Civil Registration - Canada, British Columbia

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Civil Registration - Canada, British Columbia

Registration of births, deaths and marriages commenced 1872

See "How to Obtain" below chart

Name of Individual		with current place of residences and places of birth of bride and groom	with current residence and date and place of birth	Historical registrations are indexed and viewable online as follows: Indexed only at the BC Archives are Births 1872 to 1903; Marriages 1872 to 1932; Deaths 1872 to 1987; and Colonial Marriage Index: 1859 to 1872. Indexed with certificates viewable on familysearch.org are the following: Births, 1854-1903; Deaths, 1872-1986; Marriages, 1859-1932. Privacy laws govern who can apply for current BMD certificates. Visit their website noted in the 'How to Obtain' column of this chart for full particulars. Note the following exceptions: Births, marriages and deaths can be released to anyone with proof of death of individual(s) named on certificate of 20 years.
Marital Status			on later certificates only, with name of spouse, if applicable
Age
Occupation
Date of Event			with cause of death; date and place of burial added on later certificates
Place of Event			added to later certificates
Name of Father			added on later certificates
Father's Occupation
If Father Living
Place of birth of Father	with then current age		added on later certificates
Name of Mother			added on later certificates
Maiden Surname of Mother			added on later certificates
Mother's Occupation
If Mother Living
Place of birth of Mother	with then current age		added on later certificates
Witnesses	Witness is essentially name of person who assisted in the birth
Relationship of Witnesses to Individual
Addresses of Witnesses		NOTE: may not be included on later certificates
Name of Informant of Event
Relationship of Informant to Individual
Address of Informant
Changes to Information on certificates	Physicians' Notes of Birth commencing 1944 can supply time of birth and weight of child	Early certificates included religion of both parties and whether marriage was by banns or licence.	Early certificates included religion while later certificates included if native or not.

How to Obtain

In person:
818 Fort St.,
Victoria, B.C.
Canada
V8W 1H8;

OR 101-1475 Ellis St.,
Kelowna, B.C.
Canada
V1Y 2A3;

OR Room 250, 605 Robson St.,
Vancouver, B.C.
Canada
V6B 5J3

By Telephone:
For registrations in privacy period:
Victoria: (250) 952-2681
Toll-Free within B.C.: 1-888-876-1633

Online:
Vital Statistics Agency - Online Services

By mail:
For registrations in privacy period:
Vital Statistics Agency
PO Box 9657, Stn Prov Govt
Victoria, B.C.
Canada
V8W 9P3

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