When a bed opens at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence, the call usually comes quickly. You may have been told to expect it for weeks, or it may arrive the same morning a doctor changes the plan. Either way, you're suddenly making decisions about where your mother, father, partner, or sibling will spend their final weeks, and there's a lot the institution itself doesn't put into a brochure.
This guide is for the family member who just got that call, or whose doctor recently raised palliative care for the first time. Here's what the official site doesn't tell you: what the days inside actually look like, what happens in the first hours after a death, and why having a cremation provider's name ready before that moment matters more than most families expect.
You don't need to read this in one sitting. Skip to the section that's most pressing right now, and come back to the rest when you have a quiet moment.
What the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence is
The Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence is a free-standing palliative care home in Kirkland, Quebec, on the West Island of Montreal. With 23 private rooms after its 2018 expansion, it is the largest free-standing palliative care residence in Canada. Since opening in October 2002, the residence has cared for more than 5,800 patients and their families.
It is not a hospital wing. It is not a nursing home. It is a dedicated end-of-life home designed to feel like a place where people can live their last weeks with dignity, comfort, and family nearby, rather than under hospital fluorescents.
A brief history: from West Island Palliative Care Residence to Teresa Dellar
The residence opened in 2002 as the West Island Palliative Care Residence. Many families in the area still know it by that name, and you'll see both names online. On September 10, 2020, the board renamed it the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence in honour of its co-founder.
Who Teresa Dellar was
Teresa Dellar was a social worker. Throughout her career, she saw that families across the West Island had no dignified place to be with a dying loved one outside the hospital. She co-founded the residence, raised the money to build it, and stayed involved as its executive director for nearly two decades. She passed away on August 19, 2019, at 58. The renaming the following year was both a tribute and a continuation of her work.
The facility today
The residence sits at 265 André-Brunet in Kirkland, drawing from the West Island, Lakeshore, Vaudreuil-Soulanges, and parts of the Ontario border. Every patient has a private room.
There is no fee for the medical care itself. The residence runs on a mix of provincial funding, donations, and the work of more than 300 trained volunteers, who collectively contribute over 29,000 hours of care each year.
If you want to verify current details, addresses, or upcoming events, the residence's official site is the source of truth. This guide focuses on what the official site doesn't always cover: what your week, your visits, and your decisions might look like as a family member.
Who qualifies for admission
Admission isn't first-come, first-served, and diagnosis alone doesn't decide it. The residence is a finite resource, and the criteria reflect that.
Medical eligibility
The patient must have a life-limiting illness with a prognosis of approximately three months or less. A physician or nurse practitioner makes this assessment, usually after curative treatments have ended or are no longer in the patient's best interest.
Eligible diagnoses include cancer, advanced organ disease, and neurological conditions. Any illness that has moved beyond what curative medicine can address may qualify.
Geographic catchment
The residence primarily serves the West Island and surrounding areas. That includes Kirkland, Beaconsfield, Pointe-Claire, Dorval, Pierrefonds, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Senneville, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, and out toward Vaudreuil-Dorion, Hudson, and the Ontario border. The intake team sometimes considers patients from further afield, depending on bed availability and the strength of the local caregiver network.
The local caregiver requirement
This one surprises many families. Admission requires a local caregiver, a family member or close friend who lives near enough to visit regularly and participate in care decisions. The residence isn't a place where families drop a loved one off; it's a place where they go through this together. If you're the only adult child and you live in Vancouver, the residence will ask whether there's anyone in Montreal who can fill that caregiver role.
How referrals work
Most admissions come through a CLSC, a hospital social worker, or a family physician. Families rarely refer themselves directly. If your loved one is currently in a hospital, the social worker on their floor is usually the right starting point. If your loved one is at home, your CLSC or family doctor can begin the conversation. The CIUSSS de l'Ouest-de-l'Île-de-Montréal coordinates the regional palliative care system, and can also help connect families to home-based palliative options if the residence isn't the right fit.
How to apply for admission to the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence
A healthcare professional fills out the referral form. The social worker or physician sends it on behalf of the patient, and the residence's intake team reviews it against medical, geographic, and caregiver criteria.
A few practical things to know:
- The waitlist moves quickly. Beds open more often than families expect, because the residence's population turns over weekly. A wait of a few days is common; a wait of more than a couple of weeks is unusual.
