Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services

What Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services does

Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services is a privately held Canadian death-care provider founded in 1992 by Lawrence G. Little as Personal Alternative Funeral Services, rebranded in 2011, and sold by the founder in 2017. It operates across British Columbia (headquarters in Aldergrove, serving 20+ Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley communities) and Saskatchewan (regional office in Regina), with Tyrel Burton serving as Managing Director. Its core services include simple cremation, witness cremation, funeral services, celebration of life events, graveside and green burials, sea scatter, and international repatriation, supplemented by specialized Spanish-language and Filipino-tradition offerings.

The company's underlying technology is a non-AI web platform consisting of an online arrangement system with step-by-step digital forms and save/resume functionality, a customer portal, live-streaming services for remote family participation, and content/educational resources covering grief, planning, and estate administration. It also operates its own crematorium and a cemetery property (Jasmine Plaza at Heritage Gardens), and retails caskets, urns, keepsakes, eco-friendly products, and memorial diamonds. Prepaid funeral plans are underwritten by TruStage Life of Canada, with consumer funds protected by Assuris, and the company holds Consumer Protection BC License 16036.

Alternatives makes money through one-time service fees for cremation, funeral, and ceremony arrangements; product sales (caskets, urns, keepsakes, diamonds); recurring prepaid plan revenue collected over 1-20 year payment terms; cemetery plot and interment fees via Jasmine Plaza; repatriation and shipping fees; and aftercare/administrative add-on services. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via home-visit consultations, 24/7 phone, online inquiry, and referrals from hospitals, hospices, care homes, the UBC Medical School body donation program, and the Memorial Society of BC. Customer segments are predominantly individual families at time of loss, with secondary segments of pre-planning adults and multicultural communities (Latin American, Filipino).

Name

Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services

Legal name

Personal Alternative Funeral Services Limited

Website

https://myalternatives.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services is a privately held Canadian death-care provider serving families across British Columbia and Saskatchewan with affordable cremation, funeral, repatriation, and prepaid planning services, supported by bilingual and culturally specialized offerings.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Aldergrove

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Funeral & Cremation Services: Core revenue from cremation services (simple, direct, witness cremation), funeral services, celebration of life events, graveside services, and green burial options. One-time service fees for arrangement conferences, transfer services, cremation, ceremony hosting, and document filing.
2. Prepaid Funeral Plans: Insurance-funded prepaid funeral arrangements allowing customers to lock in today's prices for future services. Payment plans available over 1-20 years. Funds held by TruStage Life of Canada, protected by Assuris.
3. Products: Sale of caskets, cremation containers, urns, keepsakes, memorial diamonds, and eco-friendly options. Cemetery plots through Jasmine Plaza at Heritage Gardens partnership.
4. Shipping & Repatriation: International repatriation services for deceased individuals returning to home countries including Mexico, Central and South America, with coordination through consulates and embassies.
5. Aftercare Services: Grief support follow-up, executor resources, death certificate delivery, and estate settlement guidance provided post-service.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services is a Canadian-owned death care provider delivering affordable cremation, funeral, graveside, and celebration-of-life services across British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The company also sells memorial products (caskets, urns, keepsakes, memorial diamonds), operates a cemetery property (Jasmine Plaza at Heritage Gardens), offers prepaid funeral plans insured by TruStage Life of Canada, and provides international repatriation plus bilingual (English/Spanish) and Filipino-culturally specific services.

Product overview

Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services is a Canadian-owned funeral and cremation service provider offering a comprehensive portfolio of death care services across British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The company operates as a single-service business model centered on compassionate, affordable funeral arrangements. Core services include Simple Cremation, Witness Cremation, Celebration of Life ceremonies, Graveside & Green Burial, and Traditional Funeral Services. The company also provides specialized offerings including Shipping (international repatriation), Filipino Traditions, Spanish-language services (Servicios en Espanol), and Sea Scatter ceremonies. Physical products include Caskets, Cremation Containers, Cremation Urns, Keepsakes, Eco/Green Products, and Memorial Diamonds. The company operates Jasmine Plaza at Heritage Gardens cemetery property. Digital services include an Online Arrangement System for starting and completing arrangements digitally, Live-Streaming Services for remote participation, and Pre-Planning & Pre-Payment options. Add-on services include Journey Home (repatriation coverage) and Final Documents Service for estate management. The company has been serving families for over 33 years since 1992.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Jasmine Plaza at Heritage Gardens: A cemetery and memorial garden location operated by the company for burials and memorial services.

