Accredited Continuing Education                  

OFSA is dedicated to providing funeral professionals with continuing education annually.



There are 3 ways you can earn Your Education through the OFSA:

1. Work for a OFSA Funeral Home establishment Member

2. Become an individual Associate member

3. Pay as you go (see below) 

WEDNESDAY Webinars

JANUARY

17, 2024 - Employee Engagement - How to Foster Motivation
24, 2024 - HR Solutions for Funeral Homes

FEBRUARY

21, 2024 - Managing Employee Terminations in the Work Place

MARCH

6, 2024 - Building your Resiliency Tool Kit - Part 1
20, 2024 - Building your Resiliency Tool Kit - Part 2
27, 2024 - Support Strategies Following Suicide Death Loss 

APRIL

24, 2024 - MAID - Discussion Dying with Dignity
TDB, 2024 - Embalming

MAy

15, 2024 - OFSA Spring Meeting

june

26, 2024 - Pregnancy and Infant Loss: Awareness Matters

september

16 & 17, 2024 - OFSA AGM & Education Conference

october

TBD, 2024 - Cremation Practices
30, 2024 - Trillium Gift of Life Network (Ontario Health)

upcoming webinar education Sessions

support strategies following suicide death loss
March 27, 2024
Category a - 1 cec

As an ongoing public health crisis and prevalent cause of death, millions of people are bereaved
following suicide death loss worldwide every year. Families who lose a loved one to suicide frequently do not receive the support or communication they need, even from helping professionals. This session will assist attendees (1) in differentiating between myths and realities of suicide; (2) in understanding unique grief experiences and complication risks following suicide death loss; (3) in developing helpful and empathic responses to suicide survivor families; and (4) in employing new communication strategies when carrying out funeral service arrangements following a suicide death loss. Time will be allotted for questions from
participants to ensure that they receive needed and targeted information to put into practice immediately in their businesses.

Sara Murphy, PhD, CT is a death educator, Certified Thanatologist (Association for Death Education and Counseling), and suicidologist with over fifteen years of scholarly, pedagogical, and professional experience in the field. She has been a faculty member at the University of Rhode Island for fourteen years, where she has developed and taught over fifty interdisciplinary courses on thanatological theory; death, dying, and bereavement; biopsychosocial grief experiences; disenfranchised grief; and stigmatized means of death. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Thanatology Graduate Program at Marian University, where she is teaches courses on suicide, addiction loss, and social justice thanatology.
Publicly, Dr. Murphy conducts diverse and dynamic professional development and educational workshops and seminars on specialized topics of death, dying, and bereavement nationwide for businesses, schools, and professional organizations.
Dr. Murphy is also a suicide and bereavement consultant; a contributing writer at Remembering a Life; an expert witness on suicide and on disenfranchised grief; and the author of the booklet, “Grieving Alone & Together: Responding to the Loss of Your Loved One during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” a free resource for helping professionals and individuals published by the Funeral Service Foundation.

  

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAid)
April 24, 2024
Category a - 1 cec

This presentation will provide information about Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) in Canada, including eligibility criteria, procedural safeguards and a brief overview of the court challenges that led to MAID being a legal option. Insights into the patient and family perspectives will be shared, as will a discussion of where MAID generally takes place and what one should consider when it comes to a person-centred approach to MAID. 

Kelsey Goforth is the Director of Programs at Dying With Dignity Canada and has been a staff member with the organization since 2015.

  

IN PERSON NETWORKING Events

2024 SPRING MEETING
May 14-15, 2024 - Hilton Garden Inn/West Mississagua
Hotel Reservation Link
REGISTRATION coming soon


2024 OFSA AGM & Conference
Sept 16-17, 2024 -
the Westin Trillium house, Blue Mountain
HOTEL RESERVATION LINK
REGISTRATION coming soon

Dedicated to the passionate pursuit of excellence in funeral service.