- You can ask the referring social worker for updates. The residence will communicate directly with the healthcare team, but the family is often the last to hear. A short phone call to the social worker every couple of days is reasonable.
- When a bed opens, the move happens fast. Often within hours. If your loved one is at home, the residence and your local ambulance service will coordinate the transfer. If they're in hospital, the hospital handles it.
- Bring what they love. Photographs, a favourite blanket, music, a houseplant. The room is private and yours to make familiar.
What to expect during a stay at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence
The first 24 hours can feel disorienting. The room is quiet, the staff move with purpose but without rush, and you may find yourself unsure of what role to play. There's no script. Many families describe the first day as a slow exhale after months of crisis.
The private room and overnight family accommodation
Each patient has a private room with their own bathroom, large windows, and space for family. There's a pull-out chair or daybed, and overnight family accommodation is available if you want to stay through the night. Many families do, especially in the final days.
Visiting hours, pets, and children
Visiting hours are essentially open. Family comes and goes around the clock. Pets are welcome, the family dog can visit, sit on the bed, sleep in the chair. Children are welcome too, and the residence has a small play area and resources for parents who want to talk to their kids about what's happening.
Meals, music therapy, and the Nav-CARE program
The kitchen cooks meals on-site, and family members can eat alongside the patient. Music therapy runs throughout the week; volunteers play piano, bring instruments, or simply sit and listen with patients who want music. The Nav-CARE program pairs trained volunteers with patients and families to help with everything from practical errands to companionship.
The volunteer team
More than 300 trained volunteers contribute over 29,000 care hours each year. They walk dogs, sit with patients overnight, drive family members to appointments, help with meals, and do the dozens of small things that make a hard week more bearable.
Bilingual care
The West Island serves both anglophone and francophone families, and the residence is fully bilingual. Care, paperwork, and conversations happen in whichever language the patient and family prefer.
When your loved one passes away at Teresa Dellar
This is the section many families look for first, and it's the one the institution's own materials cover least. Here's what to expect, step by step.
Who confirms the death and issues the medical certificate
A nurse or on-call physician at the residence will confirm the death. In Quebec, a physician or nurse practitioner must issue the medical certificate of death (the SP-3 form). The residence handles this. You don't need to call anyone to make it happen.
How long the body can remain at the residence
Your loved one can remain in their room for several hours after death, long enough for family to gather, sit, and say goodbye in their own time. There's no rush. The residence's staff have done this thousands of times and will gently let you know when the next steps need to begin, but they won't pressure you.
Quebec's 48-hour cremation hold: what it means in practice
Quebec's funeral activities act requires a minimum 48-hour waiting period between death and cremation. This is a provincial rule, not a residence policy, and it applies wherever the death happens.
In practical terms: a cremation provider will collect your loved one within hours of the death and hold them at their care facility. The paperwork happens during that window. The cremation itself takes place once 48 hours have passed. Our complete timeline of what happens after a death in Quebec walks through the full sequence.
Who you need to call and in what order
The residence's nurse will ask you for the name of the funeral home or cremation provider you've chosen. If you haven't chosen one yet, they'll give you a moment but will need an answer before they can arrange the transfer. This is the call most families dread: they're grieving, they're tired, they haven't done this before, and now they have to pick a provider in the next hour or two.
Worth doing now, while you're reading this and not in the middle of that moment:
- Decide whether you want direct cremation, traditional cremation with a service, or burial. If you've never done this before, our first-time funeral planning guide walks through the options clearly.
- If cremation, choose a provider and write the name and number somewhere accessible.
- If you'd prefer to pre-arrange while your loved one is still in care, you can. Many families find it removes a layer of pressure from the moment of death.
How a cremation provider coordinates the transfer
A cremation provider will work directly with the residence to arrange transfer. You don't need to be physically present. The provider will collect the medical certificate, coordinate paperwork, and bring your loved one to their facility. From there, the 48-hour hold begins.
We coordinate directly with palliative care residences across Greater Montreal, handle the paperwork remotely, and offer direct cremation at a fixed, all-inclusive price with no hidden fees. Out-of-province families don't need to fly in; we can arrange everything by phone.