Products and services

• Simple Cremation

Quantifiable outcome

• 33+ years operating in BC funeral industry
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Consumer Protection BCcoreOthersProvincial regulatory body that licenses and regulates funeral services in British Columbia. Alternatives holds License 16036. All prepaid funeral arrangements are secured under this regulatory oversight.
• Jasmine Plaza at Heritage GardensminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCemetery partnership offering burial plots, graveside services, and memorial options. Jasmine Plaza provides designated areas for inurnment and scattering gardens.
• UBC Medical School Body Donation ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlternatives coordinates transportation and logistics for body donation to UBC's cadaver research program. Families choosing donation work through Alternatives for transfer services.
• Memorial Society of BCminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReferral partnership. Memorial Society recommends Alternatives to members needing funeral/cremation services. Customer review indicates successful coordination with this organization.
• Hospitals, Hospices, and Care HomesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorHealthcare facilities contact Alternatives when deaths occur on premises. Staff at facilities recommend Alternatives to families based on reputation and service quality.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Dignity Memorial (Service Corporation International): Largest North American funeral services brand operated by SCI. Overlapping service categories (funeral, cremation, cemetery) but at massive scale with full-service traditional positioning rather than the affordable/niche specialization Alternatives pursues.
• Foundation Partners Group: Private-equity-backed funeral and cemetery services consolidator operating across the United States. Comparable consolidator business model acquiring regional funeral providers, and overlapping offering breadth across funeral, cremation, and pre-need products.
• Service Corporation International: NYSE-listed parent of the largest funeral, cremation, and cemetery network in North America, including Dignity Memorial and Neptune Society. Comparable as the dominant industry incumbent; offers scale, technology, and pre-need infrastructure that no regional Canadian operator can match.

Direct peers

• Arbor Memorial Inc. One of Canada's largest funeral service and cemetery operators with locations across multiple provinces including BC. Directly comparable as a multi-service death-care provider serving Canadian families, though typically operating traditional full-service funeral homes rather than the affordable/direct cremation niche Alternatives targets.
• Park Lawn Corporation: TSX-listed Canadian death-care consolidator owning funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematoria across Canada and the US. Comparable business model of acquiring and operating regional death-care providers with vertically integrated service offerings similar to Alternatives.
• Mount Pleasant Group: BC-based funeral, cemetery, and cremation provider with deep provincial roots. Directly comparable geographic overlap in British Columbia and similar breadth of services (funeral, cremation, cemetery property) with comparable local market presence.
• Neptune Society (SCI): Direct cremation specialist brand owned by Service Corporation International, focused exclusively on simple, affordable cremation. Closest pure-play comparable to Alternatives' Simple Cremation product line, though operating primarily in the United States.
• Basic Funerals & Cremation Options: BC-based affordable funeral and cremation provider positioning itself around simple, low-cost direct services. Most direct competitive overlap with Alternatives on price-point positioning, simple cremation offerings, and BC regional service area.

Regional players

• Carriage Services: US-listed death-care provider operating funeral homes and cemeteries across the United States. Comparable services portfolio (funeral, cremation, cemetery merchandise) but primarily serves US Sun Belt rather than Canadian markets.

Others

• StoneMor Partners: US-based cemetery and funeral services operator with focus on perpetual-care cemetery property and merchandise. Comparable vertical integration into cemetery real estate (akin to Alternatives' Jasmine Plaza), but operates in adjacent US markets rather than competing directly in Canada.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/myalternatives
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/manager-personal-alternative-funeral-services
• Instagraminstagram.com/myalternatives

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Alternatives Funeral & Cremation Services