do not use this place for funeral services. the sound system failed and many people keft before the…read moreceremony ended

Staff is very polite and patient. The facility is large and cheery for a funeral home but has very…read moreLimited facilities on site. It's been my unfortunate experience to have to use them twice and I've found them to be always trying to upsell items. On both occasions they had incorrect dates on the stationary and plaques which is ridiculous. If you must use them, ensure that you check their work for mistakes and omissions. This whole business is not unlike purchasing a used car, proceed with caution and keep your emotions in check.

A family member passed away recently. My husband requested that a link to the obituary was to be…read morepublished in the Chronicle Herald as well as the Cape Breton Post and Phil assured him this would be done. The link was published in the Chronicle Herald but not in the Cape Breton Post despite repeated requests. Phil has refused to respond to emails. We will never use or recommend his service again.

It is with great disappointment and a heavy heart to have to write this review as well as share my…read morestory. My mother worked part time for Phil and Julie at Dartmouth Funeral Home which makes this even more difficult, however, I would never want anyone to experience the sorrow I went through after my mother's passing. Prior to her passing, she insisted I call upon Phil to look after things and she guaranteed me that he would help walk me through all our needs. Upon my first visit, he was so assuring of how much he was going to help me through this because he did know my mother, we made the plans for her cremation and to follow her wishes, there would be no service, just her own obituary, sounds pretty simple right? Well it wasn't ... My mother wrote many poems, as well as a songwriter, she took it upon herself to write her own obituary ... as she stated, she wanted it to be her "own words", no more, no less. I promised her that I would look after it for her. I specifically told Phil this and he assured me I had nothing to worry about, he would wait on me before going forward at all with anything ... Now I live with the hurt of letting my mother down ... This was just the beginning, he had a rough draft of the obituary, however, he was NOT to go forward with anything until we made sure it was complete, to our shock, he took it upon "himself" and went forward with the draft and actually added his own words to what was NOT to be adjusted, he changed my mother's obituary and sent it to print with our local paper, never contacting us, no warning, no signing off by us. ... to my shocking surprise, I received a call from a very close friend to pass on their condolences, when I asked how they received word of her passing, they said they had read her obituary in the paper ... total emotional shock went through my entire body, I was in disbelief. I wanted to call certain family members and friends, to hear it from me .... not the paper, it was too late for that, the snowball effect was in place. I couldn't sleep the entire night, sick inside, I held off as long as I could to call the funeral home, at 5am, I couldn't wait any longer ... I apologized for waking him, but again, I couldn't wait any longer, turns out, it "was" Phil that sent it in, with changes .. once again, shock ... he reassured me that he would make it better, he will make it right .... only now, I think, how? the damage was done, it was printed in the paper and out there. Then the story takes another turn, Phil no longer took my calls, he passed me off ... wow, was my mother wrong, he chose to NOT help me print the obituary correctly, he just gave me the email to The Chronicle Herald and sent me along my way, never to speak to me again, ... it still bothers me as I write this review. Thank god for JA Snows Funeral Home, they walked me through the process again with sincerity and compassion. I wish I went there first. Phil's words "I don't want you calling me if the paper makes another error" it was NOT the papers error, they printed exactly what Phil sent them "the wrong obituary" passing the blame was unbelievable to me. Our next shock, when I was sitting at his desk prior to the obit issue, he threw a paper in front of me and said "oh ya, and sign this, this is for your mother's cremation" although she had already been cremated 2 days prior. I had absolutely no idea that I had anything to sign before this ... once again, my mother told me he would walk me through this .. it was so demeaning to me, to treat my mother's family with so much disrespect, as well as her cremation, I had more compassion when my cat was cremated. Then the story goes on .... I received my mother's "Proof of Death" I could not believe it, another error, the wrong birthdate. I starting thinking to myself, is he going to do anything right. This was so simple, 3 little things to look after, a cremation, an obituary to the paper and no service. The emotional scar this has left on my heart will take forever to heal, the reason for sharing this ... my sincere opinion, Phil has lost his sympathy for the business, to me, it's just business as usual, at least that is how he made us feel ... A sincere apology may have helped in the beginning, but refusing to take my calls and passing me off as he did the cremation paper on his desk said it all to me ... he had my money, in his eyes, he was done. The healing process after my mother's death was emotionally difficult, this experience on the other hand will unfortunately haunt me for a very long time. Phil didn't help, he extended my grieving process for weeks. My mother would be so disappointed with this, I'm sure she is looking down on me with disbelief herself. Wally Jessome

Very inaccessible space. The elevator has out-dated, with offensive language ("handicapped only")…read morewritten on it, is too small for wheel chairs to turn in, and staff will not let patrons use it without them. A person with an invisible disability is forced to discuss their private health condition in order for staff to decide if they count as "handicapped" enough to access the restroom! So infantalizing not to be allowed to push a button on your own, and to have to inform staff whenever the washroom is needed. The excuse is that the elevator needs a key, as if the elevator settings couldn't be changed or patrons couldn't be trusted to turn a key on their own. The bathrooms are not large enough to turn a wheel chair in, and there is unnecessary furniture in the way of the wheel chair turning radius in the washroom.

