Changing your last name after marriage in Ontario

Do you have to change your name?

No. Marriage doesn't change anyone's name in Ontario. You can keep your own name, and there is nothing to do. Taking your spouse's last name is a choice, open to either of you.

If you do take it, it is free on your Ontario cards and it isn't a legal name change: it doesn't change the name on your Ontario birth registration, so your birth certificate stays as it is.

Step 1: order your marriage certificate

Everything starts with the marriage certificate. It is not the Record of Solemnization of Marriage that your officiant may give you after the ceremony: that one is a souvenir.

Your officiant sends the signed licence for registration within 2 days of the wedding. Once the marriage is registered, you can order the certificate through ServiceOntario, about 10 to 12 weeks after the wedding. It isn't sent to you automatically: you have to apply for it (see your Ontario marriage certificate). Our licence planner shows the dates for your wedding, and what comes after the certificate.

Step 2: your Ontario cards

Go to a ServiceOntario centre with:

• your marriage certificate;
• your current photo health card;
• your driver's licence or Ontario Photo Card.

It costs nothing, and your updated cards come by mail in 6 to 8 weeks.

Write the full last name exactly as it appears on the marriage certificate, hyphen included. Keeping only part of a hyphenated name is not covered: that needs a legal change of name (see below).

Step 3: your federal records

• Social Insurance Number. Update your SIN record with Service Canada. It's free; online, it takes about 5 business days, and by mail about 20.
• Passport. If you change your last name because of your marriage, you need a new passport. Apply with your marriage certificate (an original or a copy, in English or French). Until it arrives, book your tickets and hotels in the name on your current passport, or you could be delayed or refused boarding.
• Canada Revenue Agency. Whether or not you change your name, tell the CRA you are married by the end of the month after your wedding. It can change your benefit and credit payments. You can do it in My Account, by phone or with form RC65.

Step 4: everything else

Then update the places that know you by name: your employer, your bank and credit cards, your insurance, your utilities and phone, your professional associations, your loyalty programs. Starting with your government ID makes the rest easier, since many will ask to see it.

When do you need a legal change of name?

Taking your spouse's name only covers their full last name as it appears on the marriage certificate. For any other last name, such as only part of a hyphenated name, Ontario requires a legal change of name:

• you must be 16 or older and have lived in Ontario for at least 12 months;
• it costs $137;
• if you were born in Ontario, you automatically get a new birth certificate in the new name;
• name changes are published in The Ontario Gazette, with a few exceptions;
• applications are currently taking up to 24 weeks.

If you are thinking of a new combined name, ask ServiceOntario which route applies before you apply.

A simple order to follow

1. Order your marriage certificate once the marriage is registered.
2. Update your health card and your driver's licence or Ontario Photo Card at ServiceOntario.
3. Update your SIN record, then apply for a new passport.
4. Tell the CRA you're married, by the end of the following month.
5. Update your employer, your bank and your other accounts.

Still planning? See how to get married in Ontario, or find wedding officiants in Ontario at an all-in price you see before you book.

Sources: ontario.ca: change your last name · ontario.ca: change name · ontario.ca: getting married · canada.ca: update · canada.ca: change name · canada.ca: update your marital status canada revenue agency