Tofino Elopement Permits: What You Actually Need
The District of Tofino governs the town beaches, Parks Canada governs Long Beach, and BC governs the marriage. Here is the whole picture, and who files it.
Three different authorities govern a Tofino elopement, which sounds like three ways for it to go wrong.
It is only complicated if it is yours to untangle.
The district, Parks Canada, and the province each want something, and handling all three is my job, not yours.
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The town beaches, Chesterman and Cox Bay, fall under the District of Tofino, where small-ceremony requirements are generally light. Long Beach and the wild coast south sit inside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve under Parks Canada, which needs a ceremony permit and often a separate photography permit.
Who governs where
The town beaches, Chesterman and Cox Bay, fall under the District of Tofino, where small-ceremony requirements are generally light. Long Beach and the wild coast south sit inside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve under Parks Canada, which needs a ceremony permit and often a separate photography permit.
Knowing which jurisdiction your site sits in, before you book, is the whole game.
The marriage, and who files it all
A BC licence is $100, valid three months, no waiting period, no residency rule, so visitors marry on foreign ID with two witnesses. The photography permit inside the reserve is separate again.
For couples I work with, I hold the beach or reserve permit and the photography permit and fold the cost into the tier. You bring a licence and two witnesses.
I plan the day, file across all three jurisdictions, and both shoot and film it. Twelve years and 240+ couples in, the permit has never been the couple's problem, because it was always mine.
Want the whole day handled, permits included? Start with the Elopement Compass →
