From its inception in 1947, with a single cemetery in London, Ontario, Arbor has developed a system of cemeteries and funeral homes across Canada and is now, in terms of the numbers of funerals, burials and cremations performed annually, the nation’s principal supplier of funerary services.

Arbor’s development reflects both the expansion of Canada in the last half century and the soundness of two principles which have governed the company’s direction.

The first principle is that it is better for the consumer to determine funerary arrangements in advance than to wait until death occurs. Pre-arrangement gives the purchaser the opportunity to learn what services are available and to make informed choices free from the pressures of time and grief. The manifest advantages of pre-arrangement were little thought of fifty years ago and it is due in no small part to Arbor’s missionary efforts in fostering pre-arrangement that the concept is now accepted and endorsed by all qualified commentators. Consistent with its belief that consumer education is of paramount importance, Arbor sponsors a series of articles about funerary topics which are supplied monthly to over 1,000 newspapers. The series, entitled “All Things Considered,” is written by Joan Watson, an authority on consumer matters, and is not attributed publicly to Arbor.

Arbor’s second guiding principle is a concern to provide services that match closely the desires of consumers in each community. Though adherence to tradition runs strong in funerary matters, marked changes have occurred since 1947. Thus the incidence of cremation has risen from a nominal proportion of all deaths to about 35 percent nationally and much higher in many communities. To accommodate this trend, Arbor established 22 crematoria between 1978 and 1990. Again, the practice of entombment in mausoleums had largely disappeared from Canada by 1939. After World War II, demand for entombment was revived by immigrants from Europe and was satisfied by the construction of mausoleums in major cemeteries. Over the years there has been a dramatic evolution in the design of mausoleums. The typical early structure might accommodate some 60 individual crypts; Arbor’s latest building will contain over 5,000. The growing diversity of consumers’ backgrounds has stimulated change in many other aspects of cemetery and funeral home operations. Hours of service have been extended to meet the needs of religious groups and shift workers. Memorials have become more imaginative. The forms of funeral service have been expanded and refined to suite a broadening range of individual preferences.

Commitment to these principles should help both consumers and Arbor as much in the future as they have in the past.