Legal Name Change by Province

Legal name change is a process managed by the office of Vital Statistics in each province. The exact laws, procedures, fees and eligibility vary between provinces. The table below summarises the main components of legal name change criteria for each province. Please note pricing is only indicative as it is subject to change without notice. For current prices and application forms, either contact VS directly or check the legal name change application box after clicking the button at the bottom of this page.

Background information and turn around times can also differ greatly between states. Quebec has unusual name change laws and name change is not commonly granted. We recommend Quebec residents only purchase an Easy Name Change kit after their application has been successful.

Fingerprinting

Some provinces require fingerprints to be taken by the RCMP, which has an additional charge of about $25. Fingerprinting is compulsory in these provinces and will form part of your application. If you have queries about how your fingerprints will be used please contact Vital Statistics directly.

Residency

All provinces have residency requirements. Applicants are required to be permanent residents of the province from where they apply and may be asked to prove residency. You are generally able to apply if you have lived in that province for 3-4 months before applying. Some provinces require 6 or 12 months residency. Further details are on the application forms for each province.

Once successful

Once your application is successful you are issued with an amended birth certificate, providing you were born in that province. If you were born in a different province you will be issued with a legal name change certificate and your province of birth will be notified so you can order amended birth certificates. Either document is accepted everywhere as proof of name change. 

All Canadian birth certificates must be surrendered when changing names. If you were born overseas you will need to provide your citizenship certificate or permanent residency card. Replacement documents in your new name will be issued on request. We provide the citizenship certificate or permanent resident card replacement name change application form via the button below.

Ready to start changing names?

Unless otherwise indicated in the table above, we can provide the legal name change application form for all provinces. Simply click the button below, then select the legal name change application form for your province. We also provide all the name change procedures and paperwork for hundreds of Canadian organizations.

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