How to Legally Change Your Name in Ontario
Ontario's legal name change costs $137 through ServiceOntario under the Change of Name Act. You must be 16 or older and have lived in Ontario for at least 12 months.
How to Legally Change Your Name in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia's legal name change costs $165.70 through Vital Statistics and includes one change of name certificate. Everyone 12 or older must be fingerprinted, and an application takes 2 to 3 months.
Applies in: Nova Scotia
The short answer
In Nova Scotia, a legal name change runs through Vital Statistics on the Change of Name Application Form, and the fee is $165.70, including one change of name certificate. The Government of Nova Scotia's change of name page adds the two features that shape a Nova Scotia application: everyone 12 or older must be fingerprinted, and the wait is 2 to 3 months for the certificate and any updated birth or marriage certificates.
This guide covers the process only. It does not give legal advice, and it does not decide consent disputes, where a required consent is missing, the page's answer is a court order, not a workaround.
Who can apply
You can apply for yourself, your spouse, or your child if you are 16 or older. You must also meet one of these two criteria:
- you were born in Nova Scotia, or
- you have lived in Nova Scotia for at least 3 months immediately before applying for a name change.
Note what that means: a person born in Nova Scotia who now lives elsewhere can still apply, and a person born elsewhere qualifies after 3 months of living in the province.
Consent
The consent of a spouse may be required when a married person is changing their last name. The consent of the other parent may be required when a parent is changing the name of a child under 16 years of age. If you do not have a required consent, you need to provide a court order that dispenses with, does away with, the need for it.
Where consent is required, complete the Consent for Legal Change of Name, which is part of the Change of Name Application Form. Sign the consent before a person authorized to take sworn statements: a lawyer, a justice of the peace, a notary public, or a commissioner of oaths. The witness must add their stamp or seal, and they might charge a fee for the service.
Fingerprinting
If you are 12 or older, you need to get your fingerprints taken; children 11 or younger do not. Fingerprinting matches your new name to your criminal record if you have one, and you cannot change your name if you are on the National Sex Offender Registry.
The mechanics differ by age:
- Complete the For Fingerprinting Agency chart on page 5 of the application form.
- Take the completed form to an approved agency, the RCMP, Commissionaires Nova Scotia, or a municipal police department, or another police department providing policing services in the province, and have your fingerprints taken.
- The agency submits the fingerprints to the RCMP's Canadian Criminal Real Time Information System.
- If you are 18 or older, the system notifies the office that it received the fingerprints. If you are 12 to 17, the notification is mailed to you, and you must send it on to the office by mail or visit in person with it.
Fingerprinting fees are paid to the agency and are not part of the $165.70.
How to apply
- Complete the Change of Name Application Form.
- Check the application for details on all required supporting documents.
- Include payment with your application.
- Send the completed application, supporting documents, and payment by mail, or book an appointment at Access Nova Scotia.
- Complete the fingerprinting step above if you are 12 or older.
Before you start, assemble the supporting documents the page lists: birth certificates for anyone on the application who was born outside Nova Scotia (for children under 16 born outside Nova Scotia, the birth certificate needs to include the parents' names); proof of residence, such as a driver's licence or health card, if you were born outside Nova Scotia; any marriage certificates if married outside Nova Scotia; immigration documents for anyone on the application who was born outside Canada; any necessary consents or a court order; and a witness available to sign documents if required.
Payment options are Visa, MasterCard, American Express, debit card, cheque, money order, and cash, although the options may vary with how you apply. A cheque or money order is made payable to the Minister of Finance.
If you are changing your sex indicator at the same time as your name, do not file two forms: use the combined Change of Name and Change of Sex Indicator Application, 16 Years of Age or Older Form, and meet the requirements for changing a sex indicator as well.
Cost
- Application, including one change of name certificate: $165.70
- Each additional person included on the application form: $24.95
- Amendments to records with the change of name, such as a marriage certificate: $24.95 for each record
Residential school survivors pay no cost for the application, and survivors and their families pay no cost for additional people on the form or for record amendments, when the change reclaims a name that was changed by the residential school system. Contact the office about the waiver.
On top of the application fee, budget for fingerprinting services, the witness fee for a sworn signature, new certificates, and certificates required for births and marriages that took place outside Nova Scotia.
