How to Get a Marriage Licence in British Columbia

Written November 13, 2026

The short answer

Buy the licence in person from a marriage licence issuer, within 3 months before the wedding, for $100. The Province of British Columbia defines the licence in one line: a legal document that authorizes a couple to legally marry in B.C. Only one of you needs to attend, with primary identification for both of you. The issuer prints the licence on the spot, there is no waiting period, and the $100 fee includes your first marriage certificate after registration. This guide covers the licence only, on the rules the provincial page states.

British Columbia runs this as a single provincial system. There is no municipal fee table to work through, as there is in Ontario. The price is the provincial price, the issuer is a provincially appointed issuer, and the contact behind the system is the Vital Statistics Agency.

Step 1: Time the purchase inside the 3-month window

You must buy a marriage licence within 3 months before your wedding date. Buy it too early and the window closes before the ceremony. Buy it in the window and the timing is simple from there: the issuer prints the licence when you buy it, you do not need to wait for it to arrive by mail, and you can get married as soon as you have your licence because there is no waiting period.

That no-waiting-period rule cuts both ways. A licence bought the week of the wedding is usable at once. A licence bought four months out is bought too soon, however ready the rest of the wedding is. Set the purchase date by counting back from the ceremony, not by counting forward from the engagement.

One divorce timing rule sits in this step as well. If you were recently divorced, you must wait until the divorce order takes effect before buying a marriage licence. An order applied for, or an order made but not yet in effect, does not clear the way. Wait for effect, then buy inside the window.

Step 2: Check the age rule before you attend

In British Columbia, you must be at least 19 years old to get married without parental consent. People aged 16 to 18 can marry with written consent from their parents or guardians.

Read that against the other provinces in this batch before you assume it travels. The age of majority, and with it the no-consent age on this page, is 19 in British Columbia. Bring the written consent with you if either of you is 16, 17, or 18. The page states the consent must be written. A verbal assurance at the counter is not what it describes.

The provincial page opened for this guide does not state a rule for applicants under 16, a residency rule, or a rule for a prior marriage ended by death. This guide states none of those. If any of them is your case, ask Vital Statistics or the issuer before you attend, using the contacts in Step 4.

Step 3: Send one applicant, with primary identification for both

Only one person in the couple needs to apply for the marriage licence. That person must apply in person and show primary identification for both people getting married. The absent partner does not need to attend, but that partner's primary identification does.

Bring primary identification for both of you. The provincial page lists these examples:

• birth certificate
• IMM or immigration form
• permanent resident card
• citizenship card

The page adds one flexibility, and states its limit in the same sentence: the marriage licence issuer may accept a passport or driver's licence in some circumstances. Treat a passport or driver's licence as a question to settle with your issuer before you go, not as a guarantee at the counter. The documents the page lists without qualification are the four above.

Check the names on the identification before you travel. The licence is a legal document printed at the appointment. An identification set that does not clearly establish both identities is the kind of problem that ends an in-person visit with no licence in hand.

Step 4: Find an issuer, and use Vital Statistics as the backstop

To apply, contact a marriage licence issuer in your area. The provincial page links a search for a marriage licence issuer for that purpose. In-person transactions can also be done at a Service BC location, and the page links a Service BC finder beside that note.

The Vital Statistics Agency stands behind the issuers, and the page gives its contacts in full:

• Victoria phone: 250-952-2681
• Toll-free within B.C.: 1-888-876-1633
• Mailing address: Vital Statistics Agency, PO Box 9657 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, B.C. V8W 9P3

Use those contacts for a lost-licence question beyond the issuer, an identification question the issuer cannot settle, or any case the page does not cover. The page was last updated on May 7, 2026. If your wedding is well after that date, confirm the $100 fee and the identification examples on the live page before you attend.

Step 5: Pay $100, and know what it already covers

A marriage licence costs $100 and is non-refundable. Pay it when you buy the licence. Non-refundable means a postponed wedding does not refund the fee, and a licence that ages out of its 3-month window is replaced by a new purchase, not an extension. The page states no extension.

The cost also includes your first marriage certificate. The certificate will be mailed to you after the marriage is registered. That inclusion is worth noticing before you budget for documents after the wedding: the first certificate is already paid for inside the licence fee, and it arrives by mail once registration is complete. You do not order that first copy as a separate step.

If you lose your marriage licence, return to the place where you bought it and ask for a replacement. The page states that route and no replacement fee, so this guide states none. Go back to the same issuer rather than starting again at a new one.

What the opened pages do not state

The provincial page states the $100 fee, the 3-month purchase window, the one-applicant rule, the identification examples, the age and consent rule, and the divorce timing rule, but it does not state a fee for a replacement licence, a residency requirement, a blood test rule, a witness rule for the ceremony, a rule for applicants under 16, or what to bring after the death of a spouse, so this guide gives none of those. It also does not state how long registration and mailing of the first certificate take after the ceremony. Ask the issuer or Vital Statistics for any of those points in your case.

Related guides:

• How to Start Getting a Marriage Licence in Canada — the national starting point, and why each province issues its own licence.
• How to Legally Change Your Name in British Columbia — British Columbia's formal name-change route, separate from any surname change on marriage.
• How to Write a Will in British Columbia — another British Columbia life-admin document made under provincial rules.

Sources

• Province of British Columbia, Marriage licences — the licence as a legal document authorizing a marriage in B.C., the buy-within-3-months rule, printing at purchase with no mail wait and no waiting period, the wait until a divorce order takes effect, the one-applicant in-person rule with primary identification for both, the age 19 without consent and 16 to 18 with written parental or guardian consent rule, the identification examples and the passport or driver's licence discretion, the $100 non-refundable cost including the first marriage certificate, the lost-licence replacement route, the issuer search, and the Vital Statistics Agency phone and mailing contacts. Page last updated May 7, 2026.