Bronze Plaques British Columbia

British Columbia is the only province whose cemetery law speaks directly to a family’s right to buy a marker where it likes. Section 41 of the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act says an operator must allow a person to install a memorial bought from someone other than the operator, if the memorial and its installation comply with the bylaws. That makes BC the clearest market in Canada for a cast bronze plaque designed online: the cemetery bylaw sets the envelope, the base and the fee, and if your bronze meets them the cemetery cannot refuse it because of where it came from. We cast the plaque in solid LG2 statuary bronze with raised polished lettering and four lugs with studs. The granite base is arranged through the cemetery office or a local monument dealer, because nearly every BC bylaw wants the bronze fixed to a base about 7.5 cm (3 inches) thick before cemetery staff set it flush with the lawn.

What the Act and the Regulation say

The Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act, SBC 2004 chapter 35, defines a memorial as “a tombstone, monument, plaque or other marker on a grave or plot” and requires every operator to make bylaws on “the size, class, kind and composition of memorials” (section 39(1)(a)(iv)), available on request (section 39(6)); a director may order repeal of a bylaw found “unjust, unreasonable, unduly restrictive or discriminatory” (section 39(3) to (5)). Section 41(1): “An operator must allow a person to install a memorial bought from someone other than the operator, if the memorial and its installation comply with the bylaws.” An operator may insist on its own staff installing only if its price is no higher than for similar memorials it sells (41(3)); contravention is an offence (61(2)(s)); a non-compliant memorial may be removed without notice (41(4)), which is why the proof goes to the office first. B.C. Reg. 298/2004 sets the care fund at not less than 25 per cent of each right of interment and “not less than $10 for each memorial installed” (section 20); municipal permits collect more, Surrey $78, Royal Oak $130 and Abbotsford $111 to $160 in their 2026 schedules. Consumer Protection BC licenses operators and confirms you may supply your own marker subject to the bylaws.

The BC envelope, base and border

The municipal bylaws describe one product. The flat marker sizes that recur, measured over the base, are 20 by 30 cm (8 by 12 inches) for a cremation or infant lot, 30 by 50 or 51 cm (12 by 20 inches) for a single grave, 40 or 41 by 71 cm (16 by 28 inches) and 46 by 76 cm (18 by 30 inches) for a double, and 46 by 110 cm (18 by 44 inches) across two adult plots; Surrey and Royal Oak write ranges, and Nanaimo caps everything at 46 by 91 cm (18 by 36 inches). The bronze is never set bare: Vancouver, Abbotsford, Prince George and Mission want a granite or concrete base 7.5 cm (3 inches) thick; Surrey and Royal Oak want granite only, 7.5 to 13 cm (3 to 5 inches); Nanaimo wants at least 10 cm (4 inches). The exposed border is 5 cm (2 inches) at Surrey and Royal Oak and 7 cm (3 inches) at Prince George. Relief is capped at 1.2 cm (0.5 inch) at Surrey, Royal Oak and Mission and 0.3175 cm (1/8 inch) at Nanaimo. Royal Oak requires four integral bosses tapped for non-corroding lugs and Prince George four threaded rods; a plaque from us with four lugs and studs meets both. Surrey states “Concrete bases are not permitted”, Coquitlam’s schedule lists granite for every marker and never mentions bronze, and Nanaimo’s relief cap is below standard cast relief, so confirm with those three offices before ordering.

Setting and permit fees by city

Each figure is the cemetery’s own published amount with the year of its schedule; most exclude GST and all are paid to the cemetery, not to us.

Cemetery	Bronze accepted	Flat marker fee (year)
Mountain View, Vancouver	Yes, 3 inch base	Installation $467 (2024), $495 proposed for 2025; 2026 schedule not read
City of Surrey cemeteries	Yes, granite base only	Permit $260 plus $78 care fund, total $338 (May 8, 2026)
Robinson Memorial Park, Coquitlam	Granite only listed, confirm	Permit $230 plus installation $200 (January 1, 2026)
Township of Langley cemeteries	Guideline not online, ask	Marker permit $434.00 (no year printed, read October 2026)
Abbotsford cemeteries	Yes, 3 inch base	Single 12 by 20 inch $548, cremation $428 (September 1, 2026 schedule)
Royal Oak Burial Park, Victoria	Yes, granite base	Installation $260 to $360 plus $130 care fund, total $390 to $490 (February 2026)
Ross Bay, Victoria	As an approved substitute	$55 plus $130 maintenance fund plus GST, total $194.25 (2010 schedule, confirm)
City of Nanaimo cemeteries	Yes, 10 cm (4 inch) base	Permit $130.00, City installation $130.00 (2026)
Kelowna Memorial Park	Yes, with base	Permit $543 City installed or $317 dealer installed (2026)
Hillside, Kamloops	Yes, dealer base	12 by 20 inch $182.00; 16 by 28 or 18 by 30 inch $271.00 (2024)
Memorial Park, Prince George	Yes, 3 inch base and border	Not published, ask the Caretaker

