Who can solemnize a marriage?

A person shall not perform marriage unless they are:

• a member of the clergy that:

  • is ordained in the religion that they belong;

  • is authorized to perform marriage rituals in the religion to which they belong;

  • the religion is established enough to have standard religious marital rituals; and

  • is living in the province

• a marriage commissioner, this includes:

  • The mayors of the City of St. John's, the City of Corner Brook, and the City of Mount Pearl, as well as Provincial Court judges, automatically serve as marriage commissioners by virtue of their positions.

  • If someone authorized to perform marriages in another province is temporarily in the province, they can apply to the minister to be authorized to perform marriages in the province for a specific period of time as determined by the minister.

  Note: An issuer (someone who issues marriage licenses) cannot be appointed or act as a marriage commissioner.

Requirements of marriage

A member of the clergy or a marriage commissioner cannot perform a marriage unless they have received the marriage license at least four days before the wedding date.

• However, if there are exceptional and urgent circumstances, the clergy or commissioner can perform the marriage earlier.

If one of the parties is terminally ill according to a qualified medical practitioner's opinion, the clergy or commissioner can perform the marriage even without a marriage license.to

The clergy or commissioner cannot perform a marriage if either party is under 16 years old.is established

If the clergy or commissioner suspects that one of the parties is heavily influenced by alcohol or drugs and may not fully understand the significance of their actions, they cannot perform the marriage.

A marriage must have at least two witnesses who are 16 years old or older.

The marriage must take place within 30 days after the marriage license is issued. However, the issuer can extend the license for an additional period of 30 to 60 days for a valid reason, allowing the marriage to take place during that extended period.

If the couple wants to have a religious ceremony in addition to the civil one performed by a marriage commissioner, the commissioner's certificate is enough authorization for a member of the clergy to perform the religious ceremony for the couple.

Prior marriage

If someone's previous marriage was dissolved or annulled in Canada, they need to provide the marriage license issuer with either the final decree or divorce certificate or a certified copy of those documents.

If the previous marriage was dissolved or annulled outside of Canada, the person needs to provide the person issuing the marriage license with:

• a copy of their final divorce documents from that jurisdiction, and

• a letter from a qualified lawyer confirming that the documents have been examined and the person is free to marry in the province.

If the divorce documents are in a language other than English or French, they must be translated by a certified translator, and the same requirements apply to the translated documents.

Newfoundland and Labrador Marriage Act s. 4, 6, 11, 13, 22, 23