After the change
The change of name certificate is the proof document for updating your other records. Use it for your Nova Scotia driver's licence or identification card, your MSI health card, your passport, your Social Insurance Number record, and your bank, employer, and school records. The certificate and updated certificates should arrive within the 2-to-3-month window; a file that needs more information, or a form filled in incorrectly, takes longer.
What the opened pages do not state
The Nova Scotia page states the $165.70 application fee, the $24.95 add-on and amendment fees, the fingerprint rule at age 12, and the 2-to-3-month timeline. It does not state a fixed fingerprinting fee, that is paid to the agency that takes them, and it does not state a publication requirement for Nova Scotia name changes, so this guide gives no fingerprint price and makes no publication claim.
Related guides:
- How to Start Changing Your Legal Name in Canada — the national overview of provincial vital statistics processes, publication, and record checks.
- How to Get an MSI Health Card in Nova Scotia — the Nova Scotia health card that can serve as residence proof and needs updating afterwards.
- How to Start Getting a Birth Certificate in Canada — ordering updated birth certificates after the change.
- How to Start Applying for a Canadian Passport in Canada — updating your passport once your provincial documents carry the new name.
- How to Change Your Address in Canada — the address updates that usually travel with a name change.
- Getting Married in Canada Checklist — the marriage steps behind a spouse's surname you may use without this process.
Changing your legal name in Nova Scotia, in five steps
- Confirm you can applyYou must be 16 or older, and either born in Nova Scotia or have lived in Nova Scotia for at least 3 months immediately before applying.
- Complete the Change of Name Application Form with the required consentsA spouse's consent may be required for a married person's last name change, and the other parent's consent for a child under 16, or a court order dispensing with consent.
- Get fingerprinted if you are 12 or olderUse the For Fingerprinting Agency chart on page 5 of the application at the RCMP, Commissionaires Nova Scotia, or a municipal police department.
- Pay $165.70 and send the application by mail, or book an Access Nova Scotia appointmentEach additional person on the form costs $24.95, and each record amendment costs $24.95.
- Wait 2 to 3 months for the certificateThe change of name certificate and any updated birth or marriage certificates arrive in that window if nothing more is needed.
Questions people ask
How much does a legal name change cost in Nova Scotia?
The application costs $165.70 and includes one change of name certificate. Each additional person included on the Change of Name Application Form costs $24.95, and amendments to records with the change of name, such as a marriage certificate, cost $24.95 for each record. You also pay separately for fingerprinting and for any new certificates.
Who can apply for a name change in Nova Scotia?
You can apply for yourself, your spouse, or your child if you are 16 or older, and you meet one of two criteria: you were born in Nova Scotia, or you have lived in Nova Scotia for at least 3 months immediately before applying for a name change.
Who needs fingerprints for a Nova Scotia name change?
Everyone 12 or older. Children 11 or younger do not need to have their fingerprints taken. Fingerprinting matches your new name to your criminal record if you have one, and you cannot change your name if you are on the National Sex Offender Registry.
Where do the fingerprints go after they are taken?
The agency submits them to the RCMP's Canadian Criminal Real Time Information System. If you are 18 or older, that system notifies the office directly that it received the fingerprints. If you are 12 to 17, the notification comes to you by mail and you must send it to the office yourself, by mail or in person.
How long does a Nova Scotia name change take?
It should take 2 to 3 months to get the change of name certificate and any updated birth certificates or marriage certificates. It can take longer if more information is needed or if the form has not been filled in correctly.
Do I need this process to take my spouse's last name in Nova Scotia?
No. You do not need to complete the legal change of name process to change your last name to your spouse's last name. The application is for changing your registered name, your own, your spouse's with the required consent, or your child's.
Sources
- Government of Nova Scotia, Change your name or the name of your spouse or child — the eligibility rules (16 or older, born in Nova Scotia or 3 months resident), the spouse and other-parent consent rules and the court order that replaces consent, the fingerprint requirement at age 12 with the approved agencies and the different notification paths at 18-plus and 12-to-17, the application and Access Nova Scotia routes, the $165.70 fee with $24.95 add-ons and amendments, the residential school survivor fee waiver, the 2-to-3-month timeline, and the supporting document list.