Arbor Memorial Inc.

Arbor Memorial is a family-owned Canadian company that provides end-of-life products and services in eight provinces. It owns and operates a network of 42 cemeteries, 29 crematoria, and 96 funeral homes in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The company employs more than 2,800 people.
==Home Office==
Core centres of excellence (departments) operate from the home office in Toronto, Ontario. Functions and services at this location include Cemetery Operations, Construction and Development, Finance, Funeral Service, Government Affairs, Human Resources, Information Technology, Marketing and Communications, Procurement, Project Management Office, Sales & Administration.
David Scanlan is the Chairman, President & CEO..
==History==
Founded.. in 1947 by Daniel J. (Dan) Scanlan, the company that would eventually be renamed Arbor Memorial, opened its first cemetery, Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens, in London, Ontario. This was the first location in a national network of park-like cemeteries that offered memorials flush to the ground, and the pre-arrangement of burial products and services. Cemetery expansion continued across Canada throughout the 1950s and 1960s.
On August 31, 1973, Canadian Memorial Services Limited became a public company trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company evolved through several name changes into Arbor Memorial Services Inc. (ticker symbol: ABO.A/ABO.B) In 2012, it exited the Toronto Stock Exchange and became a private company, valued at approximately $375 million CDN.
In 1976, the first mausoleum was established at Glendale Memorial Gardens in Toronto, Ontario. The first crematorium was built at Rideau Memorial Gardens in Montréal, Quebec, in 1978.
By 1982, the company moved its head office to its current location at 2 Jane Street, Toronto, Ontario, M6S 4W8.
In 1983, Arbor opened its first on-site funeral home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Chapel Lawn Memorial Gardens offered a complete range of end-of-life products and services at one facility. That same year, the company introduced pre-need funeral arrangements. They also introduced the Arbor Award of Excellence for employees who provided excellent customer service.
Arbor acquired their first funeral home in 1984 — Desjardins Funeral Home in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In 1985, operations were expanded to Florida. The company eventually divested its U.S. properties by 1994.
Trillium Funeral Service Corporation was founded in 1987 which allowed Arbor to own and operate funeral homes in Ontario, Canada.
In 1990, upright memorials were introduced at some cemeteries. Two cemeteries in Calgary dedicated sections for use by the Roman-Catholic Church in 1991 (a cemetery in Ontario followed suit in 2000).
By 1993, annual revenue exceeded $100 million CDN.
The first on-site memorial chapel and reception centre opened at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens in London, Ontario in 1997. The following year, Highland Hills Memorial Gardens opened in Stouffville, Ontario. It was created specifically to reflect Canada’s multicultural faiths and traditions. By the end of the 90s, Arbor opened its first combined funeral home and cemetery sales office at Glenwood Memorial Gardens in Edmonton, Alberta.
In 2000, Arbor opened Highland Funeral Home in Toronto, Ontario, its first off-site facility. Five years later, they made their largest acquisition by purchasing Kelly Funeral Homes in Ottawa, Ontario. By 2006, total company assets exceeded $1 billion CDN.
The Arbor Alliance Program was launched in 2009 to enable affiliated organizations to offer their employees or members pre-arranged cemetery and funeral services.
In 2010, founder Daniel J. (Dan) Scanlan was named Chairman Emeritus of Arbor, and David Scanlan was appointed Chairman of the Board. Dan Scanlan passed away on April 26, 2014.
The 2010s saw the creation of The Arbor Memorial Foundation, its primary vehicle for donating to charities and supporting local communities, which would go on to donate $1.2 million CDN within ten years.
===Awards & Accolades===
In 2018, Arbor received its first recognition as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies. By 2023, Arbor Memorial Services had been named one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies for six consecutive years. 
In 2024, Arbor Memorial achieved Platinum Club status with the Canada’s Best Managed Companies program by retaining its Best Managed designation for seven consecutive years
==Company Process==
Arbor Memorial operates 42 cemeteries, 29 crematoria, and 96 funeral homes in eight provinces. All facilities are owned by Arbor Memorial and are managed locally by a designated branch team, with additional support functions centralized through the home office. Instead of branding each facility ‘Arbor Memorial’, they are branded under a generic name or a family name, giving the impression that each location is locally owned and operated, rather than being part of a national chain
The company went public in 1973 when it started trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE). In 2012, several major shareholders made a bid to take Canada’s biggest publicly traded funeral home company private. On November 27, 2012, shares of Arbor Memorial Inc. ceased to be listed on the TSE
Arbor Memorial is managed by the children of founder Daniel J. Scanlan, who passed away on April 26, 2014. David Scanlan is Chairman, President and CEO; Paul Scanlan is the Senior Vice-President, Business Development; and Michael Scanlan is the Senior Vice-President, Operations & Marketing.
==Services==
===Funerals===
There are several different funeral options offered at Arbor locations. They include traditional funerals, a full-service memorial after cremation has taken place, A Time to Remember funeral built around a theme that represents the life of the departed, an Alternative Service at a preferred venue, a graveside service, and a same-day service.
===Cemeteries===
Arbor Memorial provides many burial options at its cemeteries: a burial plot for a traditional casket or cremated remains, upright monuments and markers flush to the ground, indoor and outdoor niches for urns, mausoleums and crypts, remembrance gardens and nature walks for cremated remains, and private estates where family members can designate their preferred form of burial.
===Cremation===
Cemetery services for cremated remains include outdoor niches, indoor glass-front niches, in-ground urn burial, a monument placed along a nature walk, crypts, and private estates. Other cremation services include the administration and supervision of cremation, urns, and cremation jewelry.
===Celebrations of Life===
Arbor Memorial also offers less formal, more unconventional Celebration of Life services, an end-of-life event that celebrates the unique life of the departed.
===Additional services===
Besides the traditional needs associated with end-of-life, Arbor Memorial provides several related services: receptions and catering, transportation for the funeral procession, keepsakes for family and friends, stationery and cards, flowers, video live streaming, and DNA preservation.
Category:Family-owned companies
Companies based in Toronto
Category:Companies established in 1947