Ontario Marriage Legalities

You must be married by an officiant who is licensed in your province. To verify, click here:

https://www.ontario.ca/data/registered-religious-officials

Use the “CSV” link for an alphabetic list, by location. For example, we’re in Ajax, so that’s where we appear on the list. You can also do a search for our last name (Grenier.)

Getting a Marriage License

You must have a marriage license. To get a marriage license, you will need 2 pieces of government-issued identification for each person getting married. One piece of identification must include your photo. Examples of government-issued identification include:

government-issued birth certificate, including any change of name certificates
valid passport
record of immigrant landing
Canadian Citizenship Card
valid driver’s license
valid Ontario Photo Card

Fees vary and depend on the municipality. Please check your municipality’s website to ensure you have all of the information required to purchase a marriage license.

For more information, or to download a Marriage License Application Form: https://www.ontario.ca/page/getting-married#section-3

If you were divorced in Canada you will need to bring official proof of the divorce with you when you apply for a marriage licence. This can be the original or a court-certified copy of one of three documents:

the final decree
the final judgment
a certificate of divorce

If you were divorced outside of Canada, you will need to provide certain documents to prove that you are no longer married. The government needs to validate these documents. This process can take up to 4 weeks. You will need to send the following documents to ServiceOntario:

marriage licence application form: completed and signed
statement of sole responsibility: for each divorce (signed by both people who are planning to get married and a witness)
legal opinion letter: from an Ontario lawyer, addressed to both people who plan to get married, giving reasons why the divorce or annulment should be recognized in Ontario
divorce decree or annulment: an original or court-certified copy in English or French. If the decree is in another language, you will need to include a translated copy and an affidavit sworn by a certified translator

The Marriage Certificate

The marriage certificate is the legal record of a marriage. Please note that the Record of Solemnization of Marriage we give you after the ceremony is not the same thing as a marriage certificate. Before you can get a marriage certificate, the marriage needs to be registered, which we will do by sending a complete and signed marriage license to ServiceOntario. Depending on the time of year, it could take up to 3 months for the government official to register your marriage, after which you can order the marriage certificate online. You need this document to:

show legal proof you are married
apply for certain social benefits
settle an estate
change a last name

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE SIMPLY REGISTER YOUR MARRIAGE WITH THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO. APPLYING FOR THE MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.