Marriage Act
Consolidated act- Citation
- S.N.W.T. 2017, c.2
- Source
- Unofficial consolidation PDF (justice.gov.nt.ca)
This is an unofficial reading copy parsed from the Department of Justice consolidation PDF above — itself an office consolidation, not an official statement of the law. The authoritative text is in the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988 and the annual Statutes volumes.
- s.1 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.3 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.4 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.5 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.6 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.12 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.13 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.14 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.15 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.16 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.19 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.20 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.21 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.22 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.27 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.29 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.34 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.36 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.41 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.43 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.45 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.49 amended by Miscellaneous Statute Law Amendment Act, 2024
- s.51 amended by R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c.H-6, is repealed
- Marriage Regulations, s.1 → #sec_7__subsec_3
- Marriage Regulations, s.2 → #sec_23__subsec_2
- Marriage Regulations, s.2 → #sec_23__subsec_2
- Marriage Regulations, s.2 → #sec_20__subsec_1
- Marriage Regulations, s.2 → #sec_25__subsec_2
- Marriage Regulations, s.7
- Vital Statistics Act, s.40 → #sec_1
- Vital Statistics Act, s.49
- Vital Statistics Act, s.50
The Commissioner of the Northwest Territories, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly, enacts as follows:
Definitions
1.In this Act,
"approved form" means a form approved under section 40; (formule approuvée)
"issuer" means a marriage licence issuer appointed under subsection 5(1); (délivreur de licences)
"marriage" means the voluntary union of two persons to the exclusion of all others; (mariage)
"marriage commissioner" means a marriage commissioner appointed under subsection 7(1); (commissaire aux mariages)
"marriage licence" means a marriage licence issued under this Act; (licence)
"minor" means a person who has attained 16 years of age but has not attained 19 years of age; (mineur)
"registered cleric" means a member of the clergy registered under subsection 11(2) or (3); (ecclésiastique inscrit)
"Registrar General" means the Registrar General as defined in section 1 of the Vital Statistics Act; (registraire général)
"religious body" includes a church, religious denomination, sect, congregation or society; (groupement religieux)
"spouse" has the meaning assigned to that term by section 1 of the Family Law Act. (conjoint) SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
ELIGIBILITY
Eligibility for marriage
2.(1) Subject to this section, a person is eligible to marry another person if each person
(a) has attained 19 years of age; and
(b) freely consents.
(2) A minor is eligible to marry another person in accordance with sections 16 to 18.
(3) No person may marry another person if
(a) either person is currently married; or
(b) they are prohibited from marrying each other by the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act (Canada).
Process for civil ceremony
3.(1) In order to enter into a civil marriage, persons wishing to marry each other shall
(a) obtain a marriage licence issued in accordance with section 20; and
(b) have the marriage performed, under the authority of the marriage licence, in accordance with section 31.
(2) In order to enter into a religious marriage, persons wishing to marry each other shall
(a) obtain a marriage licence issued in accordance with section 20, or where applicable, have banns published in accordance with section 25; and
(b) have the marriage solemnized, under the authority of a marriage licence or banns, whichever is applicable, in accordance with section 31.
Second ceremony for religious purposes
4.(1) Persons who were married in a civil ceremony in accordance with this Act may have a second ceremony to solemnize their marriage for religious purposes.
(2) The second ceremony is supplemental to and does not supersede the prior civil ceremony, and it shall not be registered.
(3) The marriage licence obtained for the prior civil ceremony is sufficient for the purposes of the second ceremony, and the second ceremony need not be performed within three months from the issue of the licence. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
APPOINTMENT OR REGISTRATION OF OFFICIALS
Marriage Licence Issuers SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Marriage licence issuers
5.(1) The Minister may appoint marriage licence issuers for the purposes of this Act.
(2) No issuer shall issue a marriage licence for the issuer’s own marriage. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Register
6.The Registrar General shall establish and make publicly available a register of marriage licence issuers. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Marriage Commissioners
Marriage commissioners
7.(1) The Minister may appoint marriage commissioners to perform civil marriages under this Act.
(2) Judges and justices of the peace are, by virtue of their office, marriage commissioners.
(3) In order to be appointed as a marriage commissioner, a person must meet the prescribed eligibility criteria.
(4) No marriage commissioner shall perform the commissioner’s own marriage.
Register
8.The Registrar General may establish and make publicly available a register of marriage commissioners.
