment, liners, or other charges, and is subject in every way to the current Cemetery Bylaw and any other future Cemetery Bylaw.
- General: What is the definition of “Resident”?
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The definition of a resident is any person who:
- is a resident of the City on the date of the application for a Right of Interment; or
- a person who resided in the City at the time of death; or
- was a five (5) year resident of the City within eighteen (18) months preceding death; or
- owned real property in the City at the time of death; or
- owned real property in the City for more than ten (10) years at any time preceding death and can show proof of ownership.
- General: Can I purchase a plot or niche and put it on reserve?
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Adult full burial plots, in-ground Cremation plots, and single or double niches may be purchased “pre-need” and placed on reserve. The Meadows South may only be purchased “at need” only.
- General: What will a cemetery plot or niche cost?
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Please refer to our current fee schedule.
- General: Are the fees at both cemeteries the same?
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The same cemetery fees apply to the Maple Ridge Cemetery and the Whonnock Cemetery.
- General: Is there a limit to how long someone can be interred in a plot or niche?
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Interments are held in perpetuity. There is no limit to how long someone can be interred for.
Enquiries
The cemeteries are divided into Sections, Blocks, Lots and Grave Numbers. At the Maple Ridge Cemetery there is a Cemetery Map posted inside the cemetery entrance. The Cemetery Clerk can conduct a search to confirm if a person is buried here and can provide the plot location and details. You can call 604-467-7307 to request a search.
Contact Information
City of Maple Ridge Cemeteries - Administration Office
11995 Haney Place
Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9
Tel: 604-467-7307
Fax: 604-467-7393
cemetery@mapleridge.ca
Cemetery Bylaw
Operators of cemeteries are required under provincial law to create and operate according to a set of bylaws. Cemetery Regulation Bylaw 7612-2020 is written with the best interest of families, the cemetery and City of Maple Ridge.
Cemetery Masterplan
Two cemeteries in Maple Ridge have served the community for over 140 years. The historic Lee Cemetery in Whonnock remains nearly unchanged from its early days as a pioneer cemetery. The Maple Ridge Cemetery has evolved into a more conventional cemetery where virtually all of the burials that occur in Maple Ridge take place. Given the pace at which demographics, interment trends and memorialization patterns are changing, staff identified the need to embark on a master planning process that would address the key community needs to meaningful places of burial and commemoration.
The Cemetery Masterplan addresses the current and projected levels of demand for interment and memorialization services that will be required over the next 25 years. Those demands, in combination with projected changes in interment choices (burial or cremation), have been used to project future cemetery land requirements. A program or recommendations that address the key findings in the project have been prioritized in an implementation Plan that concludes this report.
Historical Information
Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments recognize the contribution historic places make to our communities. The Canadian Register of Historic Places provides a single source of information about all historic places recognized for their heritage value at the local, provincial, territorial and national levels throughout Canada.
Options, Services, Regulations & Fees
It is important to us that you are informed and prepared when interment arrangements are required. Information specific to Maple Ridge’s cemeteries is grouped into:
1. Interment Options
The City of Maple Ridge cemeteries are open to everyone, and residents of Maple Ridge receive a reduced rate for the Right of Interment. The definition of a resident is any person who: - is a resident of the City on the date of the application for a Right of Interment; or
- a person who resided in the City at the time of death; or
- was a five (5) year resident of the City within eighteen (18) months preceding death; or
- owned real property in the City at the time of death; or
- owned real property in the City for more than ten (10) years at any time preceding death and can show proof of ownership.
This chart explains which interment options are available at the Maple Ridge Cemetery and Whonnock Cemetery:
Maple Ridge Cemetery | Whonnock Cemetery | |
---|---|---|
Traditional Casket Burial (Adult) | Yes | Yes |
Traditional Casket Burial (Child) | Yes | No |
In-Ground Cremation Burial | Yes | Yes |
Columbarium Inurnment | Yes | No |
Garden Burial | Yes | No |
Memorial Only | Yes | No |
Both cemeteries offer Traditional Adult casket burial graves, also referred to as Adult Full Burial graves. Currently, all Adult Full Burial graves are single depth. Companions wishing to be laid to rest together would purchase two side-by-side Adult Full Burial graves. The dimensions of each grave are 8’ X 4’ (2.44m X 1.22m). A single Adult Full Burial grave may inter up to one Casket and a maximum of four sets of Cremated Remains.
