The Provincial Government is taking action to strengthen the legal name change process by providing the Minister of Digital Government and Service NL discretionary authority to prohibit sex offenders from legally changing their names.

The proposed amendments identify 16 designated offences from the Criminal Code of Canada, including sexual assault, child pornography, trafficking and aggravated sexual assault (a full list of designated offences is outlined in the Bill). The minister would have the authority to refuse the requested name change for anyone convicted of any of these 16 offences.

Enacting this legislation would make Newfoundland and Labrador the fourth province in Canada to allow for the denial of name change applications by sex offenders. Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia have similar legislation.

The proposed amendments will also require criminal record checks from applicants seeking legal name changes. The submission of a criminal record check as part of the name change process is necessary to be able to identify persons convicted of any of those 16 designated offences.

It should be noted that anyone under the age of 16 seeking a name change with the consent of their parent or legal guardian would not have to provide a criminal record check.

Consistent with the current Act and the practice in all other jurisdictions, persons changing their name for reasons of marriage or divorce are exempt from the legal name change process under the Change of Name Act, 2009.

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“You can’t change your name and evade the law. The proposed changes establish a stringent process to restrict convicted sex offenders from changing their name. These changes improve transparency, improve public safety, and reduce the re-traumatization of victims.”
Honourable Sarah Stoodley
Minister of Digital Government and Service NL

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