British Columbia cities

Vancouver. Mountain View Cemetery accepts bronze in four sizes on a 3 inch base and will supply and mount the granite itself; the page also covers Burnaby and Surrey.

Victoria. Royal Oak Burial Park publishes the Island’s most complete bronze specification and 2026 rates; Ross Bay still posts a 2010 schedule. The page adds Hatley and Nanaimo.

Surrey. By-law No. 16174 requires a Memorial Permit, has the Caretaker install within 10 business days, forbids concrete bases and allows a single burial marker 50.8 to 66.04 cm (20 to 26 inches) wide by 30.48 to 45.72 cm (12 to 18 inches) high. The permit is $338 including the care fund (May 8, 2026).

Burnaby. No municipal cemetery. Forest Lawn and Ocean View are private; their March 1, 2026 rules require written approval, a sketch of material, size and inscription, and an inspection fee for memorials bought elsewhere.

Coquitlam. Robinson Memorial Park’s Bylaw 5000, 2021 lists granite 3 inches thick for every section and never mentions bronze; fees from January 1, 2026 are a $230 permit and $200 installation.

Langley. Marker specifications sit in an operational guideline that is not online; the Township lists a $434.00 marker permit with no year printed (read October 2026).

Abbotsford. Bronze on a concrete or granite base at least 3 inches thick, 12 by 20 inches for a single burial, 18 by 30 for a double and 8 by 12 or 10 by 14 for cremation lots, set by City staff for $548 and $428 (September 1, 2026 schedule).

Nanaimo. Bylaw 7084 permits granite or bronze only, a base not less than 10 cm (4 inches) thick, a maximum of 46 by 91 cm (18 by 36 inches), relief no more than 0.3175 cm (1/8 inch), and a 2026 permit of $130.00.

Kelowna. Bylaw No. 12856, adopted February 23, 2026, allows “bronze with the appropriate base” and sets a 2026 permit of $543 when the City installs or $317 when a monument company does; it contains no dimensions.

Kamloops. Hillside Cemetery’s 2024 rate sheet says the City “no longer pours bases”: 20 by 30 cm (8 by 12 inches) $128.00; 30 by 51 cm (12 by 20 inches) $182.00; 41 by 71 and 46 by 76 cm (16 by 28 and 18 by 30 inches) $271.00.

Prince George. Bylaw No. 8046 requires “confirmation in writing that a memorial conforms” before delivery, bars installation from October 1 to April 30, and requires bronze to arrive on a granite or concrete base with a 7 cm (3 inch) border and thickness, in 46 by 76, 40 by 71, 30 by 50 or 20 by 30 cm (18 by 30, 16 by 28, 12 by 20 or 8 by 12 inches). Fees were not found.

Ordering the bronze and arranging the base

Ask the office for the marker envelope for your lot, the base material and thickness, the border and the permit form, then design the bronze about 10 cm (4 inches) smaller than the envelope in each direction so the border fits. A 30 by 20 cm (12 by 8 inch) plaque is $996.08 in the designer, shipping included, and a 41 by 30 cm (16 by 12 inch) plaque is $1,580.02. Choose lugs with studs. We supply the bronze and a written proof for the permit application; the granite base comes from a local monument dealer or, in Vancouver, from the City, and cemetery staff set the finished unit for the fee in the table. Columbarium bronze is different: Surrey ($822, May 2026), Abbotsford ($1,376, September 2026 schedule) and Royal Oak ($1,005, 2026) supply niche plaques themselves, so our bronze beyond the lawn marker goes to private settings such as garden plaques and outdoor pet memorial plaques. For a Veteran’s grave, Veterans Affairs Canada’s program through the Last Post Fund provides a grey granite military style marker, “in certain cases, flat bronze”, with no published route for a family bought bronze marker, so ask the cemetery and the Last Post Fund first. See bronze grave markers or contact us.

