The Government of the Northwest Territories is working to update some legislation in a way that it says better reflects changing notions of family structure and gender.
Bill 40 – An Act to Amend the Vital Statistics Act – passed second reading at the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday and nows heads to a committee of regular MLAs for review.
Among several changes, the bill would allow those aged 16 and older to apply to change the gender on their birth registration and certificate. Previously, people had to be 18 to apply to make that change.
The bill would also amend the Change of Name Act to allow people aged 16 and older to make their own application to change their legal name.
Transgender and non-binary people may also request that their name change not be published in the Northwest Territories Gazette, a government publication that provides a list of orders and notices required by legislation.
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Speaking in the legislature on Thursday, Great Slave MLA Kate Reid said this change grants “discretion to the registrar general and vital statistics to disallow dead naming in the Gazette.”
Reid raised this issue in the legislature in 2024 after Manitoba passed similar legislation.
“Being dead named is an extremely traumatic experience for many,” Reid said at the time.
She explained that while there have been existing allowances for trans people not to have their names published in the Gazette, that option wasn’t presented online, nor was it captured in the name change application form.
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If the bill receives assent in its current form, people will be able to choose whether their gender appears on their birth certificates, to align with human rights case law.
A further amendment would allow up to four parents to be listed on a child’s birth certificate.
The proposed legislation also provides a process to register home births – or births outside a medical facility without medical attendance.
Currently, a Department of Health and Social Services webpage tells people to contact the Health Services Administration office to register a child born at home.
According to a plain-language summary of the bill, the amended act was drafted following requests from residents and from the Registrar General of Vital Statistics. It went through a public review process in 2022.
