Ontario's Application to Change an Adult's Name is signed in front of a commissioner for taking affidavits in Part 6, and that signature closes the file. Everything the commissioner witnesses is a statement that the other parts are already done: notices given, consents collected, a guarantor found. So the order of the signatures matters more than most checklists let on.
The edition in use today is printed in the top corner of every page as 11155E (2026/05). It runs to 17 numbered pages in seven parts, and ServiceOntario asks for all of them to be sent, including the parts that do not apply. The form is for people who are 16 or older and have lived in Ontario for at least the 12 months before they apply.
Up to six people can sign this application
Other people sign their own pages, and only one signature on the whole form is made in front of an official.
| Part of the form | Who signs it, and on which applications |
|---|---|
| Part 2, Notice (Form 6) | The applicant, then the spouse, or the partner who signed a Joint Declaration of Conjugal Relationship. Needed when the applicant is married now, separated included, or signed that joint declaration and never revoked it. |
| Part 3, Consent (Form 7) | Every person with legal custody or decision-making responsibility. Needed when the applicant is 16 or 17 and not married. |
| Part 4, Guarantor's Statement (Form 8) | The applicant fills in the top, the guarantor the bottom. Needed on every application. |
| Part 6, Statutory Declaration | The applicant, then the commissioner, at the same sitting. The only signature made in front of an official; needed on every application. |
| Page 17, payment | The cardholder, when the fee is paid by Visa or MasterCard. |
A married applicant aged 17 skips Part 3 but sends proof of the marriage instead. An applicant whose name is also changing from a single name, or who asks not to be published in the Ontario Gazette, adds a separate form; neither of those forms is listed above because they travel alongside the application rather than inside it.
Counting back from the commissioner's appointment
Only one step on this form has a fixed waiting period, and it is the one that most often pushes the date back. Read from the start, the sequence looks like this:
- Fill in Part 1 in blue or black ink: current name, years and months in Ontario, the new name, parents as listed on the birth registration, previous name changes, and two sets of questions about court matters and debts.
- Where Part 2 applies, mail the Notice form and a copy of the completed application to the spouse or partner by registered or certified mail, at least 30 days before the application is submitted. Keep the original registered mail receipt with the date stamp. If the two live together and the spouse signs the notice at home, no mailing is needed.
- Where Part 3 applies, collect a signed consent from each person with custody, with photocopies of the court orders or separation agreements that name them.
- Have the guarantor complete the bottom of Form 8.
- If Part 1, section D was answered yes to questions 2, 3, 4 or 5, get a current original police record check, taking the ministry's requirements sheet to the police service.
- Gather the documents listed in Part 5 and any translations.
- Bring the whole package, unsigned in Part 6, to the commissioner.
- Mail it to the Office of the Registrar General in Thunder Bay, or hand it in at the Toronto counter on Sheppard Avenue East.
Step 2 is why the appointment cannot always be booked for this week. The notice copy has to show a completed application, so the paperwork in step 1 comes first, and the 30 days run before the envelope goes to Thunder Bay. The spouse who receives notice cannot block the change without a court order; the form says the notice only confirms they were told.
What the applicant declares in Part 6
The statutory declaration on page 16 is short, and each line of it points back to another part of the package. By signing it, the applicant declares, in substance:
- that the rules were followed and the required documents are enclosed;
- that every consent the application calls for was obtained, or a court dispensed with it;
- that every notice the application calls for was given;
- that they have been ordinarily resident in Ontario for at least one year right before applying;
- that the application is not made for an improper purpose;
- that the information in it is true and complete.
People born in Ontario initial one more box. It confirms that every birth certificate and certified copy of the birth registration they hold is enclosed, and that those documents stop being valid once the change is processed. The declaration is a solemn declaration, made with the same force as an oath, and the form reminds the applicant that a false statement is a crime under the Criminal Code. How a declaration of this kind differs from an affidavit is set out in the article on statutory declarations and affidavits.
Mistakes on the form, and whose initials go beside them
The form allows corrections but sets a method for them, and the method involves the commissioner.
Brackets and initials, never correction fluid
Wrong information is put in brackets, the right information is written next to it, and the applicant initials beside each change. Correction fluid is not allowed anywhere on the application, including the pages other people sign.
