We routinely notarize documents that are intended for use outside of Canada. Sometimes the third party that is requesting the documents will ask for an additional stamp called an Apostille. However, in Canada it is not possible to obtain an Apostille stamp. Instead we have a process called Legalization and Authentication, which is recognized by most countries and third-parties.

The Legalization and Authentication Process can be complex and requires coordination with the office of Official Documents Canada (ODS) as well as with the consulate or embassy of the country relevant to the transaction (i.e. usually the country to which the documents are sent).

The purpose of this process is to verify that the Notary Public is a legitimate body of authority registered with the government of Canada. Rest assured that all of our Notaries are registered with ODS. If you need to have your documents Legalized and Authenticated please rest assured that our Notarizations will be validated by ODS. Please note also that as Notaries we cannot authenticate our own notarization so we cannot provide you with a service for all three steps of the process, just the first (i.e. Notarization).