Overview

In Ontario, you need a certificate approved by a coroner to legally cremate a body or ship a body outside of the province.

As of October 24, 2016, service providers are required to apply for these certificates online.

How to request a certificate

To request a certificate for cremation or a certificate to ship a body outside of Ontario, you must be a legal operator of a:

  • licenced funeral home
  • transfer service
  • crematorium

Families may also apply directly for cremation certificates. For more information, please contact the Office of the Chief Coroner.

Forensic Services and Coroners Complex
25 Morton Shulman Avenue
Toronto, ON
M3M 0B1

You need a My Ontario Account to log-in, complete and submit your request for a certificate. If you don’t have one, you can create an account when you request a certificate.

Before you request a certificate, make sure you have:

  • your individual/personal licence number (e.g. funeral director licence number)
  • the operating name of your business/organization
  • the operator licence number issued by the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, which authorizes you to provide funeral/cremation services
  • the address and date of birth of the deceased provided on the Statement of Death form (Form 15) or by the family of the deceased
  • the name of the coroner who is on-call and available to review your certificate request
  • an electronic or scanned copy of the:
    • Medical certificate of death
    • Medical certificate of stillbirth
    • Non-Ontario Death certificate (this is the certificate of death issued by jurisdictions outside of Ontario)
    • Warrant to Bury the Body of a Deceased Person

Request a cremation certificate

Request out of province body shipment certificate

Contact us

If you need technical assistance requesting a certificate online, please contact ServiceOntario at:

For quick access choose options 5-3-1-0 when prompted

For program-specific inquiries about Cremation and Out-of-Province Body Shipment Certificates, please contact the Office of the Chief Coroner at: