Pet cemeteries and green burials could be coming to Winnipeg

Green burials, pet cemeteries may come to Winnipeg A new RFP could potentially see pet cemeteries and green burials coming to Winnipeg

WINNIPEG — The City of Winnipeg is looking for some fresh ideas to develop city-owned cemeteries which could include the creation of pet cemeteries or green burials.

The city has put out a request for proposals (RFP) looking for someone to create a Cemeteries Business Plan for the city's three cemeteries, which include the Brookside, St. Vital and Transcona cemeteries.

The city said all three cemeteries offer both casket and cremation interment, and have "significant" remaining vacant space for future development. The contract is estimated to cost $150,000.

What exactly this development will look like is up in the air, but the city is open to ideas. The RFP calls for the recommendations to drive sales, and says alternative options including green burials and pet cemeteries should be considered.

Green burials allow for the body to be naturally recycled.

Cemetery maintenance is currently funded through a Perpetual Maintenance Reserve Fund (PMRF). A percentage of cemetery services sales, including plot purchasing, cermorials and scattering cremated remains, goes to this fund.

Bylaws allow the city to use 50 per cent of the yearly earnings from each fund for improvements and maintenance in each cemetery

The city said the fund for each cemetery is currently not sufficient to meet the maintenance needs.

One of the key objectives of the RSP is to "ensure the responsible use of cemetery lands and maximize the return on investment needed to accommodate future anticipated interment demand."

The city wants the consultant to give an estimate for what interment demand will look like at each cemetery over the next 25 years.