Legal name change is a process managed by the Office of Vital Statistics in each province. All provinces require a paper form to be completed and mailed in. The exact laws, procedures, fees and eligibility vary between provinces. The table below summarizes 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 for your province from our list of companies. We’ll provide the form and filing instructions along with all your name change notification paperwork.
| Province | Min age | Approx fee* | Notes |
| Alberta | 18 years | $120 | Agency & fingerprint fees apply |
| British Columbia | 19 years | $137 | Fingerprint & criminal background check |
| Ontario | 18 years | $137 | 6-8 week turnaround. Fingerprints & police check |
| Quebec | 18 years | $300 | Name changes are rarely granted |
| Nova Scotia | 16 years | $165 | Fingerprints always taken |
| Manitoba | 18 years | $120 | Fingerprints taken. Name published. $30 for certificate |
| Saskatchewan | 18 years | $POA | Forms and current fees only on application to Vital Stats |
| New Brunswick | 16 years | $130 | Criminal record check |
| Prince Edward Is | 18 years | $185 | Fingerprints taken. Names published in Gazette |
| Newfoundland Lab | 16 years | $100 | $35 for certificate. Names published in Gazette |
All provinces have different policies for fingerprinting, police record checks and newspaper publishing. Background information and processing times can also differ greatly between provinces. Some provinces charge less if you only want your first name changed. Quebec has strict laws where change is only granted in exceptional circumstances. 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
Applicants are required to be permanent residents of the province from where they apply and may be asked to prove residency, except applicants born in Nova Scotia and Ontario. NS and ON born applicants may apply in either their province of birth or residency, regardless of where they presently reside. All applicants are generally able to apply if they have lived in that province for 12 months. Some provinces have shorter residency requirements of 3 or 6 months. Further details are on the application forms for each province.
Once 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 an amended birth certificate. Both documents are equally valid for name change purposes.
All Canadian birth certificates must be surrendered when changing names. If you were born overseas you may need to provide your citizenship certificate or permanent residency card. Replacement documents in your new name may 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 another 750+ Canadian organizations.
More information
We have dedicated legal name change pages for Ontario, BC and Alberta, where we explain the legal name change process in greater detail.