When my daughter died, I wanted cremation, and a privately organized service. No funeral home…read more However, the crematory I called stated that billing (some fees were eligible to be covered by Income Assistance) needed to go through a funeral home. I was clearly told that I did not have to deal with a funeral home, except for billing, as the crematory did not do direct billing to IA, and that the cost would be the same. I was connected with a funeral home affiliated with the crematory: Cruikshank's. I was called by Lori, who I later found out is supposed to be a licensed grief recovery specialist. Based on my experience, I find this laughable. In every exchange I had with her, she was like a shark. She didn't even pretend to have compassion. She was cold and pushy, and dismissive. I made it clear, on the phone, that I was only agreeing to have Cruikshank's involved for billing purposes, and that I did not want any of the services they offered. Cremation was all that was required and wanted. No visitation. I didn't want my daughter's body handled, made-up, etc. My daughter's service was being completely handled privately. She agreed this was fine, and and asked me to come sign paperwork. Lori was cold and pushy, I would describe her as rude. There were sales pitches. I declined. It seemed that because I wasn't buying, there was no need to even fake any compassion or kindness toward me. She seemed annoyed that I read everything before I would sign. She appeared impatient and bothered, at my questions. It was uncomfortable. I was asked if I would return to identify my daughter, prior to cremation. I agreed. Before this visit, I was called by Cruikshank's and asked to give verbal permission for a "very minimal preparation" prior to me coming in -exact words used. The way it was described, I assumed they may wash her up, a bit, and cover her with a sheet. I made it clear, again, that I wanted her body left alone as much as possible - she had endured so much, prior to her death. I just wanted her to not be handled much. My daughter had an autopsy. I was ok with covering what should be kept from my view. I was ok with brushing her hair a bit and washing anything visible that should be washed. I expected to see a clean body, under a sheet, on a stretcher. Instead, I was shown to a visitation parlour (not wanted) where my daughter was in what they called a "rental coffin" (not wanted) and she had caked on, horrible looking makeup, and it appeared that her mouth has been glued closed. After everything I was so clear on, I could not believe that this had been done. That same day, Lori asked if I wanted to know when my daughter was being cremated. I stated I'd like to know everything that happens with my daughter's body. I was assured, but I received no call. I had to make calls to find out when the cremation was and when her ashes would be available. My last visit to Cruikshank's was to pick up my daughter's ashes. I was told to call to let someone know when I was coming in. I purposely didn't bother calling, after how I had been treated. I have no idea why, but, the staff seemed out of sorts at my unannounced arrival. They acted like teenagers whose parents came home from vacation early. It was weird. Every experience with this place was weird, and not what one would expect, given the situation. I'd like to add that every time I was at Cruikshank's, I could hear the staff kidding and laughing, loudly, in nearby rooms. It was like they had no decency- no empathy - they just didn't even pretend to give a crap about appropriateness. Also, every time I took others with me, and all were in agreement that they shared my perception of what had taken place. Lastly, the IA lady who handled the disbursements called to go over the bill submitted by Cruikshank's. Hundreds of dollars for a rental coffin I didn't want or agree to, hundreds for caked on makeup I never wanted on my girl. And, worse, vaguely described charges, such as "Service Fees", to bring the total up, conveniently, to the allowed maximum. I was dumbfounded. I, personally, organized the entire funeral. Everything - every single details was handled by friends and family. Cruikshank's did nothing. I repeatedly made it clearly known that I only wanted them involved for billing. The cost of the cremation - the one things I wanted to be done, was listed as under $700. Yet, the bill was over $3000. I understand that businesses need to make money. But, this entire experience, was horrible for me, and in my opinion, dishonest. My child died. It doesn't get any worse than that. My experience with Cruikshank's made things more difficult, more stressful, and more hurtful. That is simply not acceptable, when your business is "helping" the bereaved.

As a child I grew up next to a large cemetery, which may be why I am not at all uncomfortable with…read morebeing around them, and why I count myself lucky to have a view overlooking this lovely little cemetery from all rooms in my apartment. In fact, that was a major selling point for us when we were looking at rentals. Some being quite old, many of the graves have been knocked down over time, either by storms or vandals, but it kind of adds to the atmosphere. Every Saturday morning a crew of volunteers works to maintain the grounds, and they've done quite a lot of work righting gravestones and filling in holes in the few months I've lived here. Nice to see these dedicated volunteers arriving week after week to take care of this piece of land. The other group of people I see frequently is runners. Individuals as well as families with young children come here as part of their route, and enjoy the circular track.

