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Civil Code of Québec
(1991, c. 64, a. 376; 2002, c. 6, s. 25)
1. The publication of a civil marriage or a civil union shall be made using the form in Schedule I or Schedule II, as the case may be, which must be posted for 20 days before the date of the ceremony, at the place where the ceremony is to be held and at the courthouse nearest to that place.
2. Marriages and civil unions solemnized by a clerk or deputy clerk of the Superior Court or in a courthouse must be solemnized between 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. They may not be solemnized on
- Sundays;
- 1 and 2 January;
- Good Friday;
- Easter Monday;
- 24 June, the National Holiday;
- 1 July, the anniversary of Confederation;
- the first Monday of September, Labour Day;
- the second Monday of October;
- 24, 25, 26 and 31 December;
- the day fixed by proclamation of the Governor General for the celebration of the birthday of the Sovereign; or
- any other day fixed by order of the Government as a public holiday or as a day of thanksgiving.
Marriages and civil unions solemnized by any other competent officiant under article 366 of the Civil Code  elsewhere than in a courthouse must be solemnized between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. and they may be solemnized on any day, including the days referred to in the first paragraph.
3. The clerk or deputy clerk of the Superior Court may solemnize a marriage or civil union in a courthouse or at the places referred to in sections 4 and 5.
Any other officiant may solemnize a marriage or civil union in a courthouse, in a place referred to in section 4 or in any other place agreed upon by the intended spouses. That place shall be in keeping with the solemn nature of the ceremony and be laid out for that purpose.
4. If one of the intended spouses is physically unable to move about, and that inability is attested to in a medical certificate, the ceremony may take place, with the permission of the officiant, at the place where that intended spouse is, provided that a request to that effect is submitted to the officiant before the posting of the notice of marriage or civil union or at the time of the application for a dispensation from publication of the notice.
5. If one of the intended spouses is confined in a correctional facility or penitentiary, the ceremony may take place at the correctional facility or penitentiary, provided that a request to that effect is submitted to the clerk or deputy clerk of the Superior Court before the posting of the notice of marriage or civil union or at the time of the application for a dispensation from publication of the notice.
6. If the ceremony takes place in a courthouse, the Québec flag must be displayed in the room in which the ceremony takes place.
7. A male clerk or deputy clerk of the Superior Court shall wear a black gown with a dark suit, a white shirt, and dark tie or a black gown, closed in front, with a raised neck opening and long sleeves. A female clerk or deputy clerk shall wear a black gown with a dark skirt and a white long-sleeved blouse or dark clothing.
Any other officiant is exempt from wearing the gown.
8. During the ceremony, the officiant shall address the intended spouses using the text in Schedule III or Schedule IV, as the case may be. If the officiant solemnizes more than one marriage or civil union at the same time, the appropriate text shall be read only once.
The text shall be read in French or in English, as determined by the intended spouses. If either spouse does not understand French or English, the officiant shall ask that the intended spouses provide the services of an interpreter at their expense.
9. The officiant shall then receive from the intended spouses a statement of their consent in the manner provided for in Schedule V or Schedule VI, as the case may be.
10. The officiant must keep, in an appropriate place, a copy of the notice of marriage or civil union, or of the dispensation from publication, where applicable, of the declaration of marriage or civil union, and a copy of the certificate of marriage or civil union, and of any other document that was used to certify the accuracy of the information provided by the spouses.
If the officiant is not a notary, a mayor, a member of a municipal or borough council or a municipal officer, the copy of the documents required in the first paragraph must be filed with the clerk of the Superior Court in the judicial district where the ceremony took place.
11. These Rules replace the Rules respecting the solemnization of civil marriages made by Ministerial Order 1440 of the Minister of Justice dated 6 July 1994.
However, if the intended spouses had already agreed with a clerk or deputy clerk of the Superior Court, before the date of coming into force of these Rules, that the solemnization of their marriage or civil union would take place at one of the places provided for in section 5.1 of the replaced Rules, the clerk or deputy clerk may solemnize the marriage or civil union at that place.
12. These Rules come into force on the fifteenth day following the date of their publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec.
See also
Civil Union
Marriage
Officiants
Registre des célébrants
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