B.C. marriage officiants left in the lurch with Canada Post strike

Newlyweds in British Columbia are struggling to get their marriage certificates due to the Canada Post strike, which has caused a backlog for officiants across the province.

Every married couple in B.C. receives a marriage certificate by mail once the Vital Statistics Agency has registered their marriage. However, couples must first submit their licences by mail through a marriage commissioner or officiant.

Officiant Brian Olynick says the postal strike has made the submission process awkward, which is frustrating couples. He says Vital Statistics has instructed officiants to either mail in the licence or hold on to them until the strike is over.

“I thought, my gosh, that’s terrible for the couples,” said Olynick. “I tried submitting again last Monday and I was turned away by BC Services, and I was pretty disappointed about that.”

Olynick says the communication between officiants and the Vital Statistics Agency has been poor since the postal strike began on Nov 15. Olynick says he has a stack of licences at home that he has yet to submit.

Whistler based officiant Rev. Tracy Ann Kerr says she has not submitted a licence since the strike began.

“Right now, with the postal strike, if you were to mail the marriage licence, it’s going to get held up in the mail, as is everything,” said Kerr. “You don’t want it sitting in a full mailbox, I don’t think that’s a good idea, I would rather have it and mail it once the mail starts moving.”

On average, Kerr says couples take over a year to organize a large wedding, which can include a caterer, photographer, and officiant.

While B.C. couples can still legally get married, they can not change their names until they get their certificates.

Olynick notes these submission issues appear to specifically be affecting B.C.’s Vital Statistics office.

“We have one (licensing body) in Alberta, and Alberta has found a solution for officiants, where they can fax or scan to submit the marriage licence and mail them in later….so they’ve figured it out, they’ve got solutions there.”

He says he wants to see action from the B.C. government and says marriage licences should not be sitting on an officiant’s desk somewhere.

“It’s an irresponsibility of the government when we are not able to get [this] vital paperwork….into Vital Statistics.”

In an email, the Ministry of Health says the Vital Statistics Agency continues to provide services; however, the delivery and receipt of mail has been impacted by the strike.

“To mitigate the effects of the interruption, the Vital Statistics Agency has activated its mail services contingency plan and continues to assess additional delivery options to reduce any impact on clients,” it said via email.

“Individuals who submit a rush application for certificates or documents will be contacted directly by the Vital Statistics Agency to arrange pick-up at an available Service BC location nearest to them.”

The ministry says any additional information regarding certificates can be found on the B.C. government website.