Right of interment reclamation
Beginning May 7, 2024, Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery is reclaiming Right of Interment permits for vacant casket plots in Sections A, B and C that were sold prior to 1974.
After 50 years, a cemetery can reclaim the rights to plots that are still unused (no one is buried) so that they may be sold to someone who will use them. Residents have until October 7, 2024 to identify a right of interment permit that belongs to their family member(s), otherwise the Cemetery will reclaim the right for our purposes.
If you are (or think one of your parents or immediate family members was) a permit holder for a vacant plot sold on or before 1973, even if they have since passed, please email cemeterypermits@kelowna.ca to discuss the permit regulations and how to proceed.
A Right of Interment Permit allows a person to be interred (buried) in a particular location at the Cemetery. This may be a Right of Interment for a casket plot, an urn plot, or an above ground urn niche.
It is important to note that a right of interment is not “purchasing a plot” or purchasing the plot of land. It is the right to be interred (buried) in a particular plot location.
After 50 years, a Cemetery can legally seek to reclaim a Right of Interment for a particular location in a Cemetery if the “plot” or “niche” is unused. This means the plot is vacant, no one has been interred (buried).
After 50 years, a cemetery reclaims the rights to the vacant plot so that it may be sold to someone who will use it. We give residents up to five months to identify a right of interment permit that belongs to their family member(s), otherwise KMPC will reclaim the right for our purposes.
Since these rights of interments were purchased over 50 years ago (prior to 1974) contact information is no longer valid or is incomplete. The Cemetery has conducted research over the years and has documented that many of the original permit holders have passed away and are interred elsewhere.
If you are (or think you might be) a permit holder for a vacant plot location, send an email to cemeterypermits@kelowna.ca. We will review the status of your permit (if any) and update our files with your contact information and your intention to either use the permit yourself, transfer the permit to an immediate family member, or surrender the permit.
If you think one of your parents or immediate family members was a permit holder for a plot sold on or before 1974, even if they have since passed, please email cemeterypermits@kelowna.ca to discuss the Permit regulations and how to proceed.
If the original permit holder is an immediate family member of yours and has passed, please contact the Cemetery Office to discuss the permit regulations and how to proceed. If someone in your immediate family related to the original permit holder does not contact the office before October 7, the Right will be reclaimed by the City of Kelowna Cemetery.
There are approximately 250 casket plot locations that are vacant, with rights sold prior to 1974. All casket plots are in Sections A, B, and C. Please refer to our online map for more detailed information.
Without completing a project like this, Cemeteries would have, plots that go unused forever, leaving less space for those who may want to be buried in the Cemetery.
Reclamation is standard practice for cemeteries all over the world and in British Columbia, this practice is regulated by the Cremation, Interment, and Funeral Services Act - Cremation, Interment, and Funeral Services Regulation (part 2, section 25 - Reclamation of a right of interment previously sold). The Regulation states that a Cemetery may reclaim a Right of Interment Permit if the permit was sold 50 or more years prior, and the Cemetery attempted to contact the original permit holder and has waited 90 days. The Kelowna Memorial Park Cemetery allows residents this reclamation process for a total of 5 months (150 days) before reclaiming these permits.
The Regulation identifies that if a permit is re-sold, and the original permit is required for use by the original permit holder, the Cemetery must provide another right of interment of equal or greater value to the original permit holder.
Please note that this only applies to unused permits, meaning vacant plots (no interment has taken place).