Clerics
Recognition of religious bodies
9.The Registrar General may, on the request of the ecclesiastical authorities of a religious body, recognize that religious body for the purposes of this Act if the Registrar General is satisfied that the body is established both as to continuity of existence and as to recognized rites and usages respecting the solemnization of marriage so as to warrant recognition.
List of clerics from religious bodies
10.The ecclesiastical authorities of a recognized religious body may
(a) submit to the Registrar General, in a manner approved by the Registrar General, the names of clerics who are authorized to solemnize marriages in the Northwest Territories according to the rites, usages and customs of that religious body; and
(b) notify the Registrar General of every cleric who has died or who has ceased for any reason to be authorized to solemnize marriages in the Northwest Territories.
Register
11.(1) The Registrar General shall establish a register of clerics and may make that register publicly available.
(2) The Registrar General may
(a) register clerics whose names have been submitted under paragraph 10(a); and
(b) issue certificates of registration to those clerics.
(3) The Registrar General may
(a) register clerics
(i) who are not ordinarily resident in the Northwest Territories,
(ii) who are authorized to temporarily solemnize marriages in the Northwest Territories according to the rites, usages and customs of a recognized religious body to which they belong, and
(iii) whose names have been submitted by the ecclesiastical authorities of that religious body; and
(b) issue certificates of registration, valid for the period specified on the certificates, to those clerics.
Cancellation of registration
12.(1) The Registrar General may, at any time as the result of any information that comes to his or her attention, strike the name of a cleric off the register and cancel the cleric’s certificate of registration.
(2) On cancelling a cleric’s registration under subsection (1), the Registrar General may notify the ecclesiastical authorities of the religious body to which the cleric belongs.
MARRIAGE LICENCES OR BANNS SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(4).
Marriage Licences SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(4).
Requesting licence
13.(1) The parties to an intended marriage may request an issuer to issue a marriage licence.
(2) The parties to an intended marriage do not require a marriage licence if banns are published in accordance with section 25. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Statutory declaration
14.(1) Each party to the intended marriage shall personally and separately make a statutory declaration, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information, before an issuer.
(2) If a party to the intended marriage is unable to personally make the statutory declaration before an issuer, an issuer may permit that party to make a statutory declaration, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information, which declaration must be provided to the issuer before the issuance of the marriage licence. SNWT 2024, c.9,s.15(3).
Previous marriage
15.(1) A party to an intended marriage who has been previously married is eligible to be issued a marriage licence if
(a) that previous marriage has been dissolved or annulled; or
(b) the party is the surviving spouse of that previous marriage.
(2) A party whose previous marriage has been dissolved or annulled shall, in addition to the declaration required under subsection 14(1), provide to an issuer evidence of the final dissolution or annulment obtained from a public official of the province, territory, state or country in which the previous marriage was dissolved or annulled.
(3) The issuer may require the party to provide any further material that the issuer considers relevant to the proof of the dissolution or annulment.
(4) A party who is the surviving spouse of a previous marriage shall, in addition to the declaration required under subsection 14(1), provide to the issuer
(a) a certificate of death of the previous spouse issued under the Vital Statistics Act or equivalent law of a province, territory, state or country where the death was registered; or
(b) an order of presumption of death made under the Presumption of Death Act or equivalent law of a province, territory, state or country.
(5) If an issuer is satisfied that a surviving spouse cannot obtain a certificate of death of the previous spouse, the issuer may accept as proof of death a statutory declaration, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information, made by a credible adult person who has knowledge of the death.
(6) Neither party to the intended marriage is eligible to make the declaration under subsection (5). SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Minors
16.A minor who is party to an intended marriage and is requesting a marriage licence shall, in addition to the declaration required under subsection 14(1), provide to the issuer
(a) written consent to the marriage, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information, signed
(i) by all persons who have lawful custody of the minor, or
(ii) in the case where no person has lawful custody of the minor or the persons who have lawful custody are unable to consent by reason of disability, by a person who is responsible for the care and upbringing of the minor; and
(b) proof of the minor’s age, demonstrated by
(i) a birth certificate, or
(ii) a statutory declaration, made by a credible adult with knowledge of the date of the birth of the minor, stating the minor's age.
Order dispensing with consent
17.(1) On application by a minor who is unable to obtain the consent required by paragraph 16(a), a judge of the Supreme Court may grant an order dispensing with consent.
(2) If an order is granted under subsection (1), the minor shall provide the order to the issuer.
Declaration in place of consent
18.The consent referred to in paragraph 16(a) is not required in the case of a party to an intended marriage who, having attained 18 years of age, makes a statutory declaration, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information, and provides it to the issuer.
