Compassionate personal service

We offer a range of services from a full traditional funeral ceremony and cemetery burial to a modern celebration of life with live music, catering and a send-off that reflects the personality and passions of yourself or your loved one. We go the extra mile to make it happen—from finding just the right flowers to ordering personalized mementos.

Accommodating location

Our 19,000-square-foot funeral home on Lacewood Drive is a comfortable place for planning, visitations, religious and non-religious services and other gatherings. Our visitation suites, reception centre, chapel and multipurpose room all have audio-visual equipment designed to help highlight life stories with modern, multimedia presentations, which we are happy to put together for you.

Because we aim to exceed expectations, we offer a courtesy shuttle to people who need transportation to make funeral arrangements or attend a visitation, service or special event, and we are the only funeral home in Halifax providing complimentary dove releases.

Trusted provider

As a member of the Dignity Memorial® network, J.A. Snow Funeral Home gives you not only the warm, familiar attention you expect from a locally operated funeral home but also the exceptional service you deserve by way of North America's largest network of funeral, burial, cremation and cemetery service providers.

We invite you to call us for immediate assistance or to learn more about planning ahead. If you are a police officer, firefighter or EMT, ask about our public servants program.

Cremation services

We specialize in cremation services that honor loved ones in personalized ways, and families love our transparent pricing. With expertise in scattering ashes and a friendly team who pays attention to every detail, we provide service that is second to none.

More and more people are choosing cremation over traditional burial, but most aren’t familiar with the many options:

• a cremation without a funeral or memorial service of any kind.
• a funeral with your loved one present, followed by cremation.
• a cremation followed by a scattering, cemetery memorialization or celebration of life—or all three.

For those who wish for a more momentous memorial, Neptune Memorial Reef is an underwater cremation garden off the coast of Florida. A Celestis Memorial Spaceflight takes ashes into space for a little while or forever.

There are many options for cremation—and they're not all equal. Here's what you can expect when you choose us for your loved one's cremation:

• Custody of care guaranteed. Our custody-of-care program helps safeguard the identification of your loved one from the time we bring them into our care until the time we return them to your family. We check, cross-check and check again, every step of the way.
• Exclusive custody of your loved one. We use only crematories owned and operated by Dignity Memorial^® providers or trusted partners. Once your loved one is in our custody or that of a trusted partner, they’re in our care until they’re returned to your family.
• Licensed, certified, conscientious staff. All Dignity Memorial crematory operators are licensed and certified by Cremation Association of North America, or CANA. Only one person at a time is cremated, and the cremation chamber is thoroughly cleaned before the next person is cremated.

Read more about our cremation services.

History

Established in Halifax in 1883 as Snow & Company Undertaker, J.A. Snow Funeral Home is the area's oldest and most trusted funeral home. Our history is intertwined with that of the city of Halifax itself, as we played an important role in the recovery effort and burials resulting from the sinking of the "RMS Titanic" in 1912 and the Halifax Explosion of 1917. (In the wake of the latter tragedy, Snow & Company performed funeral services at an astounding rate of 30 to 40 a day.)

Until 1973, J.A. Snow Funeral Home was located on Argyle Street, overlooking the Parade Square. At that time, 4th-generation owner John Snow and his business partner, Don Mackay, moved J.A. Snow Funeral Home to a new, modern facility on Windsor Street.

Growing with our community

In 2006, the funeral home became part of the Dignity Memorial® network of funeral, burial, cremation and cemetery service providers. In 2009, J.A. Snow Funeral Home moved to its current location on Lacewood Drive so that it could better serve Halifax's rapidly growing Bedford, Spryfield, Sackville, Fall River, Lakeside and Timberlea communities.

As the company evolved, so did our range of funeral options. At J.A. Snow Funeral Home, we confidently help you create a tribute that truly reflects the personality and passions of yourself or your loved one.