Local News
Higher costs for burial for non-synagogue members continue to be the norm in western Canada
By MYRON LOVE A few weeks ago, I contacted the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue on behalf of a friend to inquire as to the cost of his funeral when the time comes (which hopefully is still quite a ways off). The quote I received was $16,000. That would include the plot, the Chevra Kadishe fees (for proper Halachic preparation of the body), transportation, digging the grave and perpetual care.
Now while this would appear to be a rather large chunk of change, the numbers are similar to those of Congregation Etz Chayim (which manages our community’s other three cemeteries – the Hebrew Sick, Rosh Pina and Bnay Abraham) and Beth Tzedec Congregation, which operates one of Calgary’s two Jewish cemeteries. (The rabbi’s or cantor’s fee there is an extra $500.)
I would point out that those numbers are not a great deal higher than were reported in this paper ten years ago, when this writer last surveyed the cost of Jewish funerals across Canada. At that time, the top figure at Etz Chayim was just over $13,000.
What hasn’t changed is that the top line numbers apply to non-members of the synagogues – and that goes for most of the congregational-run cemeteries in the Prairie provinces. At Etz Chayim, for example, members pay $11,000 (as compared to about $8,500 in 2011). Shaarey Zedek members pay $12,000.
(We asked Rena Boroditsky, Executive Director of the Chesed Shel Emes, what happens in cases of an indigent individual. She responded: “SZ, Etz Chayim & Chesed absorb the cost of those without means , there’s a wide range of circumstances. The last several years Chesed has waived all or part of about 5 funerals per year. I’m sure the cemeteries have subsidized far more than that.”
At Calgary’s Beth Tzedec, members pay about $3,000 less. As well, the Calgary congregation has a “plot plan” whereby members in good standing who have been dues-paying members since the 1980s have the price of their plot waived – saving another $3,000.
Now, there is a considerably less expensive alternative in Calgary for members of the Jewish community who are either members of the city’s other four synagogues or are unaffiliated. That would be the 37th Street communal cemetery, which is operated by the city’s century-old Chevra Kadisha.
Former Winnipegger Rick Pollick is the executive director of the Calgary Chevra Kadisha. He reports that the 37 Street cemetery was opened about a dozen years ago. Each of the four congregations has a designated section.
“We have one price ($5,000) – all-inclusive – for everyone,” he says.
Winnipeg also has a less expensive alternative for Jewish burial. That would be Temple Shalom’s Beth Chaim Mikdash Shalom – which is located in a designated area in the midst of Chapel Lawn Cemetery in Headingly – although – as with Etz Chayim and Temple Shalom – there is also separate pricing for members and non-members. Members pay about $3,600, which includes the plot, the funeral shroud, the social hall rental and administrative fee. For a Temple member’s immediate family (parents or children) who are not members, the total maximum price is about $5,500. Non-members pay an additional $1,000.
Perhaps not surprisingly, smaller Jewish communities on the Prairies have lower burial fees. In Edmonton, for example, the Chervra Kadisha operates the one century-old cemetery and charges an all-inclusive $10,000 fee (plus GST) for all burials.
According to a report in the Alberta Jewish News last December, the current six-acre cemetery is running short of space. As a result, the Chevra Kadisha has plans to open a new cemetery – on 30 acres – next spring.
Chevra Kadisha President Rhoda Friedman says that at that time, “we may have to reassess our fee structure”.
Regina’s Jewish burial fees are $8,000 for members of the community’s main synagogue – Congregation Beth Jacob and $12,000 for non-members.
“We haven’t raised our rates in the last five years,” reports Miriam Freedman, Beth Jacob’s executive director.
While the executive director of Saskatoon’s Agudas Israel congregation refused comment, ten years ago, the burial fee for members was $7,250 –with non-members paying $11,250. Most likely, current charges are on a par with Regina’s figures.
Now, to be presented with such a large bill at a time of mourning may be disconcerting for your surviving family members. My advice – buy a plot (or double for couples) now and reduce the future financial burden on your family members.
Editor’s note:
The situation in Toronto is quite different than in any of the Western Canadian cities that have been cited in this article. There are two private funeral homes serving the Jewish community: Benjamin’s and Steeles Memorial Chapel. The cemeteries, however, are run completely on their own. We contacted Steeles to get an idea how funeral costs in Toronto compare with Winnipeg. At the current time all funerals are being conducted graveside.
We were told that a plot at Pardes Chaim Cemetery, for instance, is $3276 plus HST. There is an additional opening and closing fee payable at the time of the funeral, which is currently $1902.06.