Separate meeting
19.(1) The issuer shall meet with each of the parties separately, in order to ensure that each party fully understands the contents of the marriage licence and the significance of that party’s intended actions.
(2) An independent interpreter shall be made available to explain the contents of the marriage licence to any party who does not understand the language of the licence. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Issuing licences
20.(1) The issuer shall issue a marriage licence, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information, unless the issuer has reason to believe that the requirements of this Act have not been or will not be complied with or that there are any legal impediments to the intended marriage.
(2) A marriage licence becomes effective on the day on which the last of the required statutory declarations was made before or provided to the issuer.
(3) After issuing a marriage licence, the issuer is entitled to receive, from the parties to the intended marriage, the prescribed fee. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Record
21.(1) An issuer shall keep in his or her office a record of the serial number and the date of issue of every marriage licence issued by the issuer, and the names and addresses of the parties to the intended marriages.
(2) An issuer shall, on the first day of every month, forward to the Registrar General
(a) a report listing all marriage licences issued during the preceding month;
(b) the statutory declarations in respect of each marriage licence required by subsection 14(1); and
(c) where applicable, the statutory declarations and other documents required to be provided to the issuer in respect of previously married persons or minors.
(3) The Registrar General may alter the periods in which reports must be forwarded and may order special reports to be made and forwarded. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3),(4).
Publication of Banns
Requesting banns
22.(1) If banns are available according to the rites, usages and customs of the religious body to which the parties to an intended marriage belong, the parties may seek to have banns published instead of obtaining a marriage licence.
(2) The banns shall be published according to the rites, usages and customs of the applicable religious body. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Statutory declaration
23.(1) Before publication of the banns, each party to the intended marriage shall personally and separately make a statutory declaration, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information, before the registered cleric who is to effect publication of the banns.
(2) Subsection 14(2) and sections 15 to 18 apply to the publication of banns in respect of required declarations, proof of dissolution and annulment or death in respect of previously married parties, and consents and proof of age in respect of minors, with such modifications as the circumstances may require.
Separate meeting
24.(1) The registered cleric who is to effect publication of the banns shall meet with each of the parties separately, in order to ensure that each party fully understand the nature of the banns and the significance of that party’s intended actions.
(2) An independent interpreter shall be made available to explain the nature of the banns to any party who does not understand the language in which they are to be effected.
Publishing banns
25.(1) The registered cleric shall effect publication of the banns unless the cleric has reason to believe that the requirements of this Act have not been or will not be complied with or that there are any legal impediments to the intended marriage.
(2) After publication of the banns, the registered cleric shall complete and sign a certificate of publication of banns, in an approved form and containing the prescribed information.
(3) The registered cleric who effected publication of the banns shall, on request, provide a copy of the certificate of publication of banns to either party to the intended marriage.
(4) A certificate of publication of banns becomes effective on the day of signature.
Transfer of documents
26.If the registered cleric who effected publication of the banns will not also solemnize the intended marriage, the cleric shall, within 48 hours after the second publication of banns, transfer the following to the registered cleric who is to solemnize the marriage:
(a) the certificate of publication of banns;
(b) the statutory declarations required by subsection 23(1);
(c) where applicable, the statutory declarations and other documents required to be provided in respect of previously married persons or minors.
MARRIAGE CEREMONIES
Providing licence to official
27.(1) After obtaining a marriage licence and identifying a marriage commissioner or registered cleric who is available to perform or solemnize the marriage, whichever is applicable, the parties to the intended marriage shall provide the licence to that marriage commissioner or cleric.
(2) For greater certainty, subsection (1) does not apply in the case where banns were published. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Rights of registered cleric
28.A registered cleric is not required to solemnize a marriage, to allow a sacred place to be used for solemnizing a marriage or for an event related to the solemnization of a marriage, or to otherwise assist in the solemnization of a marriage, if doing so would be contrary to
(a) the cleric’s religious beliefs or
(b) the doctrines, rites, usages or customs of the religious body to which the cleric belongs.
Requirements for civil ceremony
29.(1) A civil marriage is not valid unless it is performed
(a) within three months after the issuance of a marriage licence;
(b) in the presence of both parties; and
(c) in the presence of at least two credible adult witnesses.
(2) A religious marriage is not valid unless it is solemnized
(a) within three months after the second publication of the banns or within three months after the issuance of a marriage licence, whichever is applicable;
(b) in the presence of both parties; and
(c) in the presence of at least two credible adult witnesses.
