An Ontario Marriage Licence Costs $150 to $217.34 in the GTA

An Ontario marriage licence costs between $150 and $217.34, depending on which GTA city or town hall you walk into. You buy it from a local clerk's office, never from the province. It works for a wedding anywhere in Ontario. Oshawa charges $150. Newmarket charges $217.34 if you live somewhere else. The paper and the expiry come from Ontario's Marriage Act, not from your city. That leaves the price as the only thing you can shop for. We read the marriage licence page at 14 GTA city and town halls on August 27, 2026. Where a hall publishes no fee there, we used the City's own most recent notice.

What each GTA city and town charges

Every fee below is quoted as that city or town prints it. Each council sets this fee in its own user fee by-law, and those carry a year. Ajax's is a 2026 schedule, and Richmond Hill dates its fee "Effective January 2026". Treat every number here as the price on the day we read it.

Three of the 14 do not sell the same thing to everyone. Burlington issues licences only "to residents of Halton Region with a wedding date within 60 days of their scheduled appointment date with the City". Whitby and Newmarket charge two prices, one for their own residents and a higher one for everybody else.

One basis covers the whole table: what a couple pays at an office in a town they do not live in. The table's fourth column prints it. The cheapest is Oshawa at $150 and the dearest is Newmarket at $217.34, a gap of $67.34, because 217.34 minus 150 is 67.34. Burlington sits outside that comparison, since a non-resident cannot buy there at all.

Tax and refunds are mostly unstated

Only three of the 14 pages state a tax position on the licence fee itself. Toronto and Brampton both print that HST does not apply. Ajax prints "$172.21 (Tax included)", and the Town's 2026 user fee by-law lists the same licence at $152.40 before tax. Those are one fee either side of 13 per cent HST, since $152.40 multiplied by 1.13 is $172.21. Ajax labels its figure a 2025 fee, but the 2026 by-law carries the same amount, so it holds. Several other pages quote tax on their ceremony fees, which is a different charge. The other 11 say nothing about tax on the licence.

Refunds split the same way. Six of the 14 state plainly that the fee is non-refundable: Toronto, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Markham, Whitby and Oshawa. Mississauga publishes a narrower rule, that there is "no refund if the marriage licence is lost, stolen or damaged or becomes expired". The remaining seven publish no refund policy at all. Markham is the one to watch, because it takes the $200.00 online when you apply rather than at the counter.

Vaughan is the one fee you cannot look up before you go, and it may not be a real option. The City's Marriage Services page sets out the booking process, the hours and the age rules, but prints no price. It opens with a service advisory: "Due to overwhelming demand, availability for marriage licence appointments is LIMITED. Please consider receiving your marriage licence from the City of Toronto." The $205 above is from the City's own announcement of its online application, dated April 27, 2025. It is the most recent figure Vaughan publishes. Confirm both the price and an appointment first.

Why the price moves and the rules do not

The Marriage Act settles almost everything except the money. Section 4 says "No marriage may be solemnized except under the authority of a licence issued in accordance with this Act or the publication of banns." Banns are a public announcement of your intent to marry. You make it in your own place of worship. Section 11 says who may sell you a licence: "Marriage licences may be issued by the clerk of every local municipality except a township." A small township office may send you elsewhere. Every city and town above issues them.

The clock is statutory too. Section 27 says a marriage "shall be solemnized only within the three months immediately following the issue of the licence or the publication of banns, as the case may be". ServiceOntario puts the same rule in plain numbers. The licence "is valid for 3 months from the date it was issued".

Two of the 14 offices publish a shorter window. Oakville says the licence "must be used within 90 days from the date it was issued". Further down the same page it contradicts itself with "within three months". Whitby says it is "valid anywhere in Ontario for 90 days". Ninety days is about two days short of three months. The Act sets the outside limit. If your date falls in that gap, ask the office that issued the licence before you rely on it. Whitby adds that "the date of validation cannot be extended".

Part of what you hand over is not the city's money. ServiceOntario describes a "$75 provincial marriage licence fee". The same page adds that "Municipal administrative fees may still apply". So the counter price is a provincial slice plus a local charge. That local part is where the $67.34 spread comes from.

What you need to bring

Bring two pieces of original government issued ID each. At least one per person must carry a photo. Health cards are not accepted, and neither are photocopies or phone pictures. Your first and last names must match on both pieces. Toronto and Oakville put a middle name on the licence only if it appears on both pieces of ID. Pickering asks for it on one, so check the rule where you apply.

