Changing Your Name After Marriage in Canada: Ontario, BC, Alberta, Quebec and Your Passport

In three of the four provinces covered here, taking a spouse’s name involves no legal name change. In Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta, the provinces call it assuming a surname: you start using your spouse’s last name, or a combination of both, and you prove the link with your marriage certificate. Your birth certificate keeps the name you were born with. Quebec is the exception, and a big one.

The steps below come from the four provincial governments and from the Government of Canada’s passport pages. Each organization you deal with sets its own requirements, so treat the lists as the usual pattern and ask before you go.

First, the right marriage certificate

Ontario, BC and Alberta all ask for the official marriage certificate, which you order once the marriage is registered. Ontario reminds couples that it is not the Record of Solemnization of Marriage that the officiant gives you, and that you must apply for the certificate because one isn’t issued to you automatically. British Columbia says the same about the Statement of Marriage, or the registry you sign at the ceremony: it is not an official ID document.

Alberta certificates are sold by registry agents, or through Registry Connect depending on where you live. If your name has changed through more than one marriage, BC warns that you may need to show each marriage certificate to prove your name history.

Ontario: free at ServiceOntario

In Ontario you can assume your spouse’s last name on your health card, driver’s licence and Ontario Photo Card at no cost. Visit a ServiceOntario centre with:

• your marriage certificate, the provincial one rather than the officiant’s record
• your current photo health card, or, if you don’t have one, three original documents proving you are a Canadian citizen and an Ontario resident
• your driver’s licence or Ontario Photo Card

The updated documents arrive by mail in six to eight weeks. One rule catches couples with hyphenated names: you must record the full last name exactly as it appears on the marriage certificate. Assuming only part of a hyphenated name requires a legal name change through the Office of the Registrar General. For banks, employers and everyone else, Ontario’s advice is to ask each organization what it needs; most will want a copy of the marriage certificate.

Take an illustrative couple, Alex Martin and Sam Côté-Roy, marrying in Toronto. If Alex wants to become Alex Côté-Roy, it is an assumed name: free at ServiceOntario with the marriage certificate. If Alex wants to be Alex Côté, that is only part of a hyphenated name, so Ontario requires a legal name change, with its own application. Decide which version you want before the first counter visit.

Ontario’s old Election to Change Surname service has been discontinued. If you used it in the past, the Election to Resume Former Surname (Form 2) is how you go back.

British Columbia: assume it, and switch back any time

After a marriage, BC lets you use, without a legal change of name, a surname from a previous marriage or a combination of your birth surname and married surnames, separated by a hyphen or a space. Either spouse can assume the other’s surname or a combination of both, and you must use the full surname as it appears on the record. You can switch back to your birth surname at any time.

BC lists the places to update, and suggests starting with the BC Services Card and the driver’s licence, because updated provincial ID makes everything else easier:

• ICBC, for the driver’s licence, BC Services Card and BCID
• Service Canada, for your Social Insurance Number record
• Banks and financial institutions
• Auto, home and other insurance
• School, employment, benefits and medical records
• Professional licensing bodies or associations

Organizations may ask for linking documents, which show the connection between your birth name and the name you now use: depending on your history, a divorce certificate showing both your married and previous names, a court order stamped by the court registry, updated provincial photo ID, a legal name change certificate, or a Canadian Citizenship Certificate.

A legal change of name is still required if you want to change a first or middle name, use only part of your surname or your spouse’s, take a last name that isn’t linked by marriage, or have the change recorded on your birth record as a legal event.

Alberta: three options, no application

Alberta spells out the choice. You can keep your own last name, assume your spouse’s, or join both and assume the joined name, with or without a hyphen or a space, in the order you prefer: Smith-Jones, Smith Jones or SmithJones. A legal change of name through Vital Statistics is not required, and the name on your birth certificate doesn’t change.

If you assume a married name, change all your ID and contact each organization you deal with; most want to see your government-issued marriage certificate. Going back later works the same way in reverse, and organizations may ask for the marriage certificate, your birth certificate, both, or something else.

Quebec: each spouse keeps their name

Quebec’s Civil Code, article 393, says that in marriage both spouses retain their respective names and exercise their civil rights under those names. Officiants read the article aloud at every Quebec wedding. As a result, the Directeur de l’état civil authorizes a change to a spouse’s surname only in an exceptional situation, and a change of name in general is granted only for a serious reason within the meaning of the Civil Code.

For a couple marrying in Quebec, the practical consequence is simple: no document changes after the wedding, because the legal names stay the same. If one of you lives in another province and marries in Quebec, ask your own province which rules apply to the name you use there.

Your Canadian passport

The Government of Canada requires a new passport application if you are changing your last name because of a change in relationship status. With it, you send one or more of the listed documents, such as your marriage certificate, in English or French; originals or copies are accepted. The ID you provide must already show your new last name, and you pay the fees of a new application.

That rule sets the order: provincial ID first, passport second. It also has a travel consequence. Canada warns that if the name on your passport doesn’t match your bookings or other ID, you may face delays at the border or be refused boarding, even with your marriage certificate in your bag. Book the honeymoon in the name on the passport you will carry; our honeymoon planning guide has the rest of the timing.

The order that works

1. 1. Order the marriage certificateFrom the province where you married, once the marriage is registered. Order more than one copy if several offices will want to keep one.
2. 2. Update provincial IDHealth card and driver’s licence in Ontario at ServiceOntario; driver’s licence and BC Services Card at ICBC in BC; in Alberta, contact each organization that issued your ID.
3. 3. Update your SIN recordWith Service Canada, which BC lists among the places to update.
4. 4. Apply for a new passportWith your marriage certificate and the ID that now shows your new name.
5. 5. Everyone elseBanks, employer, insurance, professional bodies, utilities, then the loyalty accounts that must match your passport.

Spread these over the first two or three months of married life, and keep a list of where each copy went. If you are still planning the wedding itself, add the certificate order to the week after the wedding in your wedding planning timeline.