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Civil Registration - Canada, Nova Scotia

Registration of births & deaths commenced 1 October 1908, marriages 1864*

See "How to Obtain" below chart

Type of Data

Birth

Marriage

Death

Index

Name of Individual				Privacy laws govern who can apply for certificates. Visit their website noted in the 'How to Obtain' column of this chart for full particulars. Historical BMD registrations are fully searchable and viewable on Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics website as follows: births 1864-1877, 1908-1914; delayed birth registrations ~ 1830-1914; marriages 1763-1939; death registrations ~ 1864-1877; 1908-1964 and deaths for the City of Halifax only 1890-1908. Various combinations of searchable and browsable events are also online at Family Search as follows: births and baptisms, 1702-1896, births 1864-1877, delayed births 1837-1904, marriages 1711-1909, marriages 1864-1918, marriages 1907-1932, deaths 1864-1877, deaths 1890-1955, deaths 1956-1957, vital records 1763-1957.
Marital Status
Age		including place of birth	with place of birth
Occupation
Date of Event			with cause of death, duration of illness, name of attending physician and, on later certificates, date and place of burial.
Place of Event		with current place of residence	with place of burial
Name of Father	with current residence and date and place of marriage to spouse
Father's Occupation
If Father Living	May state if deceased.
Place of birth of Father	included on later certificates only		on later certificates only
Name of Mother
Maiden Surname of Mother
Mother's Occupation
If Mother Living
Place of birth of Mother			on later certificates only
Witnesses
Relationship of Witnesses to Individual
Addresses of Witnesses
Name of Informant of Event
Relationship of Informant to Individual
Address of Informant
Changes to Information on certificates	*Registration of births lapsed between 1877 and 1908 so many records are missing or incomplete. Date and place of parents' marriage was added during the period 1864-1877 but ceased to be included after 1877. Township books covering part of Nova Scotia record early events circa 1760 through 1860. Births 1915-present must be obtained from Nova Scotia Vital Records office.	Mandatory civil registration of marriages began in 1864, although compliance was not universal throughout the province until the early 20th century. Some later certificates include religious denomination of the parties and whether marriage was by banns or licence and if by banns the dates banns were read were also included. Other marriage sources include: Marriage bonds starting 1763, marriage licences starting 1849. Township books covering part of Nova Scotia record early events circa 1760 through 1860. Marriages 1940-present must be obtained from Nova Scotia Vital Records office.	*Registration of deaths lapsed between 1877 and 1908 so many records are missing or incomplete. Township books covering part of Nova Scotia record early events circa 1760 through 1860. Deaths 1965-present must be obtained from Nova Scotia Vital Records office.

How to Obtain

* Full registration of births and deaths began 1 October 1908 but was not fully complied with until 1920. Marriage registrations began 1864 and have continued throughout to the present time but formal registration was implemented on varying dates throughout the province between 1906 and 1918.

In person:
To visit an access Nova Scotia service centre please select an office from this webpage.

By Telephone:
Tel: 902-424-5200, or
toll free in Nova Scotia 1-800-670-4357
Fax: 902-424-0720

Online:
Nova Scotia - Vital Statistics - Certificate Request

By mail:
Public Enquiries - Service Nova Scotia
PO Box 2734,
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Canada
B3J 3K5
Email: askus@gov.ns.ca

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