The application process is available to any cemetery committed to offering authentic green burial. Applicants should review the detailed list below that outlines of how your cemetery can become a Green Burial Society of Canada Certified Cemetery (also known as a GBSC Approved Provider).

• Review the Approved Provider Criteria and the three (3) categories of Certified Cemeteries to determine the category for which your site may be qualified.
• Complete the Approved Provider Application Form and sign the Declaration at the end, which commits your cemetery to providing the green burial services in the category selected.
• Review and sign the GBSC Statement of Ethical Practice, which commits your cemetery’s management and staff to providing green burial services in a principled and ethical manner.
• After reviewing the information, complete and sign the Application and Statement of Ethical Practice. Email scans of completed documents to greenburialcanada@gmail.com for review.
• Submit payment via the link on the GBSC website. Payment is due upon application.
• Once the GBSC’s Vetting Committee has completed its review of the Application, you will be contacted for a short interview with our representative to confirm the details of your submittal and address any possible deficiencies.
• You will be notified within three (3) weeks of the status of your application and the category under which your site will be certified.
• The GBSC will follow up by mailing you a “Welcome Package,” including a printed certificate confirming that your site is now a GBSC Certified Cemetery.
• We will also send you our digital logos and ask you to sign a Terms of Use agreement.
• All GBSC Certified Cemeteries/Approved Providers are subject to an annual renewal and will be required to pay a renewal fee each calendar year.

• Applications can be downloaded from the GBSC The entire application process can be completed online, including the payment of fees.
• Upon submission of an application and payment of fees, the GBSC will:
  • within 72 hours, acknowledge receipt of the application and payment, and
  • within 14-21 days, review the submittal, conduct the interview, meet with the GBSC Board, and make a ruling on the application, and
  • within 30 days, notify the applicant and mail out the Approved Provider
• If an applicant is not successful, the Vetting Committee representative will advise the applicant of the reason for the failure and outline what is needed to correct the deficiency and acquire Approved Provider

• The application process and the GBSC’s Approved Provider status are based on an “in good faith” and self- reporting, self-regulating model, which relies on the honesty and integrity of every
• The GBSC will review each application for completeness and signatures, committing the cemetery to providing the green burial services and environmental programs as described for the applicable category in a principled and ethical manner.
• Approved Provider status will not be granted until Application Fees have been paid in full.
• Once Approved Provider status has been achieved, the cemetery will be GBSC Certified, with information about the site posted on our website for one year. An invoice for renewal fees will be issued the following calendar year.

GBSC Approved Providers/Certified Cemeteries will:

• Be listed on the GBSC website – on our map, with your site’s description, website link, photos and contact information.
• Be a suggested site (based on location) when visitors to our website ask for information.
• Have a URL link to their cemetery’s website posted on the GBSC’s
• Be given the right to use, per an agreement with the GBSC, the GBSC’s name, logo, and marketing materials, either separately or as part of the cemetery’s marketing and promotion of green burial.
• Have access to exclusive GBSC resources and subject matter experts to assist in researching or discussing green burial matters related to their cemetery, or to green burial in general.
• Have access to the GBSC network of green burial cemeteries across
• Benefit from increased exposure from our social media and the GBSC’s connection with “community partners” – other green burial organizations working at the provincial or local level.
• Be recognized as a supporter of Canada’s only national green burial organization and part of the community of progressive GBSC Certified green burial cemeteries.
• Be recognized as an Approved Provider by the only green burial organization in Canada that offers a certification program designed to inform consumers and ensure their access to authentic green burial cemeteries and services.

• The GBSC, in good faith, is relying on the honesty, integrity and good reputation of every Approved Provider cemetery to deliver green burial services to their community, in fulfillment of the category for which they were approved and in the full spirit and intent declared by their signing the GBSC’s Approved Provider Statement of Statement of Ethical Practice.
• The GBSC will rely on each Approved Provider to self-report and self-regulate regarding how they deliver green burial services. Approved Providers will be invited, on an annual/voluntary basis, to provide to the GBSC a report itemizing the number and types of green burials they performed, and any challenges they faced in providing their green burial services. Collection of this data, which will be held in confidence, will be used by the GBSC to develop reports about the acceptance and adoption of green burial services across Canada.
• The GBSC will actively engage with the public and with death care service consumers, and these people will be invited to share their comments and experiences with Approved Provider firms.
• The GBSC believes the public and actual green burial consumers will be the Society’s best means to monitor Approved Providers. The GBSC is considering development of an on-line consumer review page for Approved Providers.
• The GBSC is not a regulatory or professional certification agency and has no intention to interfere with how any cemetery is managed or operated. The GBSC is dedicated solely to promoting green burial and working to make green burial services available to Canadians, and in an honest and ethical manner, free of false claims and “greenwashing”.

*Approved Providers should be aware that as part of the listing of their cemetery on the GBSC website, a copy of their approved category and the signed commitment to GBSC Principles of Ethical Service will be viewable by visitors to the GBSC website.

• Once granted, the simplest way to lose Approved Provider status is to fail to pay the annual renewal of the status on or by the renewal date.
• The next would be the GBSC becoming aware of a cemetery having acquired Certified Cemetery (Approved Provider) status based on false or misleading statements in their application or renewal.
• Most significantly, GBSC, through direct public and consumer feedback, is in receipt of or made aware of a provider’s regular and consistent actions that are contrary to green burial, not living up to, or not providing green burial services in fulfillment of their Approved Provider status.
• In the instance where the GBSC proposes to rescind an Approved Provider designation, the cemetery will be notified in advance and given the opportunity to appeal their status.