STREAMLINED APOSTILLE, AUTHENTICATION & LEGALIZATION SERVICE

An Apostille Certificate is a special certification that authenticates the origin of public documents for international use, issued under the Hague Convention of October 5th, 1961. 

It simplifies the process of document authentication by certifying the authenticity of signatures, seals, or stamps on documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, court documents, and academic diplomas. Apostilles are issued by designated authorities in each member country and are recognized by all other member countries, eliminating the need for further legalization. 

The certificate is a standardized form and is essential for ensuring that documents are valid and accepted in foreign countries, greatly reducing bureaucratic hurdles.

Authentication is the process of verifying the legitimacy of a document, signature, or entity to ensure it is genuine and trustworthy. This process involves confirming that the document has been issued by the appropriate authority and that the signatures or seals on it are authentic. 

Authentication is crucial in various contexts, such as legal, financial, and governmental transactions, to prevent fraud and establish trust. It ensures that documents like birth certificates, academic diplomas, and contracts are recognized as valid and credible by the relevant parties, both domestically and internationally.

Legalization is the process of certifying a document so that it is recognized as valid and official in a foreign country. This process is used for countries that are not members of the Hague Convention and it involves multiple steps, including authentication by the appropriate domestic authorities and further verification by the consulate or embassy of the destination country. 

Legalization ensures that the document complies with the legal standards of the foreign country and is often required for official documents such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, and academic transcripts. This process is necessary for the document to be accepted for legal, administrative, or commercial purposes abroad, providing assurance of its authenticity and legitimacy.

As of May 2024, there are 124 countries that are parties to this convention. These countries include Albania, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada (from January 2024), China (including Hong Kong and Macao), Dominican Republic, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Panama, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, and many others. 

As per Official Documents Services (ODS), the following documents are eligibile for authentication in Ontario:

• Vital statistics documents, including polymer birth certificates
• Business registry documents issued as of 1991, by the Business and Personal Property Branch or the Ontario Business Registry
• Court-issued documents from the Superior Court of Justice or the Ontario Court of Justice issued as of July 10, 2023. Please note:
  • It may take up to 10-business days to process court-issued documents for in-person authentication requests. If your request is urgent, you may wish to notarize your documents prior to authentication
  • For Certificates of Divorce issued prior to July 10, 2023, you may either notarize the document or have it reissued either online or at the court where the original was filed. A newly reissued Certificate of Divorce will be eligible for authentication without notarization
  • All other court-issued documents issued prior to July 10, 2023, will continue to require notarization
• Ontario-issued public postsecondary degrees, diplomas and transcripts issued since January 1, 2019

Notarized documents issued by an Ontario notary public continue to be eligible for authentication

Your document will either be apostilled by Global Affairs Canada or a provincial competent authority, depending on where the document was issued or notarized.

1. Global Affairs Canada apostilles documents issued by the Government of Canada and documents issued or notarized in Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Yukon. If your document was notarized in one of these provinces or territories but issued elsewhere, it will still need to be sent to Global Affairs Canada.
2. Documents issued or notarized in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan must be submitted to these provinces’ competent authority. If your document was notarized in Alberta, Ontario, or Saskatchewan, it will need to be sent to that province’s competent authority, regardless of where it was issued. In British Columbia and Quebec, the competent authority authenticates a notarized document only if the original was issued there.