How to Find an Obituary in Nova Scotia
Obituaries are a useful tool for memorializing a loved one and for notifying friends and family of their death and upcoming funeral services. These published death notices can be placed through a variety of obituary outlets. With so many placement options, finding a person's obituary can be challenging. As such, this article provides tips to help find obituaries in Nova Scotia.
Common places to find obituaries
Obituaries can be published online, in print, or even broadcast on local TV channels. Many people begin the search for an obituary on Google or Bing, or other search engines, but this can bring up many results, and it can be difficult to weed out the one you're looking for. Having on hand information such as the deceased person's name, date of birth, date of death, where they were born, etc., can help narrow your search, but having a place to start looking can also be helpful.
We have listed below some of the most common places to find Nova Scotia obituaries, including obituaries by Nova Scotia city, as well as power tips for searching for a hard-to-find obit.
Obituary database or archives
There are several online obituary databases that have an archive of death notices. Some websites have aggregated them from across the world, spanning hundreds of years. Many of these are free, but some may charge a fee, especially when searching for obituaries from long ago (usually for genealogy purposes).
A good place to start is to look at Canadian-specific databases or Nova Scotia-centric ones. Examples are listed below. It is important to remember that many of these sites only have access to public obituaries and may be limited to how far back they can go.
If you can't find an obituary, some ways to troubleshoot include ensuring the name is typed correctly (check spelling), broadening the search (e.g., searching within the province instead of a specific city), and ensuring the correct year of death is selected.
Necro Canada/Canadian Obituaries
Necro Canada has Canadian obituaries in English and French from 2018 to the present. There is also an option to search the archive, which covers deaths from 2017 and earlier. However, obituaries before 2017 are limited on this site.
To search for an obituary, click the year a person died (in the top menu) and type in their name into the search bar in the menu or into the search bar on the right side of the webpage. Alternatively, there is the option to search by province (e.g., Nova Scotia) using the drop-down menu on the page. After clicking on the province, the user is brought to another page where they can condense the search by clicking "click to show town," which will bring up a list of cities in the province (e.g., Halifax).
Echovita
Echovita is another database that publishes Canadian obituaries in both English and French. There is also an option to search for obituaries from the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. The country can be changed in the drop-down menu in the top left corner. In addition to obituaries, the site also offers resources such as a funeral provider database, help and advice (e.g., blogs), and a shop for items such as sympathy flowers, wills, etc. Family and friends can also create an obituary for free.
To find an obituary, scroll down on the front page to the search bar. It will ask for the name of the deceased person and a city name. The name slot can be left blank if searching for available obituaries within a specific city.
Le Necrologue
Le Necrologue is a Canadian database with obituaries in English and French. In addition to obituaries, commemorative pages allow families and friends to create a custom obituary or page in honour of their loved one. These cost $125 per page and can be purchased directly from the site.
Obituaries can be found by doing a general search at the top right of the menu or by refining the search by first or last name, funeral home, or city. There is also an option to search for obituaries by province. Clicking on Nova Scotia, for example, brings users to a page where they can search for obituaries across the province or choose a region. The regions listed for Nova Scotia include:
- Annapolis Valley
- Cape Breton Island
- Halifax Region
- Northern Nova Scotia
- Southern Nova Scotia
Tribute Archive
Tribute Archive is a database with obituaries from Canada, the United States, Columbia, Australia, the Virgin Islands, and many places worldwide. Also on the site are a funeral home database, blog, and a memorial tree program.
The search bar for obituaries is at the top of the homepage. It allows browsing by first and last name, state (provinces are also listed in the drop-down menu), city, date, and keyword. There are over 20 cities listed for Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Obituaries
This is a genealogical resource database with obituaries of people from Nova Scotia or related to Nova Scotians. To date, there are 75,050 obituaries found on this site.
Users can click on a "Search Obituaries" section in the top menu to search for an obituary on the site. Notices are found using a surname search.
Other databases include:
Funeral home websites
Many funeral home websites have online obituaries or memorials. The cost for posting on each is commonly included in funeral packages but can be paid for separately. In addition, some funeral providers, like Eirene, offer complimentary online memorials on their website, where you can post an obituary for free.
Obituaries in Nova Scotia news outlets
Most news outlets have an obituary section online, printed in a newspaper, or both. The cost is sometimes included in funeral packages, or the funeral provider may be able to put families in touch with the local newspaper. Usually, a news outlet will allow families to submit an obituary directly.
- See a list of Nova Scotia newspapers on this website.
Saltwire
Saltwire is a Canadian website focusing on news in the Atlantic provinces. The Nova Scotia website is powered by The Chronicle Herald (Nova Scotia and Halifax) and Cape Breton Post (Cape Breton Island). Notices can be found in the obituary section in the top menu. Obituaries can be found by name and/or date. Visit Saltwire obituaries here.
Social Media
Another common place to find obituaries is on social media. These can be found in Facebook groups, on dedicated accounts (or on pages used by obituary sites or funeral homes), using hashtags, etc. For example, on Facebook, search for a person's name. Often a family member will have accessed the deceased person's account and posted a note to their friends about their death and included a link to their obituary. You can also search Twitter.com and Instagram.
Obituaries by City in Nova Scotia
We have listed obituary resources found in ten of the most populated cities in Nova Scotia.
Halifax obituaries (including Dartmouth)
- Necro Canada
- Le Necrologue
- Echovita
- Tribute Archive
- Saltwire
- Halifax City News
- Obituaries in Halifax Facebook page
Examples of funeral home online obituaries in Halifax and Dartmouth:
Sydney obituaries
Here are some places to find Sydney, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Examples of funeral home online obituaries in Sydney, Nova Scotia:
Truro obituaries
Here are some places to find Truro, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Examples of funeral home online obituaries in Truro, Nova Scotia:
New Glasgow obituaries
Here are some places to find New Glasgow, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Examples of funeral home online obituaries in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia:
Glace Bay obituaries
Here are some places to find Glace Bay, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Examples of funeral home online obituaries in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia:
Kentville obituaries
Here are some places to find Kentville, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Example of funeral home online obituaries in Kentville:
Sydney Mines obituaries
Here are some places to find Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Examples of funeral home online obituaries in Sydney Mines:
Amherst obituaries
Here are some places to find Amherst, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Funeral homes online obituaries in Amherst:
Bridgewater obituaries
Here are some places to find Bridgewater, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Examples of funeral home online obituaries in Bridgewater:
Yarmouth obituaries
Here are some places to find Yarmouth, Nova Scotia obituaries.
Example of funeral home online obituaries in Yarmouth:
Obituary Writing Resources
Need help?
For questions about finding an obituary in Nova Scotia, direct your questions to the various obituary sites listed.
For questions about final arrangements and cremation in Nova Scotia, email our team at support@eirene.ca.
To make arrangements with Eirene, you can click here. For information about our service areas please visit our locations page.
To see Eirene's obituaries or to post one for free, please click here.
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