Arranging cremation at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence
A growing number of families pre-arrange cremation while their loved one is still in palliative care. It is one of those decisions that feels uncomfortable until you make it, and then feels like relief.
Pre-arranging while your loved one is still in care
Pre-arrangement means choosing your provider, signing the paperwork, and locking in the price now, while there's still time to think. When the death happens, the residence calls the provider you've already chosen. The family doesn't have to make logistical decisions at the worst possible moment.
Some families involve the patient in the decision when they're able and want to be. Others handle it quietly themselves. There's no right approach. If you're weighing this, our look at prepaid funerals in Canada walks through how pre-arrangement works.
If you want to pre-arrange now, Cleo's pre-planning requires no deposit and no commitment to a date. Families can pre-arrange in an afternoon and adjust details later as needed.
At-need arrangements from out of province
Many West Island families have adult children living in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, or further afield. If you're the responsible family member and you're not in Montreal, you don't need to fly in to handle the cremation logistics. Providers can coordinate everything remotely: paperwork by email or e-signature, transfer arranged with the residence directly, ashes delivered to a Montreal address or shipped to you. Our guide to arranging cremation from out of province walks through how this works in practice. Out-of-province families also often need to handle accounts and estate paperwork from a distance — managing financial affairs after a death in Quebec covers that side of things.
What the paperwork involves
Three key documents come into play in Quebec:
- Medical certificate of death (SP-3) — issued by the physician or nurse practitioner
- Cremation authorization — signed by the next of kin
- Declaration of death — filed by the cremation provider with the Directeur de l'état civil
Death certificates from the government typically arrive within four to six weeks. The complete Quebec cremation paperwork checklist breaks down each form and what it's for.
Bereavement support after a death
Grief is rarely a straight line, and the residence understands that the family's relationship with the place doesn't end on the day a loved one passes away.
Grief support groups at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence
The residence runs free, bilingual grief support groups that meet monthly. They're open to anyone whose loved one passed away at the residence, and registration is straightforward. Families often describe the groups as one of the most important things they did in the first year after a death, not because the grief becomes lighter, but because they spend an hour each month with other people who understand what the last weeks were like.
Support for children and grandchildren
If you have children or grandchildren who were close to the person who passed, the residence can connect you with resources for talking to kids about loss, and with grief programs designed for younger family members.
Other Montreal-area grief resources
Beyond the residence, there's a wider network of Montreal-area grief resources: the McGill University Health Centre's bereavement program, community-based groups in the West Island, and counsellors who specialize in anticipatory grief and post-loss support. If you're looking for context on the emotional terrain ahead, grief is rarely a straight line is a good place to start.
Frequently asked questions
Families new to the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence most often ask these questions.
Is there a cost to stay at the Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence?
There is no cost to the patient or family for medical care at the residence. It operates on a mix of provincial funding and donations.
How long can someone stay at the residence?
There's no fixed limit. Most patients stay between a few days and a few weeks; the average is two to three weeks. The team will not discharge someone who is actively dying.
Does the residence admit patients on weekends or holidays?
Yes. The residence operates 24/7, including admissions when beds open up.
What's the difference between palliative care and hospice in Quebec?
In Quebec, the term "palliative care residence" is used where other provinces might say "hospice." Functionally, they refer to the same kind of care: comfort-focused end-of-life support outside a hospital setting.
Do I need to choose a funeral or cremation provider in advance?
The residence will ask you for a provider's name within hours of the death. Choosing in advance, even just having a name written down, removes one of the harder decisions from the moment of loss.
Can I bring my dog to visit?
Yes. Pets are welcome at the residence.
A final word
The Teresa Dellar Palliative Care Residence is, by most measures, one of the best places in Canada to be at the end of life. The room is private, the staff are practiced and gentle, the volunteers are everywhere, and the days move at the pace your family needs them to. That doesn't make the experience easier, it makes it bearable, which is what palliative care is for.
If you're in the middle of this right now, there's no perfect way to do it. Stay close, ask the staff anything you're unsure about, and let yourself sit with the time you have. The logistics, when the moment comes, are something a good provider can take off your plate.
If you'd like to talk through cremation arrangements while your loved one is still in care, or if a death has just happened and you need help right now, Cleo is available 24/7. We work with West Island families every week and coordinate directly with the residence.
Call or text (438) 817-1770 — we're available 24/7.