Arbor Memorial

Arbor Memorial was founded in 1947 by Daniel Scanlan with the establishment of Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in London, Ontario.^[2][3]

Over several decades the company expanded by developing park cemeteries in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s across Canada before expanding into funeral homes in the 1980s. Before becoming Arbor Memorial, the company was known as Canadian Memorial Services Limited (not to be confused with the currentfuneral home subsidiary of the Mount Pleasant Group).^[3]

In September 2012, Arbor Memorial announced an agreement to be acquired by an investor group led by Scanfield Holdings Ltd., Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited and JC Clark Ltd. in a deal valued at approximately $375 million.^[4]

Shareholders approved the transaction later that year.^[5]

The acquisition was completed in November 2012, after which the company was taken private and its shares were delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange.^[6]

In 2017, an investigative report by CBC Television's Marketplace and the Toronto Star uncovered a pattern of aggressive sales practices, significant price markups and upselling by Arbor sales representatives.^[1][7] The investigation resulted in rule changes by Ontario's funeral regulator, which the company was accused of violating in 2018, when they were again accused of misleading sales tactics.^[8]

Arbor Memorial operates funeral homes, cemeteries, crematoria and reception centres across Canada. The company provides burial and cremation services, funeral planning, cemetery interment rights and memorialization products.

Arbor operates roughly 92 funeral homes, 41 cemeteries, and 27 crematoria in more than 140 total locations across eight Canadian provinces.^[9]

The following table lists properties operated by Arbor Memorial across Canada.

• Mount Pleasant Group, a Toronto-area group of cemeteries and funeral homes
• Park Lawn Corporation, another Canadian death care company
• Fairfax Financial