What the plaque itself costs, delivered to British Columbia

The table below is our price for the cast bronze plaque itself, read from the design tool on this website on 14 October 2026 for a standard rectangle with the default border and background. Every figure is in Canadian dollars and includes delivery to any address in British Columbia.

Size, inches (mm)	Typical use	Our price, delivery included
6 x 4 in (152 x 102 mm)	Name and dates on a small cremation plot, urn or pet memorial	$478.72
8 x 6 in (203 x 152 mm)	Cremation garden plaque or a short dedication on a bench or wall	$674.98
10 x 8 in (254 x 203 mm)	Cremation lot marker with a line of wording or an emblem	$889.05
12 x 8 in (305 x 203 mm)	Single lawn marker with name, dates and a line of wording	$996.08
16 x 12 in (406 x 305 mm)	Single grave marker with an emblem, or a companion cremation marker	$1,580.02
18 x 12 in (457 x 305 mm)	Larger single marker or a dedication plaque with several lines	$1,759.60
20 x 10 in (508 x 254 mm)	The 20 by 10 inch flat marker size many municipal cemeteries list	$1,759.60
22 x 12 in (559 x 305 mm)	Companion marker or wide single marker inside a 24 inch envelope	$2,118.74
22 1/16 x 15 3/4 in (560 x 400 mm)	The largest size the designer makes, for double markers and dedication tablets	$2,456.76

Any cemetery charge quoted higher on this page, such as a setting fee, a permit, a foundation or a care and maintenance contribution, is paid to the cemetery and is separate from our price. Add the two together for the full installed cost. Open the design tool, type in the size your cemetery allows, and the exact price for that size appears before you order.

How to order

1. Ask the cemetery office for its marker specification: the maximum size, the base it requires and the form it needs signed. Most offices email it the same day.
2. Open the free design tool, pick the shape and set the size in inches or centimetres. The price in Canadian dollars updates as you go.
3. Add the wording, choose a border and background, and add an emblem, motif or photo if you want one. Choose lugs with studs if the plaque will be bolted to a granite or concrete base, or a flat back for adhesive mounting.
4. Save the design and order it from My Account. We send a written proof that you can forward to the cemetery for approval, and nothing is cast until you approve it.

Frequently asked questions

Can a BC cemetery refuse a bronze plaque I bought online?

Only if it does not comply with the bylaws. Section 41 of the Act requires an operator to allow a memorial bought elsewhere if the memorial and its installation comply with the bylaws, and contravention is an offence. Have the office approve the proof first.

What size bronze marker do BC cemeteries allow?

Over the base, 20 by 30 cm (8 by 12 inches) for cremation lots, 30 by 50 cm (12 by 20 inches) for a single grave and 40 by 71 or 46 by 76 cm (16 by 28 or 18 by 30 inches) for a double. Design the bronze about 10 cm smaller so the border fits.

Does the bronze need a granite base in BC?

Yes, in every bylaw checked: usually a granite or concrete base 7.5 cm (3 inches) thick with a 5 cm (2 inch) border, granite only in Surrey, 10 cm in Nanaimo. We supply the bronze with lugs and studs; the base comes from a local dealer or, in Vancouver, from the City.

How much does it cost to install a flat marker in BC?

Surrey $338 including the care fund (May 2026), Royal Oak $390 to $490 (February 2026), Abbotsford $548 for a single (September 2026 schedule), Coquitlam $430 (2026), Nanaimo $130 permit (2026), Kamloops $182.00 for a 12 by 20 (2024) and Vancouver $467 (2024). Most exclude GST.

Can I buy a columbarium niche plate for a BC cemetery from you?

No. Surrey, Abbotsford, Prince George and others supply niche bronze themselves, Vancouver uses andesite panels, and Royal Oak sells its own cast bronze niche plaque. We supply flat lawn markers and plaques for private settings.

How long does a bronze plaque take in British Columbia?

Allow about four to six weeks from payment to delivery. Casting and hand finishing take most of that time, and we send a free written proof before anything is cast. If your cemetery only sets markers in the frost free season, order early enough for the spring installation window.