Provincial Wills Notice Registries in Canada
A Wills Notice Registry helps ensure family can find your Will after death. Among Canada's common-law provinces and territories, only British Columbia has a confirmed system for this. Most others rely on private alternatives or family knowledge instead.
What a Wills Notice Registry records
A registry stores metadata about the Will, not the Will itself:
- Testator's name and identification
- Date of the Will
- Location of the original (lawyer's office, safety deposit box, home safe, etc.)
- Subsequent registrations (if Will is updated)
The actual Will content is NOT stored in the registry. The original Will remains wherever the testator has stored it.
Province-by-province
British Columbia
The most established Canadian Wills Notice system. Operated through Vital Statistics BC.
- Voluntary registration; strongly recommended
- Cost: $17 to file a Wills Notice; a registry search (usually done by the executor during probate) costs $20, plus $5 per additional name the testator used
- Executors must complete a wills search as part of confirming the most recent Will during probate
- Updates: when a Will is replaced, a new Wills Notice can be filed
- Online, mail, and in-person filing available; a lawyer or notary can file on your behalf
- Vital Statistics does not keep a copy of the Will or any information about its contents — only the fact that it exists and where it's held
Manitoba
No wills registry. Manitoba Vital Statistics registers births, deaths, marriages, stillbirths, and name changes under the Vital Statistics Act — it does not operate a wills registry, and no such service is currently offered by the province. (An older version of this article cited a Manitoba Vital Statistics "wills registry" page; that page no longer exists and no replacement registry has taken its place.) If you live in Manitoba, there is no government registry to file with — see "What to do without a registry" below.
Saskatchewan
No pre-death wills notice registry. What Saskatchewan does have is the Wills and Estates Registry, run by the Local Registrar's Office of the Court of King's Bench in Regina — not by Vital Statistics. It's a listing of estate applications (Letters Probate or Letters of Administration) that have already gone through the court, going back to 1905. A search costs $20 and requires the deceased's name, last known residence, and date of death — it can only be done after death, and only if the estate went through probate. There's no way to register a Will with this office while you're alive.
Ontario
No centralized public Wills Notice registry. Wills are typically stored:
- With the drafting lawyer
- In a safety deposit box
- In a home safe
- With the executor or family
Private registries exist (services operated by various companies) but there is no government-operated public registry, and private registries aren't searched automatically when someone dies.
Alberta, Atlantic provinces, Northern territories
No confirmed government wills notice registry. We could not find a BC-style pre-death registration system operated by any government body in Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, or Nunavut. Wills in these jurisdictions typically rely on the drafting lawyer's storage, a safety deposit box, or family knowledge; private (non-governmental) registries are an option but aren't searched automatically. If you're unsure whether this has changed, contact your provincial or territorial vital statistics office directly to check current status.
What registration does and doesn't do
Does:
- Records existence of Will
- Records location of original
- Helps executor find the most recent Will
- Provides searchable record after death
Doesn't:
- Validate the Will
- Store the Will content
- Substitute for proper execution
- Prevent challenges to the Will
Cost vs benefit
In BC, $17 to file plus a $20 search later provides:
- Peace of mind
- Reduced risk that family can't find the Will
- Easier executor administration during probate
Worth doing for BC residents. Elsewhere in Canada, there's no government registry to pay into — the "cost vs benefit" question is really about a safety deposit box, a lawyer's storage, or a private registry instead.
How to register
British Columbia: Online through Vital Statistics BC, by mail, or in person; a lawyer or notary can file the Wills Notice on your behalf.
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Alberta, the Atlantic provinces, and the territories: No government wills notice registry exists to register with. Contact your provincial or territorial vital statistics office if you want to confirm current status, but as of this writing none operate one.
What to do without a registry
Outside BC, there's no public Wills Notice registry — so:
- Store the Will in a known, accessible location
- Tell your executor where the Will is stored
- Provide written instructions in your file
- Consider a safety deposit box with the executor authorized to access it
- Inform multiple family members
- Consider a private (non-governmental) will registry service if you want an extra layer of findability, understanding it isn't searched automatically the way BC's is
Updating registration
When you update your Will:
- BC: File a new Wills Notice for the new Will.
- Everywhere else: There's no registration to update — just make sure your executor and family know the new Will exists and where it's kept.
- In all cases: confirm your executor knows about the updated Will, and destroy old Will copies (or mark them "REVOKED" clearly).
What we focus on at It's Simple Will
The Will Creator produces a Canadian Will document. Registering with BC's Wills Notice registry is a separate optional step — we recommend it for BC residents. For everyone else, the priority is simply making sure your executor knows exactly where the Will is kept.
Related guides
Citations & sources
- [1]Wills Registry — Vital Statistics BC — Government of British Columbia
- [2]Wills and Estates Registry — Local Registrar's Office — Saskatchewan Courts (Court of King's Bench)
Frequently asked questions
What's a Wills Notice Registry?
A registry recording the existence and location of a Will — testator name, date of Will, where the original is stored — not the Will's content. When the testator dies, family or executor can search it to find the most recent Will. Among the common-law provinces, the confirmed example is British Columbia (Vital Statistics BC). Most other provinces have no equivalent.
Is registration mandatory?
In BC, no — filing a Wills Notice is voluntary, though executors must search the registry during probate. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and most other provinces have no registration requirement because there's no government registry to register with.
What does registration cost?
In BC, $17 to file a Wills Notice; a registry search (typically done by the executor) costs $20, plus $5 per additional name the testator used. Saskatchewan's post-probate estate registry search costs $20, but that isn't a pre-death registration — there's nothing to register there in advance.
Does registration make my Will valid?
No. Registration (where it exists) records existence and location only. A Will must still be properly executed under provincial law (signed by testator, witnessed appropriately for typed Wills, or fully handwritten and signed for holograph Wills). Registration neither validates nor invalidates.
Can I register a Will from a different province?
BC's Wills Notice can be filed by anyone who currently resides in BC, or by a lawyer/notary on their behalf, regardless of where the will was originally made. Outside BC, there is no government registry to register with — if you've moved provinces, focus on making sure your executor and family know exactly where the current Will is kept, and consider whether the Will itself needs updating for your new province.