How Do I Get Married in British Columbia?

Get a marriage licence

First, you have to get a marriage licence. Either you or your future spouse must apply in person to the marriage licence issuer in your neighbourhood. (The Vital Statistics Agency offers a convenient search tool to help you find a marriage licence issuer near you.) You'll have to provide government-issued photo identification, pay a fee of about $100, and supply the following information:

• Your full name, address, date of birth and place of birth.
• Your future spouse's full name, date of birth and place of birth.
• Your present marital status (never married, widowed, divorced).
• Your future spouse's present marital status.

If you or your future spouse were divorced within the last 31 days, you'll also have to provide:

• Proof of your divorce (either the divorce order or a certificate of divorce).

If you or your future spouse are younger than age 19, you'll also have to have the consent of the parent of the minor. The marriage licence issuer will have the forms you'll need. No one under the age of 16 can be married without a court order.

You don't have to be a resident of British Columbia to get married here. Blood tests are not required.

Remember that a marriage licence is only valid for three months from the date of issue. If your marriage ceremony doesn't happen within those three months, you'll have to reapply for another one.

Get married

Next, you need to get married! There are two types of marriage ceremony to choose from, civil and religious. Civil ceremonies are performed by marriage commissioners, officials registered with the Vital Statistics Agency. Religious ceremonies are performed by religious officials such as ministers, rabbis, imams, priests and so forth, however the religious official must be registered with the Vital Statistics Agency for the marriage to be valid.

Whichever sort of marriage ceremony you're planning, your marriage must be witnessed by two people who are at least 19 years of age or older.

If you're planning on a civil ceremony, you'll need to book your marriage commissioner right away. It may be extraordinarily difficult to track someone down who's available at the last minute. The fee your commissioner will charge is $75, plus other costs for expenses like parking and transportation. The nice folks at the Vital Statistics Agency have a search tool to help you find a marriage commissioner.

Register your marriage

The marriage commissioner or religious official who conducts the ceremony will help you complete a Marriage Registration Form. This form must be sent, within 48 hours of the ceremony, to the Vital Statistics Agency for registration. The person who conducts your ceremony will normally take care of this for you.

The Vital Statistics Agency will send you a spectacularly ugly certificate of marriage, which will look something like this:

British Columbia certificate of marriage

This isn't something you're going to want to hang on the wall. It is, however, something you should hang onto, in case you need proof of your marriage or want to apply for a divorce.

The person who conducts your ceremony may provide you with a document confirming your marriage. This can be used to prove that you are married before your marriage is registered with the Vital Statistics Agency and you receive your government-issued marriage certificate.

You can find out more about getting married in the chapter Family Relationships within the section Married Spouses.

Changing your name

It is not necessary that either you or your spouse change your surnames after marriage, but it is your right to change your surname to your spouse's surname if you wish. There will be no official change of name — or an amendment to your birth certificate, for that matter — but it is perfectly legal to use your spouse's surname without an official name change.

If you want a legal change of name, you must apply to change your name through the Vital Statistics Agency under the Name Act. However, as long as you don't legally change your name, you can revert to your old surname whenever you wish.

If you have decided to have a hyphenated surname following your marriage, you must apply for a legal change of name or you will not be able to obtain ID in the new name.

You can find out more about changing your name in the chapter Other Family Law Issues within the section Naming and Changes of Name.

This information applies to British Columbia, Canada. Last reviewed for legal accuracy by JP Boyd, March 24, 2013.

JP Boyd on Family Law © John-Paul Boyd and Courthouse Libraries BC is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada Licence.

Normally referred to as the "Supreme Court of British Columbia," this court hears most of the trials in this province. The Supreme Court is a court of inherent jurisdiction and has no limits on the sorts of claims it can hear or on the sorts of orders it can make. Decisions of the Provincial Court are appealed to the Supreme Court; decisions of the Supreme Court are appealed to the Court of Appeal. See "Court of Appeal," "jurisdiction," "Provincial Court" and "Supreme Court of Canada."

A court established and staffed by the provincial government, which includes Small Claims Court, Youth Court, and Family Court. The Provincial Court is the lowest level of court in British Columbia and is restricted in the sorts of matters it can deal with. It is, however, the most accessible of the two trial courts and no fees are charged to begin or defend a family law proceeding. The Family Court of the Provincial Court cannot deal with the division of family property or any claims under the Divorce Act. See "Divorce Act," "judge" and "jurisdiction."

Under the Divorce Act, either of two people who are married to one another, whether of the same or opposite genders. Under the Family Law Act, spouse includes married spouses, unmarried parties who have lived together in a marriage-like relationship for at least two years, and, for all purposes of the act other than the division of property or debt, unmarried parties who have lived together for less than two years and have had a child together. See "marriage" and "marriage-like relationship."

A mandatory direction of the court that is binding and enforceable upon the parties to a court proceeding. An "interim order" is a temporary order made following the hearing of an interim application. A "final order" is a permanent order, made following the trial of the court proceeding or the parties' settlement, following which the only recourse open to a dissatisfied party is to appeal. Failing to abide by the terms of an order may constitute contempt of court. See "appeal," "consent order," "contempt of court," "decision" and "declaration."

The legal termination of a valid marriage by an order of a judge; the ending of a marital relationship and the conjugal obligations of each spouse to the other. See "conjugal rights," "marriage" and "marriage, validity of."

In family law, the natural or adoptive father or mother of a child; may also include stepparents, depending on the circumstances and the applicable legislation; may include the donors of eggs or sperm and surrogate mothers, depending on the circumstances and the terms of any assisted reproduction agreement. See "adoptive parent," "assisted reproduction," "natural parent" and "stepparent."

A person who is younger than the legal age of majority, 19 in British Columbia. Not to be confused with "miner," which means something else altogether. See "age of majority."

A legal relationship between two persons, whether of the same or opposite genders, that is solemnized by a marriage commissioner or licenced religious official and gives rise to certain mutual rights, benefits, and obligations. See also "conjugal rights," "consortium," and "marriage, validity of."

(1) Information which establishes or tends to establish the truth of a fact, or (2) the conclusion of a logical argument. See "evidence" and "premises."