You also need the application, printed and signed in ink by both of you. Markham refuses electronic signatures. If your ID is not in English or French, several offices want a certified translation from an Ontario translator.

Age is set by the Act, not the city. Anyone at the age of majority, which is 18 in Ontario, can apply. Section 5 allows a licence to a 16 or 17 year old only where the minor "has the consent in writing of both parents". That form is set by regulation and usually sworn before a commissioner for oaths.

Section 5 also says who signs when both parents cannot. If one parent has died, or the parents live apart, the parent with actual or legal custody signs. If both have died, a lawfully appointed or acknowledged guardian signs. So does the lawful guardian of a minor who is a ward. A minor whose earlier marriage ended by death or divorce needs no consent at all. Section 6 is a separate route. It applies where a required consent is "not available" or is "unreasonably or arbitrarily" withheld. The minor can then ask a judge to dispense with it. A parent simply disagreeing is not the test. Ask the issuing office which form it needs.

If either of you was married before, you must prove it ended. For a Canadian divorce, bring the original or a court certified copy of the final decree, the final judgment, or a certificate of divorce. A divorce order signed by a judge is not the same document. That is the province's list, and eight of the 14 offices publish a narrower one: Toronto, Markham, Brampton, Mississauga, Newmarket, Oakville, Pickering and Vaughan all say a divorce judgment will not be accepted, and want a certificate of divorce or a certified copy of the final decree. Bring the certificate if you can, and ask before you rely on a judgment. Ten of the 14 offices say so on their own pages. Vaughan puts it plainly: "A divorce order or divorce judgment will not be accepted. Papers must be court-certified."

A divorce granted outside Canada is a longer road. You need a Foreign Divorce Authorization from the province first. That means sending ServiceOntario your signed application, a statement of sole responsibility, a legal opinion letter from an Ontario lawyer, and the decree. The province says that can take up to 4 weeks, so start early. If a spouse died, bring a death certificate, a funeral director's statement of death, or a court order declaring the death.

Toronto rules out the tests people ask about: "There are no gender, residency, citizenship or medical requirements when applying for a marriage licence."

What the licence does not buy

It buys permission, not a wedding. Toronto lists the full set: "To get married in Ontario, you need a marriage licence, an authorized marriage officiant and two witnesses." An officiant is the person the province authorizes to marry you. That is either a religious official registered under the Marriage Act, or a civil one. Civil officiants are a city clerk or their delegate, a judge, an associate judge, a justice of the peace, or an MPP who has given written notice. Toronto also rents a wedding chamber for $136.85 per 30 minute booking, for the room only, with no officiant included.

The certificate is a separate purchase. On the day, your officiant hands you a Record of Solemnization of Marriage. Toronto is blunt that this "is not an official marriage certificate". The real certificate comes from ServiceOntario after the officiant sends in the signed licence. Oshawa says you can order it "about six to eight weeks after this happens". Regular online service costs $15 and takes 15 business days plus Canada Post delivery. Premium costs $45 and takes 5 business days including courier. A certified copy of the marriage registration is $22 or $52 on the same two speeds.

Banns, the one alternative

Oshawa calls banns "an announcement about your intent to marry in your church, mosque or synagogue". They are open where both of you "worship regularly at their own church in Canada". Where banns apply, no city licence is needed and no fee is paid. Nobody may marry under banns if either person had an earlier marriage that was dissolved or annulled. Section 27 also bars the ceremony "earlier than the fifth day after the date of the publication of banns". Ask your own officiant whether banns are open to you.

Choosing an office

Pick on speed and access. Richmond Hill issues same day where the documents are in order. Mississauga issues during the appointment. Brampton takes walk-ins from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Ajax says processing takes 10 to 30 minutes, and staff phone you a business day ahead. Oakville reviews your application within five business days before booking you. Markham asks you to apply and pay at least four weeks before the wedding date.

Check who has to show up, too. Toronto, Richmond Hill and Pickering each need only one of you at the counter, though both must still sign the form. Brampton, Vaughan and Milton accept one or both, but remember that Vaughan's own page says appointments are limited and points you to Toronto. Oshawa lets one attend if both have signed and you carry the ID and divorce papers for both. Through the provincial portal, leave at least one business day between the application and the wedding date.