The Maple Ridge Cemetery offers Traditional Child casket burial graves, also referred to as Child Full Burial graves. Currently, all Child Full Burial graves are single depth. Child Full Burial graves within Babyland cemetery sections are limited to children from birth up to, and including, the age of 10, and includes a stillborn infant. These grave spaces are 6’ X 2’ 3” (1.83m X .69m), and they may inter up to one Child Casket and a maximum of two sets of Cremated Remains of Family Members. The definition of Family Members is a parent, grandparent, or sibling, and includes the biological, adopted, step and variations thereof.
In-Ground Cremation Burial/Interment
Both cemeteries offer In-Ground Cremation graves which are currently single depth. Companions wishing to be laid to rest together would purchase two side-by-side In-ground Cremation graves. In-Ground Cremation graves are 2’ x 3’ and can only accommodate one urn per grave site.
Columbarium Inurnment
The Maple Ridge Cemetery offers both single-compartment and double-compartment Columbaria. A Columbaria is an above ground, multi-level structure made of metal and granite, and composed of a number of niches to house cremated remains. Cremated remains placed in a columbaria must be in a durable sealed urn. Single Niches are 11” X 11” X 11” (28 cm X 28 cm X 28 cm) and may hold one set of Cremated Remains. Double Niches are 15” X 14” X 12” (38.1 cm X 35.6 cm X 30.5 cm) and may hold a maximum of two sets of Cremated Remains. Cremated remains in Double Niches may be commingled. Commingling is the intentional and irreversible mixing of the Cremated Remains of two deceased persons.
Garden Burial
A garden burial is done at the Maple Ridge Cemetery in a location referred to as “The Meadows”. The Meadows is a rose garden that is subdivided into numerous small plots. The cremated remains interred in The Meadows stay contained within the plastic bag that they come in. Once cremated remains are scattered in the garden, they are non-recoverable. There is a beautiful memorial plaque associated with The Meadows where names of those interred are inscribed. The plaque is engraved the beginning of each year for those who were interred the previous year.
2. Gravesite Options
There are several graveside options available to families. Each should be discussed with the funeral chapel staff prior to arrival at the cemetery. The options are: Above Ground, Ground Level, Watch-Lower, and Watch-Close.Above Ground
A casket rests at the grave on a pedestal which is part of a lowering device. The casket stays above ground until family and friends disperse.
Ground Level
A casket rests at the grave on a pedestal which is part of a lowering device. The casket is lowered to the point where the top of the casket is level with the ground. The full interment is completed after family and friends disperse.
Watch-Lower
A Watch-Lower option is permitted but may be discouraged against at certain times of the year, or when families are unprepared to see in the grave. Funeral home staff must be in attendance until family and friends disperse.
Watch Close
A 10’ X 15’ awning is available free of charge upon request for inclement weather and shade from heat. Please note that our awning will not be used during windy conditions.
Graveside seating is available free of charge upon request. The City can provide a bank of seating for four.
A Pallbearing service is provided upon request. Please note that only 2 pallbearers (cemetery ground crew) are available and will be dressed in work clothes. The cemetery staff have the right to refuse assistance at the graveside if deemed unsafe in any way (i.e. weight of casket, inappropriate footwear of funeral home staff or family, ground conditions, etc.).