As far as the services provided by Steeles, they have a lengthy list of services, including the professional services of staff ($2815); preparation and sheltering of the deceased ($725); automobiles (hearse – $425, general duties vehicle – $295); transfer of the deceased ($375); burial shroud ($395). The total for all these services comes to $5505.
In addition, the costs of caskets range form $1095 for a “classic casket” to $5795 for something called the “Shalom Hardwood”.
Altogether though, the costs for a Jewish funeral in Toronto, going by Steeles’ price list and including the cost of a plot, are somewhere in the $12,000 range.
We were also interested in the typical cost of a non-Jewish funeral. According to one website, the average cost for a funeral in Manitoba in 2020 was $12,094.
Local News
Nakba exhibit at human rights museum set to open despite mounting criticism
By NOAH STRAUSS (posted June 25) The Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ Nakba exhibit is scheduled to open this Saturday, June 27, despite growing criticism and calls for it to be delayed or revised. The exhibit has sparked public debate in Winnipeg and beyond regarding how it presents the history surrounding the creation of the State of Israel.
Earlier this week, Mark Berlin resigned from the museum’s board. In his resignation letter, he expressed concern that the exhibit presents a one-sided narrative and does not adequately address the experiences of Jewish communities affected by the events surrounding Israel’s independence.
The Nakba, an Arabic word meaning “catastrophe,” refers to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during the 1947–1949 conflict that followed the creation of the State of Israel. Critics of the exhibit argue that it focuses primarily on Palestinian displacement without sufficiently acknowledging the broader regional consequences of the period.
Some Jewish advocacy groups also point to the experiences of Jews who left or were expelled from several Arab and Muslim-majority countries in the decades surrounding Israel’s creation. Estimates suggest that between 850,000 and 950,000 Jews left or were displaced from countries including Iraq, Egypt, and Yemen, under a range of circumstances including persecution, expulsion, and confiscation of property.
In his resignation letter, Berlin, a faculty member at McGill University specializing in human rights law, wrote, “Telling the story with a one-sided perspective chosen by the museum serves to deepen division and contributes to further hostility toward Jews in Canada.”
Following his resignation, CIJA President Noah Shack released a statement saying, “The resignation of the museum’s only Jewish board member is a clear indictment of the museum’s handling of the controversial ‘Nakba’ exhibit.”
The exhibit’s VIP opening is expected to include invitations to representatives from all three levels of government. Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham had initially been invited but later declined following discussions with representatives from the Jewish community, including CIJA Manitoba Vice President Gustavo Zentner and Jeff Lieberman, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg.
Members of Winnipeg’s Jewish community are also planning a peaceful rally outside the museum on Friday at 5 p.m., according to organizers.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is expected to release a formal statement ahead of the exhibit’s opening.
Local News
Jewish Child and Family Service helped over 1800 families in 2025
By BERNIE BELLAN Jewish Child and Family Service will be entering the 75th year of its existence in 2027.
With a budget over $4,300,000, JCFS is also the largest beneficiary of funding from the Jewish Federation of the 12 Winnipeg Jewish community agencies that are beneficiaries of the Federation. (To see a list of the 12 agencies go to Funding for Beneficiary Agencies.)
Its impact has grown over the years as JCFS has expanded its horizon, continually adding to the many services it provides. During the JCFS’s Annual General Meeting, held in the Seniors’ Lounge of the Asper Campus on Tuesday evening, June 23, the important role that JCFS plays in the lives of so many members of the Jewish community – also a significant number of non-Jews as well, various speakers cited the many ways in which JCFS has continued to have such a huge impact.
With total revenues of $4,325,160 in fiscal year 2025 (which ended March 31, 2026), but slightly fewer expenses, JCFS not only delivered a wide gamut of services, it managed to deliver those services without incurring a deficit in 2025, despite some significant financial challenges.
As outgoing Board Chair Elana Grinshteyn observed, JCFS had to navigate some major reductions in funding, including a cut in funding from the federal government to the tune of $100,000, plus the loss of funding from the Claims Conference, which had provided support for Holocaust survivors.
Yet, despite those setbacks in funding, Grinshtein reported, “Together, we insured that services remained intact.
“We increased access to interest free loans,” she noted, “doubling” the amount that had been allocated in 2024.
And, amidst the ever-increasing demand for services, “JCFS has continued to navigate space limitations,” Grinshteyn noted. (I should note that as far back as 2019 I reported in an interview I had conducted with JCFS CEO Al Benarroch about the JCFS’s dire need for more space. Here is an excerpt from what Benarroch had to say about the JCFS’s need for more room back in 2019: “…we’ve been looking for roughly 3,000 more square feet of space. We have a footprint right now of roughly 5,000 square feet for over 40 staff. We’ve given up a board room here. It’s been taken over by older adult service staff. We have a conference room which is adjacent to the board room; we’ve moved two staff in there.