The commissioner initials every change as well
The introduction to the form says the person commissioning it must also initial each change before it is sworn, and the Part 6 instructions repeat the point and extend it to changes made in Part 1. In practice this means corrections are made before or at the appointment, with the commissioner looking at them. A change written in after the declaration is signed carries no commissioner's initials and does not match what was declared.
The guarantor is a separate person with a separate job
The guarantor confirms one fact: how long the applicant has been ordinarily resident in Ontario. Part 4 lists ten kinds of people who can do it if they know that fact, among them provincial judges and justices of the peace, physicians, members of the Law Society, people authorized to perform marriages, school principals, heads and clerks of Ontario municipalities, chiefs of bands located in Ontario, and managers or signing officers of Ontario branches of banks, trust companies and credit unions.
Where nobody on that list knows the applicant, the form allows anyone who is not a relative, has known the applicant for at least five years, and knows about the 12 months of residence. Form 8 asks the guarantor for their occupation, the month and year they met the applicant, and the month and year from which they know the applicant has lived in Ontario.
Who can take the Part 6 declaration
The form's own list of commissioners is introduced as examples: members of the Legislative Assembly, municipal clerks, deputy clerks and treasurers, Ontario lawyers, provincial judges and justices of the peace. ontario.ca's name change page gives a longer list for the same signature, and it names a Notary Public alongside MPPs, municipal officers, licensed lawyers and paralegals, and provincial judges. The wider group of people who are commissioners because of the office they hold is listed in the article on commissioners by virtue of office.
The commissioner identifies the applicant, watches the signature at the X, and completes the bottom of page 16: the municipality and county or region where the declaration is made, the date, their signature, and their seal or a statement of their authority. The commissioner does not check whether the guarantor qualifies, whether the documents in Part 5 are enough, or whether the Registrar General will approve the change.
One more sworn paper can come up in the same package. Documents that are not in English or French need a translation and a translator's declaration. A professional translator's declaration does not have to be sworn; a declaration from someone who is not a professional translator has to be sworn in front of a commissioner. Both kinds are described on the certified translations page.
After the envelope leaves
ontario.ca gives 6 to 8 weeks as the usual time for a complete application from someone born in Ontario, and it currently notes that applications are taking up to 24 weeks. The ministry also checks the applicant against the Ontario Sex Offender and Trafficker Registry and police records, and can ask for a certified criminal record check after the application arrives.
An approved applicant receives a change of name certificate showing the old and new names. Someone born in Ontario also receives a new birth certificate in the new name, issued without parental information; a certificate with parental information is a separate request. People born elsewhere in Canada ask their own province or territory for a new birth certificate once the Ontario certificate arrives.
The change is published in the Ontario Gazette, which is now online only. The Change of Name Act allows transgender, First Nations, Inuit and Metis applicants to ask that it not be published, and the request form has to be sent with the application to be considered.
The Part 6 declaration is commissioned at this office as described on the commissioning page, with the package brought in unsigned and any corrections made at the desk. A time can be arranged through the booking page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the commissioner have to see the guarantor's statement before the declaration is signed?
The form asks the applicant to bring the application and all of the documents to the commissioner, and the declaration in Part 6 states that the rules were followed and the required documents are enclosed. The guarantor signs Form 8 on their own, so it is normally completed before the appointment.
Can a relative act as guarantor on an Ontario adult name change?
The fallback in Part 4 excludes relatives: it allows someone other than a relative who has known the applicant for at least five years. A relative who belongs to one of the ten listed groups, such as a physician or a bank manager, is not excluded by that wording.
Can a spouse stop the name change by refusing to sign the notice?
No. The form says the person receiving notice cannot stop the change unless they get a court order. If the signed notice does not come back, the applicant sends the original registered or certified mail receipt with the name, address and date stamp.
What happens if there is a mistake on the form after it has been signed in Part 6?
The form requires corrections to be bracketed and initialled by the applicant and also initialled by the commissioner before the declaration is sworn. The form describes no way to correct the page after the declaration, so a change written in later stands without the initials the form asks for.