Cremation has been growing at the rate of 1% a year for more than 30 years. Many areas are now at greater than 50% cremation. Without the sale of a casket this imposes very strong economic pressure to continue operations.

Basil Forsberg of Nipawin, Saskatchewan, Canada shared with me a way he has found to replace some or all of the lost margin on cremation sales. He worked out an arrangement with a local municipal cemetery by persuading them to install two 3 foot ribbons of concrete in an unpopular part of the cemetery. He then found a supplier of 2 to 4 private cremation niches that he installs on the concrete. The family pays the cemetery $250 for each installation.

You can talk to Basil directly (I recommend it…he’s a pretty smart guy) by calling him at (306) 862-3979 or emailing him at: basil.heritage@sasktel.net