Source: CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2007/03/29/funeral-students.html

Driven by the desire to customize funerals for their communities, a new wave of funeral directors catering to all ethnic backgrounds is entering the business of death in Toronto.

"There's an untapped niche I think that they can fill," said Jeff Caldwell, who directs the two-year funeral service education program at Humber College.

Applications to the funeral service program have doubled in the past few years, says Caldwell, in part because of the popularity of the U.S. TV series Six Feet Under, which chronicled the life of a family in the funeral home business.

But a growing number of students are entering the field out of a desire to help their own communities.