How to Get a Copy of a Canadian Birth Certificate
Obtaining Your Canadian Birth Certificate
I’ve written a number of articles about obtaining birth records in the United States, but it’s occurred to me that I’ve neglected to write about how to get a copy of a Canadian birth certificate. So if you’re living in the States, but you were born in Canada, here’s how to find your birth certificate.
Visit Provincial or Territorial Websites
Learn the Canadian province or territory you were born in. If you grew up in the U.S. and have no idea what a territory is, Canadian territories are like U.S. states – though they tend to be bigger and there are fewer of them. The 10 Canadian provinces are Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Albert, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island, sometimes abbreviated to PEI. The three Canadian territories are Yukon Territory, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.
Therefore, learn which of these 13 different regional governments you were born under, then search for that government’s Vital Statistics office. In British Columbia, you’ll need to search for the British Colubmia Services Office.
When you reach these websites, search for links or pages like “Application for Birth Certificate” or “Registration Copy”. When you find this page, download the application.
Complete the Application
Provide all the information asked for on the application, which is going to include full name, phone number and home address. If you’re filling out the application for a child, get the child’s name, gender, date of birth and city of birth correct. Any mistakes can lengthen the process or confuse the bureaucrat, so take care of your part of this transaction.
Also provide the full name of the mother and father of the applicant. Add the mother’s maiden name and other surnames, and make distinctions, so the officials know which is which. When requesting an application for a child of yours, make know your relationship to the child. Governments aren’t likely to release birth records to anyone who makes a request, so this is important.
People who can acquire a birth certificate include the following individuals.
- Child on the Birth Certificate
- Parent of Children under 19
- Legal Guardian of Children under 19
- Provincial Government Officials (on “as needed” basis)
- Chief Executive Officer working on Behalf of Child on Certificate
To prove your role in another person’s life, you’ll need to submit those documents, too. For example, a copy of guardianship papers would be required for the legal guardian.
Provide Proof of Identity
When applying for a birth certificate, provide proof of your identity with a valid form of identification. Make a copy of a valid driver’s license, your passport, your permanent residence card or your provincial health card (if Canadian).
Be Ready to Pay Fees
When you mail your application, include fees in the form of check or, better yet, money order. You won’t obtain your vital records, after all this trouble, if you don’t pay the transaction fee.
To ask what fees are, contact online via email, or call the number of the vital records office, which you should be able to find on the online site.
Obtaining a Copy of a Canadian Birth Certificate
As you see, the Canadian process isn’t much different than finding an American birth certificate. Find the territory you were born in, have the proper identification, complete the application and pay the fees. Learning how to get a copy of a Canadian birth certificate, you probably know the basics of getting vital records in the U.S., too.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 27th, 2010 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Birth Records, Vital Records. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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