Form of civil ceremony
30.(1) No specific form of ceremony is required for a civil marriage, except that during the marriage ceremony,
(a) each of the parties to the intended marriage shall, in the presence of the marriage commissioner and the witnesses,
(i) make the following declaration:
I do solemnly declare that I do not know of any lawful impediment why I, ................, may not be joined in matrimony to ................,
(ii) then say the following to the witnesses:
I call upon these persons here present to witness that I, .................., do take thee, .................., to be my lawful wedded ................. (spouse);
(b) after each party makes the required statements, the marriage commissioner shall say the following to the parties:
I, ................, a marriage commissioner, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Marriage Act, do hereby pronounce you, ................, and, ................, to be ................. and ................. (spouses of each other).
(2) No specific form of ceremony is required for a religious marriage.
(3) An independent interpreter shall be made available to explain the meaning of the marriage ceremony to any party who does not understand the language in which the ceremony is to be performed or solemnized.
Performing or solemnizing marriage
31.Subject to section 28, the marriage commissioner shall perform, or the officiating cleric shall solemnize, whichever is applicable, the marriage unless he or she has reason to believe that the requirements of this Act have not been or will not be complied with or that there are any legal impediments to the intended marriage.
Fees
32.After performing a marriage, the marriage commissioner is entitled to receive, from the parties to the marriage, the prescribed fee.
Marriage registration statement
33.(1) At the conclusion of the ceremony, each of the parties to the marriage, the marriage commissioner or the officiating cleric, whichever is applicable, and the witnesses shall sign a marriage registration statement in an approved form.
(2) The marriage commissioner shall, without delay after performing a marriage, forward the marriage registration statement to the Registrar General.
(3) The officiating cleric shall, without delay after solemnizing a marriage, forward to the Registrar General
(a) in the case where banns were published,
(i) the certificate of the publication of banns,
(ii) the statutory declarations required by subsection 23(1), and
(iii) where applicable, the statutory declarations and other documents required to be provided in respect of previously married persons or minors; and
(b) the marriage registration statement.
(4) Either party to the marriage may request a copy of the marriage registration statement from the marriage commissioner or officiating cleric, whichever is applicable, and on receiving a copy of the marriage registration statement, shall forward it to the Registrar General.
(5) On receiving a marriage registration statement, the Registrar General shall, in accordance with the Vital Statistics Act,
(a) register the marriage; and
(b) issue a marriage certificate.
APPEALS OF REFUSAL
Appeal
34.(1) A party to an intended marriage aggrieved by a refusal to issue a marriage licence or to perform or to solemnize a marriage ceremony on the grounds that the applicable official is not satisfied that the requirements of this Act have been or will be complied with or that there are no legal impediments to the intended marriage, may, within 30 days after being informed of the refusal, appeal that refusal to the Supreme Court in accordance with Part 44 of the Rules of the Supreme Court.
(2) On hearing an appeal, the Supreme Court may
(a) confirm the refusal; or
(b) quash the refusal and order that a marriage licence be issued to the parties or that a marriage ceremony be performed between the parties.
GENERAL
Power to take declarations
35.The following persons may take declarations and administer oaths for the purposes of this Act:
(a) issuers;
(b) registered clerics who are authorized by their religious bodies to effect publication of banns.
Effect of lack of authority
36.(1) No marriage is invalid by reason only that
(a) the person performing the ceremony was not a marriage commissioner at the time of the ceremony, if both parties to the marriage believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the person was validly appointed as a marriage commissioner under this Act; or
(b) the cleric solemnizing the ceremony was not registered under this Act at the time of the ceremony, if both parties to the marriage believed, and had reasonable cause to believe, that the person was validly authorized to solemnize marriages under this Act.
(2) No marriage is invalid by reason only of
(a) irregularity in the issue of a marriage licence that was obtained or acted on in good faith; or
(b) irregularity or insufficiency in, when banns are published, the proclamation of the intention to marry or in the certificate of publication of banns.
(3) No marriage is invalid by reason only of lack of registration under the Vital Statistics Act, if
(a) there was no legal impediment to the marriage;
(b) the marriage was performed or solemnized in good faith; and
(c) the marriage was acted on in good faith.
Declaration of nullity
37.On application by a party who was a minor at the time of the marriage ceremony, a judge of the Supreme Court may declare that a valid marriage was not effected or entered into if that marriage was performed or solemnized without the consent required by this Act.
