Marriage, Birth, Death

Applying for a marriage licence

Complete the online marriage licence application, including typing your signature, and staff from the Municipal Clerk’s office will contact you to make arrangements for you to email your identification and attend the Municipal Clerk’s office to issue the marriage licence.

Municipal Clerk's Office Location:
40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville

Hours of operation:
Monday to Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Application forms and details

Forms should be submitted online
An application fee of $140 is payable by credit, cheque or debit when you pick up the licence
Applicants 16 or 17 years of age require parental consent; contact the Clerk's Office for details
You do not have to show proof of residency or citizenship
Once a marriage licence has been issued, it is valid for three months (unless extended by the Province during an emergency – contact the Clerk’s Division for details)
The Province of Ontario waives the marriage license fee for instances where both applicants either have or are entitled to have, registered Indian status under the Indian Act and reside in Ontario on a reserve or Crown lands.

Identification requirements

When you attend the Municipal Clerk’s Office, bring two original pieces of identification (from the list below) for each applicant. If you applied online, this identification must match the submitted identification. The identification must be two pieces of government-issued current identification, with at least one being photo identification, from the following list:

Birth Certificate (Canadian or foreign)
Passport (Canadian or foreign)
Driver’s licence (Canadian or foreign)
Ontario Photo Card*
Photo identity card (other Canadian province/territory or foreign)
Photo Health Card
Canadian Citizenship Card or Certificate
Canadian Permanent Resident Card
Canadian record of landing
Canadian Government Refugee Travel Document
Canadian Department of National Defence driver’s licence (Form DND 404)
Canadian Possession and Acquisition Licence
Canadian Status Card
Canadian Conditional Release Identification Card
Nexus card
United States Green card
Report Pursuant to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act with photo (Form IMM 1442)
Student Authorization/Study Permit (Form IMM 1442)
Employment Authorization/Work Permit (Form IMM 1442)
Visitor Record (Form IMM 1442)
Temporary Resident’s Permit (Form IMM 1442) – formally Minister’s Permit/Extension of Minister’s Permit

Note: A certified translator must translate documents from a language other than English or French to English.

Service Ontario has more information on marriages, authorized officials, types of marriages, forms, marriage certificates, changing names and remarriage after divorce.

Marrying after a divorce

If you are getting married after a divorce, you will need to provide an original certificate of divorce, final decree or final judgement. If you do not have an original, you can get a court-certified copy of your divorce documents from the court that issued the divorce. You are required to provide proof of divorce even if your ex-spouse is deceased. For detailed information, see the Government of Ontario website.

Marrying after the death of a spouse

Widowed applicants are not required to provide proof of death. If the marriage of an applicant ended by the presumed death of a spouse, you must provide a court order declaring the presumed death.

Civil marriage ceremonies

The Municipal Clerk or designate performs civil marriage ceremonies at the Municipal Administrative Centre Monday through Friday from 9:30 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m.

Death registrations

Visit Service Ontario to order a death certificate online.

All deaths in Ontario are registered through the Office of the Registrar General. You can find information on archived death records on the Archives of Ontario website.

Birth registrations

To register your new baby, visit Service Ontario's Newborn Registration Service. You can also get or replace an Ontario Birth Certificate online.