How to Get a Marriage Licence in Canada: Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec Compared

The paperwork to get married in Canada is run by each province. The province decides who issues the licence, what it costs, how long it lasts and who can sign as a witness, and a licence from one province is no use in another. This guide covers Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec; elsewhere, start with the provincial government’s vital statistics pages.

The rules below come from the City of Toronto for Ontario, from the provincial governments of British Columbia and Alberta, and from Quebec’s Directeur de l’état civil. Fees are those listed in October 2026.

The four provinces at a glance

Ontario: licence from the municipality

In Ontario, you need three things to marry: a marriage licence (or the publication of banns from a church), an authorized officiant and two witnesses. In Toronto, you fill in the online application, then attend an in-person appointment with two pieces of original acceptable ID for each of you, official proof of any Canadian or foreign divorce, and the $180 fee.

Toronto tells couples to apply within 90 days of the day they intend to marry. Once you have the licence, you can marry wherever you have the owner’s permission: a home, a restaurant, a banquet hall, a park, a place of worship, a city venue. Toronto rents civic centre wedding chambers for $136.85 per 30 minutes, room only, and is piloting civil ceremonies with a City officiant; for those, a witness can be provided for a fee.

After the ceremony, the officiant gives you a Record of Solemnization of Marriage, which is not an official certificate, and sends the completed licence to the province for registration. You then order the marriage certificate from the Office of the Registrar General through ServiceOntario, about 10 to 12 weeks after the wedding, Toronto says.

British Columbia: no waiting period

In BC, only one of you needs to go to a marriage licence issuer, in person, with primary identification for both of you; the issuer may accept a passport or driver’s licence in some circumstances. The licence costs $100, is non-refundable, and the price includes your first marriage certificate, mailed after the marriage is registered. The issuer prints the licence on the spot.

• Buy it within the three months before the wedding date. There is no waiting period: you can marry as soon as you have it.
• You must be 19 to marry without parental consent; people aged 16 to 18 can marry with written consent from their parents or guardians.
• If one of you was recently divorced, wait until the divorce order takes effect before buying the licence.
• The ceremony is performed by a licensed marriage commissioner or a religious official, with two witnesses over age 19.
• If you lose the licence, the place where you bought it can issue a replacement.

Alberta: a registry agent and a two-part form

Alberta licences come from registry agent offices, which issue a two-part document: the top is the Registration of Marriage, the bottom the marriage licence. You go together, swear or affirm one or more affidavits, and give your personal information and your parents’ full names and birthplaces, including a parent’s maiden name. The licence is issued while you wait. If one of you lacks acceptable ID, that person may be able to use a birth certificate or an immigration document instead, as long as the other has acceptable ID; the registry agent will confirm.

• The government fee is $40, and each registry agent adds its own service fee.
• The licence is valid for three months, only for a ceremony in Alberta, and the ceremony can take place the same day.
• There is no residency or citizenship requirement, no minimum stay in the province and no blood test. Banns are not accepted instead of a licence.
• Both of you must be 18 or older; at 16 or 17, a licence needs the consent of all parents and legal guardians, unless other conditions apply. Under 16, you can’t marry in Alberta.
• If either of you is divorced, bring the final divorce document, such as a Certificate of Divorce.
• Check every detail on the form before you leave the office: a registry agent can correct errors before the ceremony, but afterwards it takes an amendment.

On the day, you and two adult witnesses must be physically present with the officiant: no proxy, no video call. Witnesses must be 18 or older, and everyone signs the Registration of Marriage during the ceremony. In a civil ceremony, each of you says two statements the law prescribes in front of each other, both witnesses and the marriage commissioner. The officiant sends the registration to Vital Statistics within 48 hours, and you then buy the marriage certificate at a registry agent.

Alberta is explicit about one more point: there has to be a ceremony, religious or civil, and papers can’t simply be signed. Symbolic or mock ceremonies are not legal marriages and can’t be registered. At the end, the officiant gives you a Civil or Religious Marriage Ceremony Statement; the official record is the Registration of Marriage, and the marriage certificate you order afterwards is made from it.

Quebec: a public notice instead of a licence

Quebec’s process starts with the officiant, not with you at a counter. The officiant files an application with the Directeur de l’état civil at least 21 days before the ceremony, filled in jointly with a witness, and the notice of your marriage is published on the Directeur’s website for 20 days. The wedding must then take place within three months of the last day of publication; after that, a new application is needed. A dispensation from publication is possible only for serious reasons.

At the ceremony, two witnesses attend, the officiant reads aloud articles of the Civil Code of Québec, in English or French as you prefer, and the declaration of marriage is signed by the officiant, both of you and both witnesses. In Quebec you can marry from age 16, with the court’s authorization if you are under 18. The Directeur suggests submitting the publication request several weeks before the ceremony to leave room for the deadlines.

A timeline that works in all four provinces

1. Four to six months beforeBook your officiant. In Quebec, agree with them on when they will file the publication request.
2. Two to three months beforeGather ID for both of you and, if needed, the final divorce document. Ask the officiant what they will need on the day.
3. Six weeks beforeQuebec: the publication request should already be in, well ahead of the 21-day minimum.
4. Two to four weeks beforeOntario, BC, Alberta: get the licence. All three windows are three months or 90 days, so this timing is safe everywhere.
5. On the dayHand the licence or the Alberta two-part form to the officiant before the ceremony starts, with your two witnesses beside you.

Put those dates into your wedding planning timeline as soon as the venue is booked. If the ceremony will be non-religious, the order and the rituals are covered in our secular wedding ceremony guide, and if you are coming from abroad to marry in Canada, add the travel steps from planning a destination wedding.