Marr-03
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What laws must we follow to get married?
In Canada, both the federal government and the provinces have some power over marriage. The federal government has two federal acts dealing with marriage, specifically the Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act and the Marriage for Civil Purposes Act. Both acts are quite short.
The Marriage (Prohibited Degrees) Act lists persons, such as brothers and sisters, who may not marry because they are too closely related by blood or adoption. The Marriage for Civil Purposes Act recognizes marriage between persons of the same sex in that it defines marriage as the union of two people to the exclusion of all others. The act goes on to protect the rights of religious officials to decline to perform a marriage ceremony that is not in accordance with their religious beliefs. In addition, the act states specifically that same-sex spouses cannot be deprived of any benefit or subjected to any obligation or punishment by law solely because they have chosen to exercise their freedom to marry.
Except for these federal laws, the provinces make the laws concerning marriage. In Alberta, this law is called the Marriage Act. This Act deals with a number of things necessary for legal marriages:
- capacity to marry,
- the rules that must be followed,
- the people who may perform marriage, and
- the penalties for failure to follow the law.
October 2006
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