Notice to the Profession: Important reminder – BAO operator licence renewal

Please read this email carefully and keep it for reference. 

The BAO reminds Funeral Establishment (FE) and Transfer Service (TS) Operators that your annual licence renewal is due by December 31, 2024.

New! For the first time ever, FE and TS Operator licence renewals are now being done online and at the licensed operator level, instead of by each site manager. So, if your company operates more than one funeral establishment or transfer service, you can now submit one online renewal form for all of the FE and TS sites your business operates. 

Operator Portal Accounts: This past May, an email would have been sent from “OBIS Admin” to this email address (the one on record for the licensed operator); the email contains a unique link to create an online operator account on the BAO’s licensee portal. Once you create the account, you may share the username and password with anyone else in your organization as required, to review and update corporate information (including ownership and executive info), submit the Report on Prepaid Funds, change Site Manager info and to renew your operator licence.

Payment for operator renewal: The operator renewal fee is payable by credit, debit, cheque or money order. Note that PayPal has a maximum credit card payment transaction limit of $60,000, and payment can only be applied to one credit card in one transaction. For information on fees, please refer to this BAO notice.  If paying by cheque or money order, please include the operator licence number in the memo section. 

Avoid the Late fee! Renewals that are submitted online and payments that are postmarked after December 31st will be subject to a late fee of $244.47.
 
Holding/Embalming Room Attestation: This year, FE and TS site managers will not be required to self-report on their holding/embalming room(s). This may change as we continue to develop and enhance our new OBIS system.
 
How to submit your operator renewal: Once logged into your operator portal account, click on the “Licensing” heading and then on “Operator Licence Renewal.”  Before clicking on the Licence Renewal No., review your Profile and update if needed. Then, review the Executive* and Shareholder* info, and Site Manager info for each FE or TS site you operate; if changes are required, please email the changes to licensing@thebao.ca, or create a case  as described on the operator renewal page. If updates are required, please go ahead and check off the confirmation buttons (see image below) to complete the renewal, and then send in the required information to update our records, after renewing.

*Corporate Information Changes: If you are reporting any changes to your corporate name, officers, directors, or shareholders, please email the following documents to licensing@thebao.ca or open a case under  Communications > Cases and Support, and upload copies of supporting corporate documentation, as applicable: 

• Articles of Incorporation / Amalgamation / Amendment (whichever is most recent) 
• Officers and Directors registers, or Ontario Form 1 – Initial Notice / Notice of Change re. Officers and Directors, or for federal corporations, the equivalent documents from Industry Canada 
• Shareholder’s register confirming equity ownership  

Have you sold/transferred your business or are planning to do so?  Any transfer of shares that results in a change of controlling ownership (transfer/sale of 51% or more of the equity shares) requires a Funeral Establishment and Transfer Service Operator Licence Application, which can be found on our website under Application Forms. While applications must be submitted within 30 days of the change in ownership, it is preferred that they be submitted at least 30 days beforehand. Before applying, we recommend you read through the application package and first speak to one of our Licensing Officers.  
 
User Guides are available: To help licensees navigate the new portal, we created some useful “OBIS How-To” guides, which can be found here: Licensee Resource Hub

NEED HELP? If you can’t find any email from OBIS Admin (check your junk folder first), or for any other concerns, please email licensing@thebao.ca.
 
If you have already set up your operator account, you may access our Licensee Portal at https://portal.thebao.ca/

Thank you,
The BAO Licensing Team