Quebec funeral homes offer space for families to gather, say goodbye at assisted deaths

While funeral homes are places where you usually end up after you die, Patrick Savoie's father-in-law, Michel Brunelle, decided to die in one instead.

"Michel had been suffering from emphysema for a very, very long time," said Savoie. "As time was passing by, his ability to move, his ability to function was getting harder and harder."

Brunelle chose a doctor-assisted death, but his family wanted him to die in a facility that had the amenities and the right space in which to comfortably say goodbye, said Savoie.

Brunelle's wife didn't want to live with the memory of her husband dying in their bed at home, Savoie said. A hospital was an option, but not an easy one, considering how strained the province's medical system is, he said.

"A hospital room is a very fixed, limited size. You can't necessarily have everybody you want to have there," he said.

So the family chose a nearby funeral home that offers a space for assisted dying, providing care to the family and handling the body afterward.

"It was a very nice room," said Savoie. "It allowed us the time we needed to do what we had to do to say goodbye. Let him get comfortable."

The head of that funeral home, Mathieu Baker, said providing a space for medically assisted deaths was a natural step for the family-owned business, which has several locations in southern Quebec's Brome-Missisquoi and Haut-Richelieu regions.

The company has long strived to provide customized care that meets clients' needs, he said. But meeting those needs is not easy, especially when it involves medically assisted death.

"There are a lot of emotions," Baker said. "The person who made the decision is usually very convinced, but the kids, the siblings or other family members aren't necessarily on the same page."

He said providing the service involves holding many meetings and phone conversations with loved ones before the scheduled date to ensure everything goes smoothly.

Even still, Baker said, it comes with a heightened level of emotions that even he isn't used to dealing with, despite growing up in a business that has been passed down through four generations.

"We're all crying with the family," he said.

Many people don't want to die at a hospital or in a long-term care home, where there may not be enough space or staff to provide a personalized experience, he said.