Current & Past Articles

From Queen’s Park by Sylvia Jones MPP — How to: Birth Certificates

January 18, 2017   ·   0 Comments

My constituency offices are there to help you.
My staff and I can assist you with provincial programs, including Ontario Student Loan, Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB), Family Responsibility Office (FRO), Social Assistance (OW) and Ontario Disability (ODSP). We also can help with official provincial documents such as birth certificates; marriage certificates; death certificates; health cards and driver’s licences.
Getting through the bureaucratic process can be a real headache; my staff regularly get calls from people looking for help with a birth certificate. Birth certificates are an essential document that you need to have if you want to access government programs or documents such as your OHIP card, a passport or accessing Canada Pension Plan, ODSP or Ontario Works.
Here is a step by step process for requesting your birth certificate.
1)    Are you getting a Birth Certificate for your new born or need to replace a certificate for yourself or an older child?
If you are getting a birth certificate for your new born, the hospital sends the statement of live birth to Service Ontario on discharge of your baby. The next step is to go online to www.ontario.ca and search “newborn birth registration.” This is a four-in-one service: you start with birth registration, then apply for birth certificate, SIN number and Canada Child Benefit. This can be a quick process and take as little as five days, especially if you ensure that the information on the notice of live birth matches the registration information.
If you are getting a birth certificate for yourself or a child older than one year old, it can be more complicated. Steps to consider are:
2)    Request a Birth Certificate (BC)
When applying for a birth certificate visit www.ontario.ca and search “Birth Certificates” and submit your request, or you can fax or purolate the form to the Registrar General Office (RGO) in Thunder Bay. Doing the request online is the easiest way. If you are in a hurry, you can also pay $30 for rush service which guarantees five working days, but most of the time it takes two to three days and is delivered to you by courier.
3)    Request Birth Registration
Service Ontario will have checked for your birth registration when it receives your birth certificate request. If you are not registered or if your child has not been registered within a year of his or her birth, the RGO will send you a Request for Delayed Birth Registration (DBR). You will need to fill out this form and send it back to the RGO in order to be registered.
If you are sending anything in the mail to Service Ontario, I strongly recommend that you use registered mail or something that requires a signature. I also encourage you to print off a copy of everything you fill out online and take note of the reference number assigned to you.
4)    Any questions, contact my office
My excellent staff are available in both my Orangeville office at 244 Broadway, Orangeville or my Bolton office at 12596 Regional Rd. 50, Bolton. You can also call at 519-941-7751 or email at [email protected]. My website, www.sylviajonesmpp.ca, is open 24 hours a day.

         

Readers Comments (0)