Marriage related name change

Learn how to change your last name after marriage, divorce, separation or the death of a spouse

Adult name change

Apply to change your name as an adult. Before applying, make sure you are eligible.

Eligibility

You qualify to change your own name if you:

  • are 16 years of age or older
  • have lived in Ontario for at least 12 months before applying

Additional requirements

  • If you are 16 or 17 years old, you must get consent from everyone who has legal custody or decision-making responsibility of you. The application includes a section with information and forms for obtaining consent.
  • If you are married or have a signed Joint Declaration of Conjugal Relationship, you must notify your spouse or partner about the name change by providing a notice form to your spouse or a person you signed a joint declaration with.
  • Police record check. You may be required to include a police record check with your application if you have certain criminal offences. The application explains which offences require a police record check and outlines the requirements for obtaining one. You can download the Requirements for a Police Record Check for a Change of Name to ensure that the police force conducting the check meets all necessary requirements.

How to apply

You can start an application online or using a paper form. Both processes require you to print your application and mail it along with all completed forms and documents.

Online form (print and mail)

  1. Complete the online application.
    • Answer the questions and receive pre-filled forms to print, along with a personalized checklist.
  2. Complete additional requirements:
    1. Gather signatures, identity documents, supporting documents and any required consents, notices or police checks.
    2. Sign the Statutory Declaration form in the presence of a commissioner of oaths:
      • A Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP)
      • A municipal clerk, deputy clerk, or treasurer
      • A lawyer or a paralegal licensed to practice in Ontario
      • A provincial judge or justice of the peace
      • A Notary Public
    3. Complete the payment form to authorize your payment.
  3. Submit all completed forms and documents by mail or in person.

Manage your change of name application with an account

Create an account with ServiceOntario that allows you to:

  • save and resume your application
  • manage your Ontario products and services
  • view a history of your orders
  • receive notifications and alerts

Create or log in to an account

Paper application

  1. Download and follow the instructions to complete the Application to Change an Adult’s Name and the Requirements for a Police Record Check for a Change of Name. Alternatively, you can call ServiceOntario to get forms delivered to your address:
  2. Submit the completed form, payment and required documents to ServiceOntario:

Cost

$137

Child name change

Only parents or persons with lawful custody or decision-making responsibility can apply to change a child’s name.

Eligibility

To change a child’s name, the following requirements must be met:

  • the child is 17 years of age and under
  • the child is not married
  • the child has lived in Ontario for at least 12 months or since birth if under 1 year old
  • you are the child’s parent or person with lawful custody who has decision-making responsibility
  • all parents listed on the child’s birth registration or persons with lawful custody or decision-making must give consent (unless a court order or a separation agreement says otherwise)
  • if the child is 12 years of age or older they must complete a consent to the name change

There must not be any court orders or separation agreements that prohibit the change of name.

Each adult who has legal custody of the child must consent to change the child’s name and every person lawfully entitled to access to the child must be given written notice of the name change. If you have any court orders or written legal agreements (for example, a separation agreement) that show details of custody and/or access to the child or address the naming of the child, you must send photocopies of all court orders or agreements.

How to apply

  1. Print and follow the instructions to complete the Application to Change a Child’s Name and the Requirements for a Police Record Check for a Change of Name. Alternatively, you can call ServiceOntario to get forms delivered to your address:
  2. Submit the completed form, payment and required documents to ServiceOntario:

Cost

  • $137 for a name change application
  • $22 when submitted with a parent’s name change application

Change a name to a single name

A single name means you have only one name without a separate given name or last name.

You may be eligible to have ServiceOntario fees waived if you are an Indigenous person applying to change your name to a single name. Find out more information about reclaiming a traditional Indigenous name.

Eligibility

You can change a name to a single name if you or your child’s culture has a tradition of single names. Find out more information about reclaiming a traditional Indigenous name

How to apply

  1. Print and fill out the Request for a Name Change with a Single Name Form.
  2. You must also complete the following for either:

 Adult single name change:

Note: If you choose to complete the application online, a pre-filled Single Name Form will be provided at the end of the Adult Change of Name application.

Child single name change:

  1. Submit your application forms along with payment and required documents to ServiceOntario:

Cost

  • $137 for a standard name change application
  • $22 when submitted with a parent’s name change application

Reclaim a traditional Indigenous name

If you are a Survivor of a residential school, you and your family can reclaim your Indigenous name.

You can also change to a single name, if it is part of your traditional culture or your child’s traditional culture.

You will not be charged a fee for a name change.

If you or your child are First Nations, Inuit or Métis individual, you can ask for your name change not to be published in The Ontario Gazette. Find out more information about the publication of name change.

