Birth
- Declaration of Birth
- Steps involved in declaring a birth
- Confirmation of your child's registration in Québec's register of civil status
- Delivery in a location other than a hospital or birth centre
- Child's surname
- Child's given name(s)
- Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP)
- Québec health insurance card
- Birth certificate and copy of an act
- Attestation of an act in the register (birth)
Declaration of birth
The Civil Code of Québec requires the birth of any child born in Québec to be declared to the Directeur de l'état civil. You must declare your newborn's birth within 30 days of the delivery using the Declaration of Birth form.
Under the law and unless otherwise indicated, the term parents includes couples of the same or opposite sex, reflecting changes introduced by the Act instituting civil unions and establishing new rules of filiation.
Language in which the act of birth is registered and civil status documents are issued
Before completing the Declaration of Birth form, ensure that you have the form in the language of your choice—French or English. The child's act of birth will be registered in the language of the form used and cannot be modified. A certificate or copy of an act is issued in the language in which the event is registered.
Once registered, your child will be able to:
- prove his/her identity;
- establish his/her filiation;
- obtain a health insurance card and social insurance number;
- obtain a birth certificate and other civil status documents.
Steps involved in declaring a birth
1. Attestation of birth
- The person assisting in the birth (accoucheur) completes the Attestation of Birth form;
- He/she gives you a copy with the Declaration of Birth form;
- The hospital staff forwards the Attestation of Birth to the Directeur de l'état civil.
2. Declaration of birth
If you are married or in a civil union with one another
- If you are the child's biological mother or other parent, you can complete and sign the Declaration of Birth form alone.
- A witness (person of full age other than the parents or accoucheur) must sign the Declaration of Birth.
- It is preferable to give the completed and signed Declaration of Birth to the hospital staff, who will forward it with the Attestation of Birth to the Directeur de l'état civil.
If you are not married or in a civil union with one another
- Both the child's biological mother and other parent must complete and sign the Declaration of Birth form.
- A witness (person of full age other than the parents or accoucheur) must sign the Declaration of Birth.
- It is preferable to give the completed and signed Declaration of Birth to the hospital staff, who will forward it with the Attestation of Birth to the Directeur de l'état civil.
Note
Make sure that your child's Declaration of Birth is forwarded to the Directeur de l'état civil on time. If it is received more than thirty days after your child's date of birth, you may have to pay a $50 fine. After one year, the fine is $100.
Special circumstances
If you cannot give the completed and signed Declaration of Birth to the hospital staff, it is your responsibility to forward it to the Directeur de l'état civil.
Confirmation of your child's registration in Québec's register of civil status
The Directeur de l'état civil sends the parents a letter confirming that their child's birth has been registered in Québec's register of civil status.
Check to make sure the information appearing on this notice corresponds to the Declaration of Birth and immediately inform the Directeur de l'état civil of any error.
You must wait to receive this letter before ordering a birth certificate or any other civil status document in your child's name.
Delivery in a location other than a hospital or birth centre
If the mother does not give birth in a hospital or birth centre, she must contact the Directeur de l'état civil as soon as possible to find out how to declare her child's birth.
Child's surname
Choosing your child's surname is an important responsability that falls to the parents and no one else!
The child's surname must be composed of his/her parents' names and may be either single or compound. It cannot have more than two components.
If both parents have single surnames, the child may be given one or both names, preferably joined by a hyphen.
Example
If one parent's surname is Beaulieu and the other Lajoie, the child may be given the surname Beaulieu, Lajoie, Beaulieu-Lajoie or Lajoie-Beaulieu.
If both parents have compoud surnames, you may give the child a single name taken from one component of these surnames. If you want to give the child a compound name, you must make a choice, because the child's surname can be composed of only two parts, preferably joined by a hyphen.
Example
Jean Gagnon-Beaulieu and Marie Bouchard-Lajoie can name their child Gagnon, Beaulieu, Lajoie, Bouchard, Beaulieu-Lajoie, Gagnon-Bouchard, Gagnon-Beaulieu, Bouchard-Lajoie, or any other combination in the order they choose.
A surname may not contain a number or an initial.
If only one filiation (maternal or paternal) of a child is established, he/she will bear all or part of the surname of the parent whose filiation is declared in the Declaration of Birth.
Child's given name(s)
First, determine the usual given name. In addition to being indicated on the act of birth, your child will use this name on a daily basis to introduce himself/herself and establish his/her identity. In addition to the usual given name, you can give other given names to your child. However, it is recommended that you limit the number to four (4).
If one of the given names is a compound name, the two components may be joined by a hyphen.
The spelling of the given names entered in Québec's register of civil status accurately reproduces the spelling you used when you completed the Declaration of Birth.
It is important to indicate all of the given names you wish to give your child, especially if the child is baptised later, as the Declaration of Birth constitutes the civil act.
Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP)
You may now give your consent to have the Directeur de l'état civil forward your social insurance number with information about the birth of your child to the Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP).
In this way, you will no longer have to provide your child's birth certificate when filing for benefits.
To give your consent, you must fill out and sign the Notice to parents — Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP) section of the Declaration of Birth form.
Even if you give your consent, you must nevertheless file an application for benefits.
For more information on the Québec Parental Insurance Plan, visit the website: Québec Parental Insurance Plan (QPIP).
Québec health insurance card
Registering your child's birth in Québec's register of civil status will allow you to receive your child's first health insurance card following verification of his/her eligibility for the health insurance plan.
Incorrect registration could after the information on your child's health insurance card!
For more information on the Québec health insurance card, visit the website: Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec
Birth certificate and copy of an act
To obtain a civil status document regarding birth, consult the Certificate and Copy of an Act section.
Attestation of an act in the register (birth)
To obtain an Attestation of an Act in the Register (birth), consult the Attestation section.
Date de révision : 2009-04-23
