How to Get a Long-Form Birth Certificate in Canada

To get a long-form birth certificate in Canada, apply to the vital statistics office of the province or territory where you were born. Each province runs its own registry, uses its own name for the document, and sets its own fees and processing times, so the first step is finding the right office and the right product name for your birthplace.

The long-form version is a certified copy of the complete original birth registration. It shows the child’s full name, date and place of birth, sex, the full names and birthplaces of both parents (including the mother’s maiden name), the registration number and date, and any later changes such as name corrections or adoptions. That parental and historical detail is why third parties like passport offices and foreign governments ask for it instead of the wallet-sized extract.

Find the Right Name for the Document

The single biggest source of confusion is that “long-form birth certificate” is not what most provinces actually call the document. Ordering under the wrong name is how people end up with the short extract by mistake.

Ontario: certified copy of birth registration
Quebec: copy of an act of birth (copie d’acte de naissance)
British Columbia: certified copy of a birth registration
Saskatchewan: copy of registration of live birth (note: Saskatchewan’s “Long Form Birth Certificate” is a smaller extract, not the full certified copy)
New Brunswick: long form birth certificate

When an agency asks for a “long-form birth certificate,” check whether it names the exact document. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, for instance, asks for a “detailed (long form) birth certificate” that includes parent names and specifically identifies Ontario’s certified copy of birth registration as acceptable for a child’s passport application.¹

Who Can Apply

Access is restricted because the full registration contains sensitive information about you and your parents. The framework is similar across provinces, with some local variation.

You can generally order your own long-form certificate once you meet a minimum age. In Ontario, that threshold is 13.² In British Columbia, the subject of the record can order it at any age, while a parent may only order on behalf of a child under 19 or a person who is incapable.³ Once you reach the age of majority (18 or 19 depending on the province), parents generally can no longer order it without your consent.

Third parties can apply with supporting documentation. In Ontario, next of kin, executors, and estate trustees can obtain a certified copy for a deceased person if they submit the required documents.² Court-appointed guardians can apply for a child or incapacitated adult by providing the guardianship order. Lawyers acting for the person named on the certificate, or for the child’s parents, are also eligible in some provinces when they submit proof of authority.⁴

What You Need Before You Apply

The application asks for the same core information everywhere. Have all of this ready before you start:

Full legal name as it appears on the original registration, including maiden name if it later changed
Exact date of birth and the city or municipality where the birth occurred
Father’s full name and place of birth
Mother’s full maiden name, given names, and place of birth
Your relationship to the person named on the certificate
Reason for the request

The mother’s maiden name is the field people get wrong most often. Fill in every field as it would appear on the original historical record, not as names read today. Mismatches between your application and the registration on file are the most common reason applications stall. If a parent’s birthplace is genuinely unknown, some provinces allow a sworn statement explaining the gap rather than a blank field.⁵

You will also need valid government-issued photo identification showing your name, date of birth, and photo, such as a passport, driver’s licence, or other government ID card.⁶

How to Apply and What It Costs

Every province offers at least two application channels. Online portals are the fastest and available in most provinces: you upload digital copies of your ID, fill in the biographical fields, and pay electronically. You can also mail a completed paper application to the central vital statistics office, or apply in person at a service counter in some provinces. Your application is not submitted until payment clears.

One quirk to know: in Alberta, the standard birth certificate can be ordered online for $40, but the certified copy of registration of birth must be ordered by mail or in person.⁷

Fees vary by province and delivery method. Current examples:

Ontario: $35 for a certified copy of birth registration through the online service²
British Columbia: $50 by mail or $60 by courier for a certified copy of birth registration⁸
Quebec: $46.75 online for a copy of an act with normal processing, up to $82.25 by mail with accelerated processing⁹
Saskatchewan: $55 for a copy of registration of live birth¹⁰
Manitoba: $30 per certificate¹¹

How Long It Takes

Processing depends on your province and the service tier you pay for. Standard processing in New Brunswick takes about five business days, with an expedited option that processes within 48 hours if the application is complete and matches existing records.¹² Quebec runs 10 business days for normal processing and three business days for accelerated, at a higher fee.⁹ British Columbia prints mail-delivery orders within 20 business days, while courier orders print the next business day.⁸ Manitoba offers a three-business-day rush service, though the clock resets if additional steps are needed before the application is ready to issue.¹¹

All of these timelines assume a clean application. Discrepancies in names, dates, or parental details trigger a review that adds days or weeks. Add mailing or courier transit on top of the processing window when planning for a deadline.

When You Actually Need the Long-Form Version

Most everyday identification in Canada is served by the standard short-form birth certificate. The long-form certified copy is required when a third party needs to verify your parentage or your full registration history. Common situations:

A child’s Canadian passport application, which requires a detailed (long form) birth certificate that includes parent names¹
International adoption, which Ontario identifies as a specific use case for the certified copy of birth registration²
Certain immigration and sponsorship filings that require proof of lineage
Foreign visa applications where the destination country asks for the full registration copy

If you are not certain which version you need, ask the organization requesting it before you order. Reordering costs both time and money.

If You Need to Use It Abroad

The certified copy alone may not be accepted by a foreign government. Many countries require an apostille, a separate certificate confirming the document’s authenticity that is issued as an “allonge” attached to the original. Canada is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention.¹³

Where you send the document depends on which province issued it. Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan handle their own apostilles through provincial competent authorities and may charge their own fees. For every other province and territory, Global Affairs Canada issues the apostille at no charge.¹³ The document must bear an original signature and seal and must be submitted in paper form. If the destination country is not part of the Apostille Convention, you may instead need to legalize the document at that country’s embassy, high commission, or consulate in Canada. Confirm the required form of authentication with the requesting authority or the destination country’s embassy before you begin.

If You Spot an Error

Inspect the certificate carefully when it arrives. Because the long-form copy reproduces the entire original registration, any error in the underlying record carries through. A misspelled name, a wrong date, or an incorrect birthplace has to be fixed by applying for a correction through the same provincial vital statistics office that issued the certificate. Correction requests generally require supporting evidence such as hospital records, affidavits from people with direct knowledge, or other official documents that show the correct information. The correction process runs considerably longer than an ordinary order, so catch errors early if you have a deadline coming.

1
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Documents to Submit When Applying for a Child’s Passport
2
Government of Ontario. Get or Replace an Ontario Birth Certificate
3
Government of British Columbia. Birth Certificates
4
Government of Nova Scotia. Apply for a Birth Certificate
5
Government of New Brunswick. Birth Certificate
6
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Apply for a New Adult Passport in Canada – Documents to Support Your Identity
7
Government of Alberta. Birth Certificates
8
Government of British Columbia. Certified Copy of a Birth Registration
9
Directeur de l’état civil. Fees and Processing Time
10
eHealth Saskatchewan. Birth Certificates
11
Manitoba Vital Statistics Branch. Fees and Services
12
Service New Brunswick. Current Processing Times for Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates
13
Government of Canada. Authenticate Your Documents – Before You Start