Getting married in Canada: the licence, the certificate, and the paperwork that follows — will, name, power of attorney, and address — each with its live guide.
Applies in: across Canada
Getting married in Canada is a short list with a long tail: the licence and the ceremony are the visible part, and the paperwork after — the certificate, the will, the name, the power of attorney, and the address — is what most couples leave half done. This checklist works the list in order. Each item links to the live guide that walks it in full, so this page stays a checklist and never becomes a second copy of any guide.
Two items in this list are conditional, and they say so on the item itself. The marriage certificate item is Ontario-only. The sponsorship item applies only where a spouse is being sponsored to come to Canada. Everything else on the list applies to a couple marrying in Canada.
Get the licence in your province, marry, order the certificate once the marriage is registered, then update the will, the name if you want a legal change, the power of attorney, and the address — and tell the CRA your marital status changed. Quebec has no marriage licence — it uses a published notice instead — and the certificate item below covers Ontario only.
Work down this list and check each item off only when it is done.
This checklist states no fee figure for any item, because fees sit on the official pages the linked guides cite and change by issuer — check the fee on the page you apply through. It states no processing-time figure for the certificate, the name change, or the sponsorship, because those times are estimates on the official pages, not fixed numbers. It does not cover a marriage outside Canada, a divorce, or a separation — those are separate processes with their own guides.
Every province except Quebec issues a marriage licence before the ceremony; Quebec has no licence and instead requires a published notice of marriage. The [marriage licence guide](/guides/how-to-start-getting-a-marriage-licence-in-canada/) walks each province's route, including where to buy the licence and how long it stays valid.
Yes. The certificate item in this checklist covers Ontario only, through the [Ontario marriage certificate guide](/guides/how-to-order-a-marriage-certificate-in-ontario/), which orders through ServiceOntario once the marriage is registered. Other provinces issue certificates through their own provincial offices; this checklist does not walk those routes.
Only where a spouse is being sponsored to come to Canada. If both of you already live in Canada with status, skip that item entirely. Where it applies, the [spouse sponsorship guide](/guides/how-to-sponsor-your-spouse-to-come-to-canada/) walks the inland and outland streams and the document list.
Work through the [will guide](/guides/how-to-make-a-will-in-canada/) for your province. It covers what a marriage changes about an existing will, province by province, so check your province's section before assuming the old will still does what you want.
No. A legal name change is a separate step from marrying, and this item applies only if you want one. The [legal-name guide](/guides/how-to-start-changing-your-legal-name-in-canada/) walks the legal route province by province, including the spouse-surname election. If you do not want a legal name change, leave this item out.
Licence first, before the ceremony; the certificate after the marriage is registered; then the will, name, and power-of-attorney paperwork; and the address changes last, once the new address is certain. The checklist below follows that order.
Yes. You must tell the CRA your marital status changed by the end of the month after the month you married — if you marry in March, tell the CRA by the end of April. Use the Change my marital status service in My Account, send Form RC65, Marital Status Change, or call 1-800-387-1193 if you receive benefits. Your benefit and credit amounts, such as the GST/HST credit and the Canada Child Benefit, are recalculated from your new marital status and family income.