In Nunavut you change your name by applying to the Nunavut Court of Justice under the Change of Name Act. You need one year of residence, age 19, a $10 filing fee, an affidavit, and a Sheriff's certificate.
Applies in: Nunavut
Written November 13, 2026
In Nunavut, a legal name change is a court application, not a vital statistics form. The Change of Name Act says no person shall change their name except under the Act, and it defines an application as one made to the Court — the Nunavut Court of Justice. You file with the Clerk of the Court, with an affidavit, a Sheriff's certificate, any consents the Act requires, and a $10 application fee. The Court then grants an order, grants it without a hearing, or refuses it on the grounds the Act lists. This guide covers that process only.
That court route is what sets Nunavut apart. Do not carry over steps from a province where a registrar approves the change on a paper form. In Nunavut the judge, not a registry counter, makes the order.
Section 5(1) sets both gates. You must have resided in Nunavut for at least one year before the date of the application. You must also have attained the age of 19 years, or be under 19 and married.
If you fall short on residence alone, the Act gives one narrow way through. Under section 5(2), a person who has not resided in Nunavut for at least one year may apply to the Court for an order allowing that person to make an application. Under section 5(3), the Court may make that order if it is satisfied that, without the order, hardship would be caused. That is a separate ask to the Court first. It is not a waiver you grant yourself.
Section 2 adds the boundary around the whole Act. The Act does not apply to a change of name made under the Adoption Act, and it does not affect a change of name lawfully made before April 1, 1955.
Not every surname change in Nunavut goes to court. Section 3 lets a person change a surname without making an application in two cases:
If your change fits one of those two cases, the Act does not require the court application this guide walks through. Any other change — a new given name, a new surname for another reason, a child's name outside those cases — goes through the Court.
If you are married and changing your surname. Section 6(1) says a married person who applies for a change of surname must, unless the spouses have been living separate and apart for more than one year before the date of the application, either obtain the consent of the other spouse or give notice of the application to the other spouse. Under section 6(2), the Court may dispense with that notice where the person who should receive it cannot be found, or for any other reason the Court is satisfied notice may be dispensed with.
If the application is for a child. Section 7(1) allows a person to apply for a change of name for their child in their lawful custody. Section 7(2) then requires the consent of the child, the other parent of the child, and, in one case, a spouse. The other parent's consent is not required where that parent does not have or share lawful custody of the child and either is not contributing to the support of the child or has severed their relationship with the child. A spouse's consent is required where the spouse is not a parent of the child and the change is an assumption of that spouse's surname, or a hyphenation or combination of the spouses' surnames.
Section 8 trims those consent rules in two ways. The consent rules in section 6(1)(a) and section 7(2) do not apply to a person who is under the age of 12 years, or who, by reason of mental or physical disability, is unable to give consent. And the Court may dispense with a required consent where the person whose consent is required cannot be found, or where the Court is satisfied for any other reason that a consent may be dispensed with.
The Act also deals with older children who cannot apply for themselves. Under section 4, where a change affecting unmarried children under 19 may be obtained, the Court may direct that the application and the order extend to unmarried children who have attained 19 and, by reason of mental incapacity, are unable to apply for a change of name.
Section 9(1) says an application shall be filed with the Clerk together with any other documents required under the Act and an application fee of $10.
Section 9(2) lists what the application must state:
Section 9(3) lists what must accompany the application:
Read that list as a checklist before you file. A missing affidavit or a missing Sheriff's certificate is a gap in the filing itself, not a detail the Clerk fills in for you.
Anyone who objects has a set route. Under section 10, a person who objects to a change of name files a written objection with the Clerk and pays a filing fee of $5.
Section 11 then gives the Court two paths. The Court may grant the application without a hearing where no objection has been filed and the Court is satisfied the application and all supporting documents are in order and the application may be granted. In any other case, the Court appoints a time and place for a hearing. At a hearing, the Court may require you, any person whose name will be affected, and any other person with information about the application to give evidence under oath, and may examine that person or allow an interested person to do so.
Section 12 sets the refusal test. On hearing an application, the Court shall refuse it where the Court is of the opinion that a change resulting from granting it might reasonably cause mistake or confusion or be a cause of embarrassment or inconvenience, has been sought for an improper purpose, or would on any other ground be objectionable. Where the Court is of the opinion the application in whole or in part should be granted, it makes an order to that effect. Under section 13, the order provides for the changes of names the Court considers proper, having regard to the nature of the application, any objections, the evidence, the relationship and status of any person affected, and all other relevant circumstances.
Section 19 is the warning at the end of the Act. A person who obtains or attempts to obtain a change of name by fraud, misrepresentation or for an improper purpose is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500.
After the Court makes an order, section 14 sets what the Clerk does. The Clerk enters every order, sends two certified copies of the order and a certified copy of the application and supporting documents to the Registrar General of Vital Statistics, and sends the appropriate Sheriff a certified copy of the order with particulars about any judgment, pending action, security interest, lien or other registered encumbrance. The Sheriff then enters and re-indexes those matters under the name as changed.
Section 15 is the part you will use in daily life. Any person may obtain a certified copy of an order from the Clerk, and that copy is conclusive evidence of the order's contents. On production of the certified copy and satisfactory proof of identity, you are entitled to have a memorandum of the change of name endorsed on any record, certificate, instrument, document, contract or writing, whether public or private. Take the certified copy, not just the news that the order was granted, when you update identification, accounts, and other records.
An order can also be undone. Under section 16, a person who has reason to believe an order was obtained by fraud, misrepresentation or for an improper purpose may apply to the Court for an annulment, with an affidavit setting out the reasons and a filing fee of $5. The Court may refuse that application or set a hearing, and may then refuse it or annul the previous order in whole or in part.
The Change of Name Act states the $10 application fee, the $5 objection fee, and the $5 annulment filing fee, but it does not state a fee for a certified copy of an order, a fee for the Sheriff's certificate, or a processing time from filing to order, so this guide gives none of those figures. The Act also does not publish a fill-in application form or a court filing address on the pages opened for this guide, so this guide does not invent one. Ask the Clerk of the Nunavut Court of Justice for the current filing form and address before you file.
The Nunavut Court of Justice decides it. Under the Change of Name Act, an application means an application made to the Court, and Court means the Nunavut Court of Justice. There is no registrar-only route for a general legal name change in the Act.
At least one year before the date of the application, under section 5(1). If you have lived in Nunavut for less than a year, section 5(2) lets you ask the Court for an order allowing you to apply, and the Court may make that order if it is satisfied that hardship would be caused without it.
19, or under 19 and married. Section 5(1) allows an application by a person who has attained the age of 19 years, or who has not attained 19 and is married, provided the one-year residence rule is also met.
The application fee in section 9(1) is $10, filed with the Clerk together with the other documents the Act requires. A person who objects to an application files a written objection with the Clerk and pays a filing fee of $5 under section 10.
No. Section 3 lets a person change a surname without making an application where a spouse assumes the other spouse's surname, or a hyphenation or combination of their surnames, on marriage. Section 3 also covers reverting, on dissolution of marriage, to the surname held before first being married.
The Clerk enters the order and sends two certified copies, with a certified copy of the application and supporting documents, to the Registrar General of Vital Statistics. Under section 15, anyone may obtain a certified copy of the order from the Clerk, and on production of that copy and proof of identity you are entitled to have a memorandum of the change endorsed on records and documents.