How to apply

To reclaim an Indigenous name, including a single name, for no charge, you must:

  1. Print and fill out Application to Waive ServiceOntario Fees for a Name Change and Related Certificates.
  2. Complete the following for either:

Adult name change:

Child single name change:

  1. Request for a Name Change to a Single Name Form (if you are reclaiming a single name).
  2. Submit the completed forms and required documents by mail.

Cost

$0
If you’re eligible, fees will be waived

How to submit a name change

By mail

Mail your completed forms, payment and required documents to:

ServiceOntario

Office of the Registrar General
P.O. Box 3000                                                          
189 Red River Road
Thunder Bay, ON                                                          
P7B 5W0

In person

Bring your completed forms, payment (cheque, money order or credit card) and required documents to:

ServiceOntario
47 Sheppard Avenue East, Unit 417, 4th Floor                                                          
Toronto, ON                                                          
M2N 5N1

Documents you will receive

You will get certain documents after your name change is approved. What you receive depends on where you or your child were born.

Change of name certificate

  • The certificate shows the previous and new name.
  • You can use the certificate to update personal documents, such as a health card, driver’s licence or Ontario Photo Card.

New birth certificate (if born in Ontario)

  • You will automatically get a new birth certificate with the new name.
  • The birth certificate does not show any parental information.
  • If you need a birth certificate with parental information or a certified copy of the birth registration, you must apply separately by submitting a Request for Birth Certificate application with payment.

If you or your child were born outside Ontario

  • Another province or territory in Canada (except Quebec): A notice of the name change will be sent to the vital statistics office in the province or territory where the birth was registered. You may contact that vital statistics office about information on how to obtain a new birth certificate.

Urgent requests

People who need their change of name or other information documents right away may be eligible for alternative service options. 
These circumstances include:

  • pending adoption
  • postsecondary graduation
  • correcting the sex indicated on the birth certificate
  • an immigration matter

For more information, contact ServiceOntario at:

Cancelling a name change or amendment application

If you were born in Ontario and have already submitted a change of name or amendment application with all previously issued birth certificates and need your birth certificate to access services (for example, a passport), you may choose to cancel your application and have your birth certificate(s) re-issued.

To cancel a change of name or amendment application:

  1. Complete a request to update a name change or amendment application (Download as PDF).
  2. Address your request to Manager, Speciality Services.
  3. Submit your completed request.

For more information, contact ServiceOntario:

Update a birth or marriage registration after a legal name change

You can apply to have your new legal name on your Ontario marriage registration and this will be reflected on any marriage certificate you apply for in the future.

A child’s birth registration can also be amended to reflect the new name of a parent, if a parent listed on the birth registration has legally changed their name.

How to apply

Contact the Office of the Registrar General for more information. You can request the forms by:

Mail

ServiceOntario

Office of the Registrar General
P.O. Box 3000           
189 Red River Road
Thunder Bay, ON          
P7B 5W0

Telephone

Cost

$0

If you are eligible, there is no cost to have a legal name updated with ServiceOntario. If you want an updated certificate or certified copy, you will have to pay the required fee.


Note: You may be eligible to have fees waived for birth or marriage certificates issued after amending a birth or marriage registration following a legal name change. If you are a Survivor of a residential school or a family member of a residential school Survivor and have reclaimed a name through the legal name change process and wish to also amend a marriage registration or are a parent amending their child’s birth registration with their new name, complete and submit an Application to Waive ServiceOntario Fees for a Name Change and Related Certificates.

Sex designation on an Ontario birth registration


Learn more about how to change your sex designation.

Publication of name change

All name changes registered under Ontario’s Change of Name Act must be published in The Ontario Gazette with the following exceptions:

  • The person whose name is being changed is a transgender, First Nations, Inuit or Métis individual and a request for non-publication is made.

To request a non-publication:

Note: The Ontario Gazette is now only published online.

Translated documents

If you submit a document in another language in support of your application, you must send us an English or French translation. If a translation is required, your application must include:

  • a complete photocopy of the document requiring translation
  • a complete photocopy of the translation of the original document
  • an original written declaration from one of the following:
    • a professional translator, who indicates their professional status as a translator (this declaration is not required to be sworn)
    • a person who is not a professional translator (this declaration must be sworn in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits)

The translator’s original written declaration must state:

  • the translator understands English or French and the language of the original document, and
  • the translator is of the opinion that the translation is complete and correct

If the translator’s original written declaration appears on the translation of the original document, the translation must be submitted in its original form. A photocopy will not be accepted.

If you need a translator, you can search for one in the Association of Translators and Interpreters of Ontario’s directory.

Delivery time

If you were born in Ontario and your application is complete and accurate, you will get the following in 6 to 8 weeks:

  • a certificate of name change
  • your new birth certificate

Once you get your certificate of name change, you can update your other government-issued identification, such as your driver’s licence, health card or Ontario Photo Card.

Note: Change of name applications are currently taking up to 24 weeks to process.