Alberta's legal name change carries a $120 government fee, paid through a registry agent whose own service fee is extra. Adults need a certified criminal record check filed within 30 days of its date.
Applies in: Alberta
In Alberta, a legal name change is filed through a registry agent, and the government fee inside the agent's charge is $120 for every name change on one form. The Government of Alberta's legal name change page sets a seven-step route: read the Information Guide, complete the application, get a certified criminal record check if you are 18 or older, or a fingerprint document at 12 to 17, surrender your Canadian birth certificates, and take the whole package to a registry agent, who sends it on for processing.
This guide covers the process only. It does not give legal advice, and it does not decide eligibility, The provincial office applies the rules, including the list of applicants Alberta bars outright.
The applicant must be an Alberta resident and must remain a resident throughout the change of name process. A person who is in Alberta temporarily, or who maintains a regular residence outside Alberta, is not an Alberta resident for this purpose. The applicant must be at least 18 years old, with exceptions for a person who is legally married, widowed, divorced, living in an adult interdependent relationship, or a parent or guardian of a child.
An applicant may apply to change their own name, the name of a spouse or partner with that person's consent, the name of a child or ward with the consent of the child when the child is 12 to 17 years old, or the name of a represented adult when the applicant is their guardian. Acceptable identification for the applicant is required.
Alberta also lists people who cannot change their name as adults at all: anyone ever designated a dangerous offender or a long-term offender under the Criminal Code, anyone currently listed on the Alberta High Risk Offender Registry, and anyone ever convicted of an offence listed in the designated offence definition in section 490.011(1) of the Criminal Code.
Step 1: Read the Information Guide. Alberta puts the Legal Change of Name Information Guide first (there is a separate guide for represented adults). Personal names also have restrictions when choosing, altering, or correcting a name on provincial certificates, so read the restrictions before you settle on a new name.
Step 2: Complete the application. Fill in the online Legal Change of Name Application form (a separate form covers represented adults). If you do not have internet access, request a paper form from the provincial office by email at vs@gov.ab.ca.
Step 3: Adults: get a Certified Criminal Record Check. Everyone 18 or older must submit one, and a check from a third-party provider will be rejected. Get it from an RCMP detachment, an RCMP-accredited private fingerprinting company, or your local police service, and take Alberta's Letter of Instruction for RCMP and Accredited Fingerprinting Agencies with you so you receive the right document. The check must reach the registry agent within 30 days of the date in the body of the document; after that it expires and a new one must be purchased.
Step 4: Ages 12 to 17: get a fingerprint document. Only electronic fingerprints are accepted, from the same three kinds of provider. The RCMP mails a confirmation letter from Ottawa, and the letter goes in with the application. At 18 and older, fingerprints are already included in the certified criminal record check. Under 12, neither document is required.
Step 5: Find every existing birth certificate. Each person whose name is changing must surrender all of their Canadian birth certificates with the application.
Step 6: Gather the supporting documents. The package always includes acceptable identification for the applicant, a proof of name document for each person whose name is being changed, and the fingerprint document or certified criminal record check for each person, depending on age. It may also include proof of marital status for a spouse's or partner's name change, proof of relationship for a child's name change, and a guardianship order for a dependant's name change. A registry agent confirms the exact list; photocopies and faxes are not accepted for some documents.
Step 7: Submit at a registry agent. Take the completed form and all supporting documents to a registry agent. The agent reviews the documents for accuracy and sends them on for processing.
The registry agent's fee covers all the name changes included on one application form plus the $120 government fee. The agent's own service fee varies among registry agents, so there is no single Alberta total. The certified criminal record check or fingerprint report is not included in the registry agent's fee, and its cost varies by agency, contact the agency to confirm the cost and how long it takes.
Once the application is approved and processed, a Legal Change of Name Certificate is produced for each person whose name has changed, and certificates are mailed by regular mail. Surrendered Alberta birth certificates are replaced free of charge showing the new name. If you surrendered no Alberta birth certificate, you can purchase new ones from a registry agent. If you were born outside Alberta, contact the vital statistics office in the jurisdiction where you were born for new birth certificates, The Alberta office does not return certificates to any jurisdiction.
To amend an Alberta marriage record with the new legal name, contact the Alberta office for an amendment; for a marriage that took place outside Alberta, contact the office in the jurisdiction where you were married.
The Alberta page states the $120 government fee, the 30-day life of a certified criminal record check, and the free replacement of surrendered Alberta birth certificates. It does not state a processing time for a legal change of name, a fixed registry agent service fee, or a fixed criminal record check price, the agent and check fees vary, so this guide gives no processing time and no total cost. The page also does not state a publication rule for Alberta name changes, so this guide makes no publication claim.
The government fee is $120, and it covers all the name changes included on one application form. You pay through a registry agent, whose own service fee is extra and varies among agents, so the total cost to legally change a name varies. A certified criminal record check or fingerprint report costs extra again, and those fees vary by agency.
The applicant must be an Alberta resident who remains resident throughout the process, being in Alberta temporarily, or keeping a regular residence outside Alberta, does not count, and must be at least 18 years old, unless the applicant is legally married, widowed, divorced, living in an adult interdependent relationship, or a parent or guardian of a child. An applicant can change their own name, a spouse's or partner's name with consent, a child's name with the child's consent at ages 12 to 17, or a represented adult's name as guardian.
Thirty days. A certified criminal record check must be submitted to a registry agent with the application within 30 days of the date noted in the body of the check document. After 30 days it expires and a new one must be purchased. A check from a third-party provider will be rejected.
A fingerprint document. Only electronic fingerprints are accepted, taken at an RCMP detachment, an RCMP-accredited private fingerprinting company, or a local police service. The RCMP mails a confirmation letter from Ottawa, and that letter must be submitted with the application. Children younger than 12 need neither document.
You must surrender all of your Canadian birth certificates with the application. Surrendered Alberta birth certificates are replaced free of charge with new ones reflecting the new name. If you surrendered none, you can buy new Alberta birth certificates from a registry agent, and if you were born outside Alberta you contact the office where you were born for new certificates.
No. In Alberta you do not have to legally change your name after getting married; you may assume a married last name. Correcting information on an Alberta birth record is also a different route, an amendment, not a legal change of name.