Home Hospice Association
DEATH CAFÉS
A Death Café is a group-directed discussion of death. The goal of creating these spaces is to encourage and normalize conversations about the one reality we all share, but that few wish to talk about. By increasing our awareness of death, we’re better positioned to make the most of our (finite) lives.
About the program
Home Hospice Association’s Death Cafés are a vital component of our Death Education programming, and build on the international social movement of Death Cafés that emerged in the UK in 2010. Leading the national community in the facilitation of Death Cafés, HHA is committed to this important community outreach.
Whether a virtual or in-person event, all HHA’s Death Cafés are free to attend!
Why we meet
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To invite conversation and explore feelings about dying and death, as well as living and life.
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To bring people - often strangers - together to talk about death in the hope that they will extend this dialogue to their friends, families, and communities.
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To engage with our own mortality in ways that help us deal with feelings of fear and anxiety around death.
Community-Specific Death Cafés
BIPOC Death Café
This death café for members of BIPOC communities provides a forum for open and honest discussion and a supportive place in which participants can navigate their feelings and thoughts about dying, death, grief and loss.
Caregivers Death Café
The Caregivers Death Café is for anyone who is currently, or who has ever been, in a caregiving role. Providing care to someone who sick or facing death can often greatly impact the caregiver’s relationship with their own mortality. This death café gives caregivers the chance to openly talk about their feelings, thoughts, and experiences around dying, death, grief, and loss.
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Open Death Café
At Open Death Cafés people gather together to discuss death. This event doesn’t have any particular objectives or themes aside from increasing everyone’s awareness of death and exploring our relationships with death, dying and grief. As we grapple with what life looks like today, having a safe and non-judgmental space to talk about difficult subjects is so important and can have a significant impact both on how we live and how we die.
Glad Day Bookshop Death Café
Home Hospice Association is proud to be the host partner for Glad Day Bookshop's Death Cafés. This event takes place in-person at the bookstore, located at 499 Church St. in Toronto. Any individual who identifies as part of the LGBTQ2S+ community is welcome to attend.
Upcoming Dates:
There are no upcoming dates at this time.
LGBTQ2S+ Death Café
Feelings about death are as diverse as people are. And while we recognize that what someone thinks or feels about dying, death, grief or loss isn’t necessarily determined by their gender identity or sexual orientation, we also know how important it is to be able to talk about these issues and feelings in a space that feels safe and with people who share similar life experiences.
MAiD Death Café
Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) is one of our most requested Death Cafés, and we are proud to provide an open forum to discuss and destigmatize this topic in a safe, non-judgmental space. While MAiD became legal in Canada in June 2016, it remains a complex and deeply personal issue, with many people who seek access to MAiD or their loved ones feeling stigmatized and unsupported. This is a space to share our thoughts, feelings and emotions around MAiD, to discuss the emerging laws on MAiD and mental health, and to talk about the impact MAiD has on families and loved ones.
Upcoming Dates:
June 17, 2024
Parents & Guardians Death Café
Adults who have children and teens in their lives have a unique challenge when talking about dying, death, and grief. The HHA Death Cafés for Parents & Guardians actively explore how adult participants can intentionally help the children in their lives by talking about death with them openly and comfortably.
Pet Lovers Death Café
Approximately 13,209,754 people in Canada have dogs, and 14,342,018 have cats - that’s plenty of people who are going to experience pet loss one day. The Pet Lovers Death Café brings together the pet lover community so that the topic of pet death can be normalized and compassionately discussed through encouraging open discourse and examination. Talking about our experiences and feelings related to the illness and loss of a beloved pet can also be a great way to start the conversation about our own dying and death.
Spoonie Death Café
Recognizing that individuals who struggle with chronic pain & chronic illness face their mortality differently and daily, Home Hospice Association's Spoonie Death Cafés provide the opportunity for people with chronic pain & chronic illness to come together to talk about death, dying, and grief, and whatever these topics may bring up.
Café Mortel
Un café mortel, c'est une rencontre où on discute de la mort. Notre but est d'aider les gens à être à l'aise avec l'idée de la mort et leur finitude. Les participants peuvent échanger des idées sur la mort, confortablement et authentiquement, dans un espace respectueux et confidentiel. Notez que les cafés mortels sont des espaces de rencontre mais non de soutien ou de counselling pour le deuil, et qu’il n’y aura aucune représentation de services commerciaux ou spirituels.
Ottawa Public Library Death Cafe/Cafe Mortel
Les participants peuvent échanger des idées sur la mort, confortablement et authentiquement, dans un espace respectueux et confidentiel. La bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa (BPO) offre ce programme en partenariat avec l'association Home Hospice Association. Veuillez vous assurer de vous inscrire à cet événement sur le site web de la Bibliothèque publique d'Ottawa.
Upcoming Dates:
April 10, 2024
April 25, 2024
Calgary Public Library Death Cafe
This open death cafe doesn’t have any particular objectives or themes aside from increasing everyone’s awareness of death and exploring our relationships with death, dying and grief. The Calgary Public Library is offering this event in partnership with Home Hospice Association.
Upcoming Dates:
April 22, 2024
April 25, 2024
April 27, 2024
Would your organization or community group like to host a Death Café? If you’re interested in bringing an HHA Death Café to your community, check our our Community Workshops & Presentations page.
Does your organization or business have a space where we could run a regular in-person Death Café in your community? We welcome the opportunity to expand our Host Partnerships, and would love to hear from you! Learn more on our Community Partnerships page, or send us an email.
Meet our Facilitators
Our community-specific Death Cafés are facilitated by a member of HHA’s team who identifies as a member of that community.
Our Partners
