N.W.T. finally waives name change fees for Indigenous people

The Northwest Territories government will no longer charge Indigenous people hundreds of dollars to reclaim their traditional names.

The announcement to waive name change fees comes a couple of weeks after CBCreported that the government delayedmaking this policychange for months. The territory's health department initially told CBC it would make the changeback in June.

Until now, Ontario was the only province or territory toadopt theTruth and Reconciliation Commission'scall to actionmore than three years ago.It calledfor all governments to allow residential school survivors and their families to reclaim names changed by the residential school system, and to waive fees for five years.

This makes the N.W.T. the second in the country to adopt the recommendation.

Previously, the territorial government charged Indigenous people hundreds of dollarsif they wantedto reclaim their traditional names, which may have been altered in the past.

Eligibility extends to all Indigenous people

But the territory's policy takesa step further. Itwill extend waiving feesto all Indigenous residents not just residential school survivors and their familieswhose names were affected by "historical errors," according to the government news release Monday.

People who want to reclaim their Indigenous names for free must be a resident of the N.W.T., to be eligible.

The fee exemptionapplies to any certificate issued under the territory's Vital Statistics Act which can include birth, death and marriage certificates. It will also be free to reclaim Indigenous names on a driver's licence, according to the territory's infrastructure department.

It will still cost money to change a name on a passport, which is a federal document.

Residents born in the territory, but living outside, can't get their fees waived by the N.W.T., as they must apply in the province or territory where they live. They can, however, apply for a new N.W.T. birth certificate for free.

People will have to submit a separate form to getthe fee waived, on top of their application.

The government says it can take between three and four weeks to process the request, depending on the amount of requests they get.

Currently, it costs $134 to change a name, and an additional $22 to amend a birth certificate.

The government said it processes about 64 name change applications a year.

Have a story about your name? Contact Priscilla atpriscilla.hwang@cbc.ca

• MORE NORTH NEWS |Yellowknife woman sues N.W.T. Housing Corp. for defamation
• MORE NORTH NEWS |'It's all we have': Family of paralyzed Inuk dancer fights eviction from Toronto home