Registration in certain circumstances
38.(1) If a recognized religious body does not authorize any person to solemnize marriages, the Registrar General may register a person designated by the ecclesiastical authorities of that religious body.
(2) A person described in subsection (1) shall, in respect of a marriage performed according to the rites, usages and customs of the applicable religious body, perform all the duties imposed by this Act on a person solemnizing a marriage, other than solemnizing that marriage.
(3) A marriage performed in accordance with subsection (2) is valid.
Limitation of liability
39.No action or proceeding may be brought against a marriage commissioner or registered cleric for performing or solemnizing a marriage, in respect of which a legal impediment had existed, unless the commissioner or cleric was aware of that impediment at the time of the ceremony.
Forms
40.The Registrar General may approve forms for the purpose of this Act.
PROHIBITIONS
Unauthorized marriage
41.No marriage may be performed or solemnized except under the authority of a marriage licence issued in accordance with this Act or of the publication of banns made in accordance with this Act. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
Unauthorized persons
42.(1) No person other than a marriage commissioner or a registered cleric shall perform or solemnize a marriage in the Northwest Territories.
(2) No person who, having been a marriage commissioner or registered cleric and having been removed from that office, shall perform or solemnize or undertakes to perform or solemnize a marriage in the Northwest Territories.
Unlawful issuance of
43.(1) No issuer shall issue a marriage licence
(a) without first having obtained all the documents required by this Act; or
(b) if the issuer knows or has reason to believe that either party to the intended marriage is
(i) ineligible to marry,
(ii) incapable of freely consenting, or
(iii) under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the application for the licence.
(2) No marriage commissioner or registered cleric shall perform or solemnize a marriage ceremony if the commissioner or cleric knows or has reason to believe that either of the parties to the intended marriage is
(a) ineligible to marry;
(b) incapable of freely consenting; or
(c) under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the ceremony.
(3) No person shall marry or attempt to marry another person if he or she knows or has reason to believe that the other person is
(a) ineligible to marry;
(b) incapable of freely consenting; or
(c) under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the ceremony.
Confidentiality
44.No issuer, marriage commissioner or registered cleric shall
(a) communicate or allow to be communicated information obtained under this Act to a person not entitled to that information; or
(b) allow a person to inspect or have access to a record containing information obtained under this Act unless that person is entitled to that information.
OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENT
Issuing licence without authority
45.(1) Every person who, not being an issuer, issues a marriage licence is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500.
(2) Every issuer who issues a marriage licence contrary to this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $1000.
(3) Every person who performs or solemnizes a marriage contrary to this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $1000.
(4) Every person who neglects or refuses to perform a duty that he or she is required by this Act to perform, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $1000. SNWT 2024,c.9,s.15(3).
False or misleading statement
46.Every person who knowingly makes or causes to be made a false or misleading statement in any document or matter required under this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500.
General offence and punishment
47.Every person who contravenes a provision of this Act for which no specific punishment is provided is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $500.
Limitation period
48.(1) A prosecution for an offence under this Act may not be commenced more than two years after the day the offence is alleged to have been committed.
(2) No prosecution for an offence under this Act may be commenced without the consent of the Attorney General.
REGULATIONS
Regulations
49.The Commissioner, on the recommendation of the Minister, may make regulations
(a) prescribing the application fee for a marriage licence and the manner of distributing that fee;
(b) prescribing the fee that a marriage commissioner is entitled to receive for performing a marriage;
(c) prescribing eligibility criteria for the appointment of marriage commissioners;
(d) respecting the information that is to be contained in a form approved under this Act;
(e) prescribing any matter or thing that by this Act may or is to be prescribed; and
(f) respecting any matter necessary or advisable for carrying out effectively the intent and purpose of this Act.
CONSEQUENTIAL AMENDMENT
Vital Statistics
50.Sections 49 and 50 of the Vital Statistics Act are repealed and the following is substituted:
Registration of marriages
49.Every marriage performed or solemnized in the Northwest Territories in accordance with the Marriage Act must be registered as provided in this Part.
Waiver of signature
50.On receiving a marriage registration statement under subsections 33(2) to (4) of the Marriage Act, the Registrar General may waive the requirement for a specified signature if the Registrar General is satisfied that it is not practicable to obtain that signature.
REPEAL
Marriage Act
51.The Marriage Act, R.S.N.W.T. 1988, c.H-6, is repealed.
COMMENCEMENT
Coming into force
52.This Act or any provision of this Act comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Commissioner.