A Quebec long-form birth certificate — known officially as a Copy of an Act of Birth — is issued by the Directeur de l’état civil. You order it online through the DEClic! portal, by mail, or in person at a participating Service Québec office. Online is the cheapest route at $46.75 for normal processing, with the document arriving in about ten business days.
Copy of an Act or Certificate: Pick the Right One
Quebec issues two different birth documents, and choosing the wrong one is the most common mistake applicants make. A birth certificate is a short-form summary showing name, sex, date of birth, and place of birth. A copy of an act of birth reproduces the full original register entry: your full name, sex, exact time and place of birth, both parents’ full names (including the mother’s name at birth), and any notations or amendments added over the years.
The copy of an act is what foreign governments, immigration authorities, courts, and estate lawyers typically require, because it proves the parental relationship. USCIS, for example, generally requires a birth document showing the names of both parents when you apply for a U.S. green card, and only the copy of an act reliably provides that.
If you fill out the form and tick “Certificate” instead of “Copy of an act,” you receive the short-form document and have to reorder and pay again to get the long form.
Who Can Request One
Access is restricted because the register entry contains information about people other than you. You can order your own copy of an act at any age. A parent listed in the act can order their child’s copy regardless of the child’s age.
If the person named in the act has died, a spouse, son, daughter, or sibling can request it. The Directeur de l’état civil will verify the claimed relationship, but no additional justification is required.
Anyone else — an employer, an extended relative, a lawyer acting for a client — must establish a direct and legitimate interest by explaining the reason for the request and attaching a supporting document such as a court order or power of attorney. Lawyers and notaries also have to include their professional member number on the form.
Documents You Need Before You Start
Every application requires photocopies of two documents issued by two separate organizations: one valid photo ID with a signature, and one valid proof of home address. An expired or missing document means the application is rejected, so pull these together before you open the form.
Accepted Photo ID
- Canadian health insurance card bearing a photograph
- Driver’s licence or learner’s permit issued by Quebec, another Canadian province or territory, or a U.S. state
- Canadian or foreign passport
- Canadian permanent resident card
- U.S. permanent resident card (green card)
- Provincial or territorial identity card bearing a photograph
- Certificate of Indian Status
- Aviation document issued by Transport Canada
- Immigration document IMM-1442 issued by the Government of Canada
- Official military or diplomatic ID for members posted in Canada
Accepted Proof of Home Address
- Driver’s licence or learner’s permit, if not already used as your photo ID
- Municipal or school tax bill, no more than one year old
- Utility, phone, or cable bill, no more than three months old
- Canada Post change-of-address receipt, no more than three months old
- Pay slip or record of employment, no more than three months old
- Home or car insurance certificate, no more than one year old
- School transcript, no more than one year old
- Bank statement, no more than three months old
- Government correspondence, no more than one year old (income tax slips, a letter from the Directeur de l’état civil, an electoral registration notice)
If you live in the United States, a U.S. driver’s licence covers the photo ID and a recent utility bill or bank statement covers the address. A U.S. passport paired with a utility bill satisfies both requirements.
Filling Out the Form Without Triggering a Delay
The form is titled Application for a Certificate or Copy of an Act of Birth. You can download the PDF from the Directeur de l’état civil website or pick one up at a Service Québec office.
Select “Copy of an act” on the form. This is the step most applicants miss, because “certificate” sounds like the full document but actually means the short form.
Enter the full legal name and exact date of birth of the person named in the act, and the full names of both parents as they appear in the register, including the mother’s name at birth. The Directeur de l’état civil matches your entries against the original register character by character. A misspelled parent name or a slightly wrong date can send the application into review and add weeks to your wait. If you’re not certain how a name was recorded, write what you know and flag the uncertainty rather than guessing.
How to Submit and What It Costs
Three channels are open, and the fees are not the same. All amounts are Canadian dollars and apply from April 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027.
Online Through DEClic!
The Directeur de l’état civil’s online portal walks you through the application and lets you upload photos of your ID documents. For a copy of an act, normal processing (ten business days) is $46.75 and accelerated processing (three business days) is $75.00. Payment is by credit card. This is both the cheapest and fastest route.
By Mail
Print and complete the PDF, attach photocopies of your two ID documents, and mail everything to:
Directeur de l’état civil
Demande de documents (DCCA)
2535, boulevard Laurier
Québec (Québec) G1V 5C6
Mail fees are higher: $64.25 for normal processing, $82.25 for accelerated. Pay by money order or certified cheque made payable to the Minister of Finance. The ten-business-day clock starts when the office receives your package, not when you drop it in the mailbox, so add postal transit on both ends.
In Person at a Service Québec Office
About two dozen Service Québec offices across the province, including in Montréal, Québec City (Sainte-Foy), Laval, Gatineau, Sherbrooke, and Longueuil, offer the DEClic! Comptoir service. A staff member helps you file on-site using the same online system, and fees match the online rates. The Directeur de l’état civil’s contact page lists participating offices.
However you submit, the finished document ships by mail to the address on your application, and you get a file number to track the request. If the document is lost in transit, contact the office to arrange a replacement.
If the Register Itself Has an Error
Reordering doesn’t fix a wrong name or date. If the copy of an act arrives with a misspelling or incorrect information, you have to ask the Directeur de l’état civil to correct the register entry itself, using the Request to Correct a Life Event in the Register of Civil Status form on the office’s website. The person named in the act (if 18 or older) or either parent of a minor child can request the correction; a minor aged 14 or older must also consent. Don’t write corrections on the document — mail the form together with any original documents that contain the error.
Getting an Apostille for Use Outside Canada
If a foreign government needs to accept your copy of an act — for immigration, a property transaction, or court proceedings abroad — you will likely need an apostille. Canada is now a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, which replaced the older legalization process for documents destined for member countries, including the United States.
The Quebec Ministry of Justice issues apostilles for provincial documents such as copies of acts of birth. The fee is $66.50 per document, payable by credit card, money order, or bank draft. Personal cheques are not accepted. Processing times shift with demand, and the office posts the date of applications currently being processed on its website, so check that before planning around a deadline.
Before you order the apostille, confirm two things with whoever is asking for the document: that they want the copy of an act specifically rather than a certificate, and whether they require a certified translation into a language other than French or English. Arrange any translation first, because the apostille attaches to the document as issued.