3. Memorialization
All flat markers are installed by the Cemetery Caretaker, and only after the interment has taken place and the marker installation fee has been paid. Flat markers may be made of stone or bronze. For a complete list of memorialization regulations, please refer to the Maple Ridge Cemetery Bylaw 7612-2020 and the Cemetery Marker & Monument Regulations brochure.Designated full burial plots in Cemetery Section 6 allow for an Upright Monument or Pillow Top Marker. For a complete list of memorialization regulations, please refer to our Maple Ridge Cemetery Section 6 Marker & Monument Regulations.
Markers and monuments are provided by either a funeral chapel or a monument company, and are not supplied by the City of Maple Ridge. To purchase a marker or monument, please refer to the list of monument companies.
Monument Companies are required to submit an application form for Upright Monuments and Pillow Top Markers.
4. Grave Adornment & Landscaping
Cut flowers, wreaths and other floral offerings placed on Graves will be removed by the Caretaker when their condition is considered by him to be detrimental to the beauty of the Cemetery.Artificial flowers can only be placed in a Cemetery between November 15 and March 15.
Adornment or defining a Grave with a fence, hedge, railing, curbing, or landscaping is prohibited.
Only authorized employees of the City can plant, remove, cut down, or destroy any trees, shrubs, plants, flowers, bulbs or rocks in a Cemetery. Any unauthorized adornment or landscaping that is considered by the Caretaker to be untidy or unsafe will be removed by the Caretaker at his discretion.
5. Cemetery Fee Schedule
Resources
Grief Support
- BC Bereavement Helpline
- BC Children's Hospital Grief and Loss
- BC Women's Hospital & Health Centre Library
- Listing of BC Hospice Palliative Care Members
- SHARE Family & Community Services
- The Compassionate Friends of Canada
- Ridge Meadows Hospice Society
Genealogy
- BC Archives at The Royal BC Museum provides Vital Statistic Records for deaths occurring in British Columbia between 1872 and 1996.
- Family Search will sometimes provide images of death certificates not shown in those found on the Royal BC Museum website.
- The history of the museum begins with the Maple Ridge Historical Society. Formed in 1957, the Maple Ridge Historical Society has devoted fifty years to the protection, preservation and sharing of all forms of our community heritage. The Historical Society Board of Directors and the members of the Historical Society continue to support Maple Ridge’s community heritage.
Other Genealogy Websites
Groups independent of the City of Maple Ridge have catalogued information on Maple Ridge interments. Many years ago, families were able to place markers on graves for someone who was not interred in the cemetery. The independent groups get some of their information from existing markers in the cemetery. So in some cases, you will see the name of a deceased person on these websites; however, the deceased person is not necessarily interred in the cemetery.Find a Grave
Financial Benefits & Assistance
- Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation Burial Program
- Public Guardian & Trustee of BC
- WorkSafeBC - A Guide for Families Coping with a Work Related Death or Terminal Illness - WorkSafeBC Permanent Disability & Death Benefits
- Crime Victim Assistance Program
- Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) Description of Benefits)
- The Last Post Fund / Veteran Affairs Canada
- Department of National Defense - Description of Benefits through Department of National Defense
Survivor & Other Death Benefits
CPP – Government of Canada Pension Plan Information & Benefits - Description of CPP BenefitsComplaints
BC Funeral AssociationIf you have a complaint or concern with a cemetery operator or funeral provider, the suggested first step of action is to try and resolve the concern directly with the provider. In the event the concern cannot be resolved in this manner, you may wish to contact the following provincial association:
Suite 211 – 2187 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria BC V8R 1G1
Tel: 250-592-3213
Toll Free: 800-665-3899
If the concern is still not resolved, put it in writing and send it to Consumer Protection BC, who will investigate the issue for you. Consumer Protection BC is the Authority responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act and the Cremation Interment and Funeral Services Act provincial legislation. All cemetery operators and funeral providers are required to be registered with Consumer Protection BC and are required to operate according to the provincial legislation.
Consumer Protection BC
PO Box 9244, Victoria BC V8W 9J2
Tel: 604-320-1667
Fax: 250-920-7181
Toll Free: 888-564-9963
Email: operations@consumerprotectionbc.ca