This funeral home has come to the aid of a family in need during a sad time. Another funeral home…read morehad taken advantage of us and Walker came along as angels to save the day. They were helpful, comforting, and informative. We couldn't be more satisfied than we are with Walkers.

From the owner: Welcome to J. Albert Walker Funeral Home. For more than 50 years J. Albert Walker Funeral Home has…read morehad the privilege of serving the families of Spryfield and the greater Halifax community. We are honored that you have placed your trust in us in the past and we work everyday to ensure that we continue to earn that trust for the future. We are available by phone 24/7.

Don't know about the other services but they don't seem to know how to operate their internet…read moreservice, I had to call several times to get things fixed like putting our relative on the web site than many people contacted me to say they could not leave a note on the file, the answer was from a.l mattatall was it worked on their end and for us to try another supplier, google chrome is a large site and shame on them for not making it work, they don't seem to take care or care about the smaller things that grieving people don't have time to deal with, I for one would make sure I never use this company they seem incompetent

From the owner: A.L. Mattatall Funeral Home is located in downtown Dartmouth, convenient to many of the city's…read morelovely churches and cemeteries. Our modern facility offers spacious visitation suites, a chapel with flexible seating and a warm, comfortable reception centre.

Story goes that Halifax was one of, if not the largest recipient of victims of the Titanic. They…read morehad the morgue and burial capabilities that other closer ports did. Many of the victims were/still are unidentified except for the number upon which they were received. Some were also identified many years later through dna testing. Pretty interesting tour of the grave sites. This cemetery also holds many victims of the Halifax explosion. This cemetery is very well maintained for such a high traffic spot. It also can be a lot with all the tours that come by a place that is supposed to be a final "resting" place. Worth a visit if you are interested in the history of the Titanic.

This is a beautiful and very-well maintained cemetery in Halifax. We came here though our hop-on -…read morehop-off tour. Since we had had been here before we knew about Fairview and stayed here for a while and toured the grounds. This cemetery is where many victims of the Titanic were interred. There is a while story of why they're here and will be an interesting reading. Plaques with information are available to read along the pathway. A sign points to where the section of the Titanic victims are buried. If you didn't know the graves are in a slight curvature as the hull of a ship. There is also a spot where unidentified members of the great explosion of Halifax are buried. My wife and I spent some time here just walking through and looking at the very old monuments here. This is a beautiful spot, extremely well maintained and worth a trip is you're in Halifax. There is no cost to come into the cemetery. KUDOs to the team here at Fairview Lawn Cemetery who stand watch over this special place.

Camp Hill Cemetery is a delightful place to take an afternoon stroll or a pleasant alternate route…read moreif you have to cut across the city. I really love this graveyard. Once you get to the center it's as if you're not even in the city anymore. There are so many lovely large trees and lots of grass, with a few benches to sit so you can take it all in. One notable Nova Scotian resting in the cemetery is Joseph Howe and I'm sure there are many other really great folks buried here, too. If you're in the mood for a little history spliced with a comfortable and creepy-free environment, then I recommend this graveyard as a destination for you. The gates close at dusk, so I suggest arriving early enough so that you have ample time to stroll about the charming grounds.

I have a strange love for cemeteries. They are peaceful for obvious reasons but always feel like I…read moream stepping back in time and becoming part of history which is very exciting for me. This graveyard is home to many of Halifax's historical figures such as Alexander Keith, Viola Desmond and more. The stones are old which adds to the character of this place. Surrounded by a city, the large trees, benches and paths make it a quiet place to visit in the middle of the hustle and bustle. What a beautiful final resting place.

Victoria Park is highly underrated in my opinion. It's integrated so beautifully with the street…read more(though don't get me started on the fenced off fountain that Halifax loves so much...) that I often walk through it on my way home from class. In the summer the canopy of leaves creates beautiful shade throughout the park, and the frequent benches are perfect for dog watching. It's a very popular one for dog walkers! And events - there have been pop up farmers markets, petting zoos, children's festivals...it's a great little community hub! And right across from (my favourite park ever) the Public Gardens, and right in the middle of the peninsula. Why not take a break and mosey on through? You deserve to relax and enjoy some sunshine.

I don't understand. Whenever I tell someone an event is being held at Victoria Park, they never…read moreknow where it is. How can you live in Halifax and not know where this is!? It's right across from the Public Gardens, it's just off Spring Garden Road and is the huge strip of green running along South Park. Why do I love it? Despite it's small size, it can do almost anything. Looking to hold a public rally? Done. Use the SGR end. Looking to laze in the shade? Done. Use the grassy stretch. Looking to host a car show? Done. use the area behind Robby Burns. Looking to practice your tight-rope walking? Done. Tie your rope between two trees. How do people not know where this is?! I don't understand.