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About

At Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre on Danforth Avenue, we’ve been serving Toronto families since the 1920s, when we were owned and operated by N. B. Cobbledick.

Although Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre has changed ownership since the 1920s, we have retained our commitment to our diverse community and have always responded to the changing needs of the Toronto community.

Convenient, accommodating location

Chapel at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation CentreConveniently located at 2570 Danforth Avenue, our funeral home is directly adjacent to the Main Subway Station for the TTC Bloor Subway Line and is less than a 5-minute walk from the Danforth Station GO Transit Station. Additionally, we are 30 minutes from Toronto Pearson Airport and 15 minutes from Toronto Island Airport and have ample parking available. Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre is also near 4 Toronto cemeteries and crematoriums.

To better serve you and your family, Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre is fully accessible; we are even equipped with a chair lift. The Peter Giffin Memorial Chapel has seating available for over 100 guests, with an available overflow room that includes full audio and visual technology for approximately 60 guests. We also have 4 newly renovated visitation rooms.

Personalized funerals

Our mission at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre is to help families create personalized funerals and memorials. This approach keeps us open to traditional religious rites as well as contemporary gatherings that deeply reflect a person's life. That means that whether you want a basic cremation with cremated remains scattered in a personally meaningful place, a funeral at the funeral home with cemetery burial nearby, or a modern celebration of life with live music and a send-off that expresses the passions of yourself or your loved one, we are happy to deliver. If you can imagine it, we can make it happen.

Compassionate care

Lobby at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation CentreWhen you choose Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre, our compassionate personnel will provide you with arrangements and services to help you through one of the most personal and challenging stages of life. We understand the emotional and difficult experience that accompanies the loss of a loved one.

Please contact us if you require any assistance, or if you would like more information about our services.

Serving the Community

We are dedicated to working with our neighbors to make a positive change. In support of that mission, we participate in campaigns on Canada's cause calendar, which assigns each month of the year a worthy cause. The awareness programs include events like delivering doughnuts for Firefighters' National Memorial Day, collecting coats to give to the homeless and hosting drug awareness seminars for International Overdose Awareness Day.

History

The early years of Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre

Back in the early 1920s, N. B. Cobbledick owned and operated the funeral home where the present Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre stands today. Ernie McFarquare purchased the Cobbledick Funeral Home and changed the name. Several years later, the funeral home was sold to Mr. Mack, and once again, the name was changed to The Mack Burial Company. Mr. Cobbledick passed away on March 8, 1946.

In November of 1948 or 1949, Peter Giffen and his wife, Doris, purchased the funeral home. Although our funeral home name is Giffen-Mack, Mr. Giffen and Mr. Mack were never partners. But Peter Giffen decided that it would be better to keep the Mack name in the name of the funeral home so that the community would still feel comfortable in dealing with a family-owned funeral home under different management.

During the 2 years of 1948 and 1949, our records show that the Giffen-Mack Funeral Home performed 185 services.

In 1965, directly behind the funeral home, the Main Street Subway station was built, followed by the GO station stop over the Main Street Bridge, thus making Giffen-Mack Funeral Home very accessible to our families.

Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre expands and renovates

Front Exterior of Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation CentreIn 1969, Peter Giffen carried out some necessary renovations in order to keep up with the changes in the Toronto community and his ever-growing business. He purchased 3 stores—a bakery, a shoe store and a fur store that were attached to the west side of the funeral home—and decided to build around the existing building in any way that he felt possible.

The new renovations at Giffen-Mack Funeral Home & Cremation Centre included an upper-level floor that housed 6 visitation rooms, a lounge, washrooms, a large preparation room, a chapel and an elevator. The renovations also included more available parking on the west side of the building and a 5-car garage.

The idea for these renovations paid off—from 1973 to 1974, Giffen-Mack Funeral Home performed 958 services.

The Peter Giffen Memorial Chapel 

In 1982, Peter Giffen retired after serving 50 years in the funeral service industry and passed his funeral home over to his son, David Giffen. On March 23, 2019, we rechristened our chapel in honour of Peter Giffen. A commemorative plaque was installed just above the entrance to the Peter Giffen Memorial Chapel along with his photo. The Giffen family was present for the special ribbon cutting event. 

More about this historical Toronto funeral home

Historical artifacts are still within Giffen-Mack Funeral Home at Danforth Avenue. The garage that we have today was originally the preparation room, and the original sink that was in this preparation room is still in use in the present-day garage. The selection room on the lower level was the one and only lounge and the office desk used downstairs in the large arrangement office was originally used for a baby set-up.

In 2006, we became a member of the Dignity Memorial® network, North America’s largest network of funeral, burial and cremation providers.

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Amenities

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Cremation

Service

Religious & Cultural

Other Languages Spoken

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100% SERVICE GUARANTEE

At Dignity Memorial, we take our promises seriously. That’s why we offer a 100% service guarantee. We strive to get every detail right the first time, every time. If for some reason we don’t and you’re dissatisfied with any aspect of your service, we will remedy it quickly and fully.

Learn about our Dignity Difference benefits.

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Ratings & Reviews

Verified Customer Reviews

Since 2005, many of our customers have taken the time to tell us how we did each year via our Voice of the Customer program. Our star ratings and comments from families come directly from these surveys.

"The knowledge, professionalism, empathy, kindness and compassion exhibited by Sarah was bar none. We did have reason to speak with others within the home and their service was also excellent. We would highly recommend this home."

jd-power-verified-checkmark Verified Burial & Memorial Service Customer

November 2020

"A hard thing to deal with made less hard by good people."

jd-power-verified-checkmark Verified Burial & Memorial Service Customer

November 2020

"I was truly impressed with the way Michael and his team took care of us during this heartbreaking time. Michael and Tony gave my sister the special send off we wanted for her. They truly went above and beyond! I am grateful!"

jd-power-verified-checkmark Verified Burial & Memorial Service Customer

November 2020

"The staff were very caring, and did a great job of guiding our family through one of the worst days of our lives. There were so many details to think about, and Sarah, Lindsay and the staff took good care of us, providing much needed guidance when we were not able to think clearly. We are especially grateful for the beautiful engraving that they provided for Dad's urn. We had very specific ideas about how it should look, and were really pleased with the final outcome. The velvet bag it came in was a nice touch. They were very respectful. My sister and I both love our jewellery with some of Dad's ashes in them. This was something I wouldn't have thought to request, but has ended up being a comforting treasure, and a sweet reminder that Dad is always with me. The preparation of Dad's body was beautifully handled and the kindness we were shown when Dad's shoes didn't fit, was touching. Thanks to all the staff, from the Funeral Director to Hearse Driver. We appreciate you. Well done."

jd-power-verified-checkmark Verified Burial & Memorial Service Customer

November 2020

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