As of last week, Quebec will only issue marriage certificates in French, according to a letter sent to the province’s wedding officers.
The change, the latest to come out of the new language law 96, is also one of the first concrete changes that were rumored but not well understood by the public, even though the bill was passed on May 24. .
Coming into force on June 1, the marriage rule already causes some couples to change the location of their weddings as they want their certificates in English, a wedding planner said.
“There are some who have decided to get married in the destination style,” said Jaime Korey, Montreal event and wedding organizer.
Others, he said, have decided to marry in another province.
Among his clients, this has been “mostly Ontario,” Korey said, including the small town of Hawkesbury, an hour west of Montreal, across the Ottawa River from Quebec.
“There are a lot of places in Hawkesbury and places in Ottawa that are also close by,” he said.
Of his clients, 90 percent are bilingual and unaffected, he said. Various adjustments in wedding planning are also taking place, including work around COVID-19, so it can be difficult to determine people’s motivations for changing plans.
But for about 10 percent of Korey customers, he said, the language of the marriage certificate does matter.
“It has to do simply with the fact that it is a bilingual province and an English country,” he said.
His reasons are “emotional, political, principled,” he said. “They want to have their marriage certificate in their language of choice.”
Korey had heard the news, but it was not well known. Quebec marriage officials received a letter from a director of the Quebec Civil Status Department on June 1 informing them of the change.
With the passage of Bill 96, some parts of the province’s civil code have been amended, wrote Nicolas Normandin, who oversees legal and official amendments.
“Although it is still possible to complete a marriage declaration (DEC-50) or civil union (DEC-55) form in English after June 1, 2022, all marriage and civil union certificates are prepared. in French, “he wrote. .
“As a result, certificates and copies of acts relating to marriages and civil unions registered in the Civil Registry as of June 1, 2022 are issued in French.”
The writing did not make the situation entirely clear. An English-speaking marriage officer told CTV News that his understanding is that all forms, including the marriage declaration, will be available in French only, but people will be allowed to fill in the blanks in English. The certificate sent by post after each wedding will be in French.
When asked to clarify some aspects of the new rule, the Civil Registry asked CTV News to contact the Department of Justice, which oversaw the bill. This department has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Ottawa and Hawkesbury officials could not immediately comment on whether they have seen a change in Quebecers’ demand.
WANT A WEDDING IN MONTREAL? TRANSLATION REQUIRED
For Quebeckers who expect their marriage certificates to be portable outside the province, this rule will change that, or at least add an additional hurdle.
A U.S. State Department spokesman who handles visa applications for the U.S. addressed CTV News with the department’s step-by-step instructions for the department’s application, which says non-English documents they must obtain sworn translations.
This means that people who get married in Quebec and then get a job in the US, for example, and want to take their spouse to live and work there as well, should get a certified translation of their marriage certificate.
But not only Canadians will have to take this extra step, said Montreal wedding planner Elyna Kudish.
“All of our clients are American, for the most part,” he said, having destination weddings in Montreal.
“I can’t speak on behalf of all my co-planners, but for me, about 75% of my business is in New York, Washington, Boston and LA.”
Montrealers may not realize that their city is attractive as a wedding destination, but “for many Americans it’s closer than Europe, it’s easier: the US dollar goes a long way here.” said Kudish.
“We are known for amazing food, great DJs, amazing party atmosphere,” he said. “People do it one weekend.”
Kudish herself is allophone, she said – she looks perfect in French and English – but among her local customers, most are English-speaking, she said, simply because many French-speaking Quebeckers don’t get married after the changes. cultural aspects of the silent revolution.
She said she is concerned about the economic effects, as “Quebec lives and breathes tourism,” but she is also concerned about the idea of having English-speakers fill out and sign documents written in French, with no translation available.
“If I had been married in a foreign country and had been signed in a language I can’t speak … how would they know what they were signing?” she said.
BIRTH PLANS, CERTIFICATES OF DEATH STILL DECLARED
An important issue that has not been clarified is whether Act 96 would also mean that Quebec’s birth and death certificates will only be issued in French from now on.
In Normandin’s letter, he said that three articles of the Quebec Civil Code had been amended by Law 96: Articles 108, 109 and 140. The updated articles have not yet been published online.
Article 108 deals specifically with the language of registration of births, marriages, civil unions and deaths in Quebec, which until now could be written in French or English.
The article advises on how to handle transcripts of official documents in foreign languages with unknown characters or diacritical marks.
Article 140, on the other hand, speaks of the need to translate official documents from outside Quebec. No translations were required for foreign documents in English or French.
The Department of Justice and Civil Status have not yet responded to a request for comment on whether the changes to Act 96 will extend to births and deaths, or only to marriages and civil unions.
Read the letter here: