Wedding Blog

Picture courtesy of www.nationalgeographic.com

Mr. Hummingbird and I went to City Hall on Friday and with the help of friendly City Hall Employee, Catherine, we finally got our marriage license! So, to help out some of our Toronto readers, or perhaps some out of town readers looking to get married in Toronto, here is a bit of a crash course on what you need to get your license.

The Basics:

Toronto City Hall and various other City Centres in the GTA are open to issue licenses every weekday from 8:30am - 4:15pm.

To be issued a license, you need to be over 18, have the proper ID* and be able to pay the issuing fee**.

Required Information:

You and your spouse will also need to fill out a form of personal information that you can get online or from the Registry Services Office. The required information includes:

a. Your names.
b. Your current marital status (including divorce information if that is pertinent.)
c. Your religion.
d. Your age and birth date.
e. Your place of birth.
f. Your father’s name.
g. Your mother’s maiden name.
h. Both your parents’ place of birth.
i. Your present address and telephone number.
j. The place you intend to get married.
k. The date you intend to get married.

What Getting Your License Means:

Once the license is issued, you are not married, but it gives you the ability to get legally married within 90 days of its issue by a certified representative of the Province of Ontario (sorry, no internet officiants here!)

Cool Things About Getting Married In Toronto:

- You do not need to take a blood test.

- You do not need to be a resident.

- We have a large gay community and are in one of the five countries in the world that allow gay marriage. (Go Canada!)

Additional Information:

- For information about registry services across Canada, a list, province by province, can be found here.
- For the form you need to apply for your marriage license in Ontario, check here.
- If you’re coming to Ontario to get married, but don’t have someone to conduct the ceremony, a number of certified officiants can be found listed on this index here or through an agency like All Seasons here.
- If you’re part of a gay couple from the United States that would like to get married in Canada, some good information can be found here.

For any information that hasn’t been covered in this post, call the Toronto Registry Services office at 416-392-7036 or e-mail them at registryservices@toronto.ca.

Hope that helps!

* Acceptable forms of identification include a birth certificate, a passport, a driver’s license, a Canadian Citizenship Card, a Canadian Government Refugee Travel Document, a Conditional Release Identification Card, a United States Green Card, a Native Status Card, a Record of Immigration Landing or Any Country Citizenship Card.
**The fee varies from place to place but in Toronto they currently charge $130.