Cemeteries

With the assistance of cemetery caretakers, The Corporation of the Township of Norwich administers and promotes the professional operations o f municipal cemeteries f or the purpose of dignified burial s and cremations. 

The Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations requires that the Township of Norwich complies with the Ontario Cemetery Act as well as consumer protection under the Funeral, Burial and Cremation Service Act. The role of the ministry is to protect you, as a Consumer. This includes making sure cemeteries are well-­kept for your loved ones now and in the distant future.  

Pursuant to the Ontario Cemetery Act and the new upcoming Funeral, Burial and Cremation Services Act, when you make arrangements for burial in a Municipal Cemetery you are not purchasing land in the Cemetery.  Instead, you are purchasing the “right to use the lot for burials”.  These rights are called Interment Rights and you will receive a legal document called a “Certificate of Interment Rights” after purchase.

Please note that the full cost of your interment rights must be paid for before:

• a burial can take place in the grave;
• you will receive a “Certificate of Interment Rights”;
• a monument or marker can be put on the lot.

The Township of Norwich is responsible for the appearance and maintenance of it’s Municipal Cemeteries.  A Cemetery Bylaw is in place to assist the Township in meeting it’s responsibilities.  When you sign the interment right contract at purchase, you are agreeing to follow the rules and regulations set out in the Bylaw.