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Overview

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) proposed amendments to the Vital Statistics Act and Change of Name Act to ensure services remain consistent with the Human Rights Act by making them more inclusive.

Background

Proposed changes to the Vital Statistics Act include:

• giving residents the option of not showing their gender on birth certificates;
• prevent companies from overcharging NWT residents by making it a requirement that a person acting on behalf of someone requesting a certificate must have known that person for a year;
• adding a new change of gender certificate for NWT residents born outside of the NWT;
• adding nurse practitioner as someone who can “certify a death” in the Medical Certificate of Death document;
• providing evidence of births taking place outside of a hospital/health centre setting without medical assistance to prevent fraud;
• correcting legal authority with respect to mature minors’ applications to change gender indicated on documents; and
• allowing the Vital Statistics Registrar General to register up to four parents on a birth registration statement and birth certificate. This aligns with what several provinces/territories are doing to cover various scenarios of multiple parents (i.e., egg donor, sperm donor, surrogate, two intended parents, etc.).

Proposed changes to the Change of Name Act include:

• requiring fingerprinting and criminal record check for people aged 12 and older;
• restricting sex offenders on the national Sex Offender Registry from changing their name;
• allowing people to go back to their birth name when they want, not just after divorce or death of a spouse; and
• adding situations where consent is not required.