“Yesterday I gave up my office for the entire morning so that staff could interview clients.
“We need to relieve the pressure we’re facing right now – yet alone plan for expanding and growing.
“Whatever space we’d be looking at would be temporary. It’s now 22 years that we’ve been in this facility. The campus has taken over squash courts, it’s taken over a museum – internally, to accommodate the growth in services. Maybe it’s time now to look at growing outside this building…”
As the saying goes: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” (That’s me, trying to impress.)
While I tried to take notes during Al Benarroch’s CEO report, I realized following his remarks that there was so much important information conveyed, also a slew of statistics, that it might be more helpful to reprint a good portion of what he said verbatim, so I asked Al to send me a copy of his remarks. (That’s one of the nice things about writing on a website. There’s an infinite amount of room to print the kind of stuff that nerds like me pretend to read.)
During his CEO’s report, Benarroch enumerated the many challenges JCFS encountered in 2025.
Among those challenges, Benarroch noted, were:
• The rising and high cost of living
• Food insecurity
• Housing issues
• Our aging population demographics
• The complex needs of our newcomer families
• The increasingly complex needs in mental health & youth mental health
Yet, despite all those challenges, Benarroch said, “As always… we rose to meet those head on, and with the support of our community.”
In particular, Benarroch cited the support of the Jewish Federation, which contributed $948,800 to JCFS in 2025. (The largest portion of JCFS funding, by the way came from the Province: over $1,100,000.)
Fundraising also played a significant role in contributing to JCFS revenues, with almost $700,000 raised through that route, including direct donations of over $320,000 and bequests over $40,000.
As Benarroch noted, “Every year, we look forward with hope that it will be a quiet year.
“Well, if that’s the case, we are in the wrong business.
“We happen to be in the reflect, respond and pivot business.
“This is the nature of the human existence.”
Benarroch went on to add some more statistics about how JCFS played such a pivotal role in the lives of so many people. In 2025 JCFS:
• Served 1,800 client households – impacting almost 5,000 people.
• Assisted 15 foster children.
• Served 70 families in Child Welfare….
“But what is even more important is that we assisted 90 children that remained at home with their families,” Benarroch said.
The year 2025 also saw the inauguration of what is known as the “Asper Empowerment Program”, through which:
• 311 clients were assisted (including Passover Assistance)
• $80,000 was disbursed in financial assistance
• Over $20,000 was given out in interest-free loans.
• 6,500 kg of food were disbursed
In the area of mental health and counselling services, Benarroch noted that JCFS:
• Supported over 50 adults with mental health challenges
• Our Friday Mental Health Wellness Group participants took part in 22 group activities or outings
• We support some 20 individuals and families impacted by addictions through individual and group services.
• We delivered almost 1,100 counselling sessions, over half of which were subsidized on our sliding scale.
• We continued to support individuals, families, and partner Jewish organizations with the ongoing emotional impacts of the war in Israel and high levels of global antisemitism.
In the area of support for older adults, JCFS served over 250 seniors including:
• 70 newcomer seniors
• 50 seniors living with mental health differences
• 65 Holocaust Survivors (including celebrating “25 years of our Holocaust Survivor Drop-in Group, a partnership with the Gwen Secter Creative Living Centre.”)
In the area of settlement services, JCFS:
• Welcomed almost 80 new families
• Almost 50 families from Israel, seeking reprieve from the ongoing stresses and pressures of the war.
Benarroch noted that “These families are dealing with the deep trauma of displacement, having lived under constant stress, fear and the ensuing post-traumatic impact, family and parenting challenges as a result, emotional exhaustion, financial strain, and more.
“Thanks to the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, we hired a trained specialized support worker, with a background in therapy, to help these families cope, adjust, and receive much needed emotional supports.”
Benarroch went on to describe many more initiatives in which JCFS was engaged in 2025, but I want to return to the retirement of Elena Grinshteyn from the Board of JCFS after nine years serving on the Board, including the last two as Chair. Grinshteyn will be succeed by Bradley Abells, who has been on the Board since 2021. In his remarks, Abells noted that he is an actuary at Canada Life and that he first joined the Board when his particular expertise as an actuary proved extremely helpful in helping to solve a problem that had arisen, and he found the experience so rewarding he decided to remain on the Board ever since .
Also on the Board is Michael Schacter, who is returning as Treasurer and who looks the way you’d expect a finance guy to look.
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