Over the last twenty years the corporate death “care” industry, has taken over Canada’s funerals and funeral planning, in preparation for the Golden Age of Death in North America, which will commence in 2016, when the first baby boomer turns seventy.

In Big Death, Winnipeg writer Doug Smith shows how “Big Death” has bought up countless funeral homes, jacked up prices and maintained the facade of local ownership by not changing the name over the door.


The book also profiles independent funeral homes that have remained committed to providing service rather than selling product, advocates who work to educate funeral consumers and innovators who are creating new, more humane and environmentally friendly funeral traditions. Finally, the book concludes with a guide for funeral planning in the age of Big Death.