Marriages

 What you need to complete your marriage licence

• Finalize the proposed date of your marriage, which must be within 3 months (90 days) of the date of issue. 
• Finalize the municipality where you want to go to obtain your licence.
• Determine the proposed place of marriage (city/town/reserve). 
• Make an appointment with the Clerk’s office to pick up your licence.
• The names, dates of birth, provinces/territories of birth, countries of birth (as it was known at the time of your births, even if it is no longer used), addresses and contact information for both applicants.
• The marital status of each applicant.
  • NOTE: Divorce certificates are required for those who have been previously married. If these certificates are in a language other than English, than a translated copy will be required. See the “divorce and annulment requirements section for more information”.
• The names and countries of birth (country name as it was known when the parent was born) for each applicant’s parent(s). 
• Two pieces of government-issued identification with at least one being photo identification (ID), for each application. More information about acceptable forms of identification are listed on this page.

Identification requirements

You and your partner (or Applicant and Joint Applicant) must submit two pieces of government issued identification (four in total). One piece of identification must include a photo.

For acceptable forms of identification, please refer to the following list:

• Birth Certificate (Canadian or foreign)
• Passport (Canadian or foreign)
• Driver’s Licence (Canadian or foreign)
• Ontario Photo Card
• Photo Identity Card (other Canadian provinces/territories or foreign)
• Canadian Citizenship Card
• Canadian Permanent Resident Card
• Canadian Record of Landing
• Canadian Government Refugee Travel Document
• Canadian Department of National Defence driver’s licence (Form DND 404)
• Canadian Possession and Acquisition Licence
• Canadian Status Card
• Canadian Conditional Release Identification Card
• Nexus card
• United States Green Card
• Report Pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (Form IMM 1442)
• Student Authorization/Study Permit (Form IMM 1442)
• Employment Authorization/Work Permit (Form IMM 1442)
• Visitor Record (Form IMM 1442)
• Temporary Resident’s Permit (Form IMM 1442)–Minister’s Permit/Extension of Minister’s Permit

Social Insurance Number (SIN) Card and Health Cards are not considered an acceptable form of identification.

Fees

The cost of obtaining a marriage licence in the Municipality of Port Hope is $125.00 (HST does not apply).

Acceptable forms of payment include cash, debit, or cheque payable to the Municipality of Port Hope.

Divorce or annulment documentation requirements

If divorced, you must provide one document providing proof of divorce in Canada (original only) such as:

• Final decree or judgement dissolving or annulling the previous marriage;
• Certified copy of the final decree, judgement or Act dissolving or annulling the previous marriage; or
• Certificate of divorce.

Please Note: 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. For more information about the required documentation, please refer to the Service Ontario Getting Married webpage.

Minimum age requirements

You and your partner must be at least 16 years of age to get married in Ontario. If you are under the age of 18, you will need to get written consent from all parents or legal guardians who have decision-making responsibility (also known as legal custody).

While applicants can submit their marriage licence application online, the applicant(s) who are 16 or 17 years old must have their parents or legal guardians come with them in-person to pick up their marriage licence.

During the in-person visit, the parents or legal guardians must complete/sign the Consent of Parents or Guardians to Marriage (Form 6) and have the document commissioned on site by municipal staff.

This step is required even if the consent form has already been uploaded online as part of the application.

Changing your last name

For inquiries about changing your last name on Government issued ID, please visit the Service Ontario website.

Marriage Ceremonies

Applying for your marriage certificate / Replacement of a lost, stolen, or damaged certificate

To obtain your official marriage certificate or replace a lost, stolen or damaged certificate, please refer to the to the Service Ontario website.