Do you need to obtain certification of a notary’s signature on documents that will be sent abroad?

The Secretary of the Order is the person authorized to certify the official signature of a notary, member or former member of the Chambre des notaires du Québec, appearing on these documents. The Authenticity Certificate issued by the Chambre des notaires not only confirms the original signature on the documents do indeed match a notary’s signature filed with the Secretary of the Order, pursuant to the Notaries Act, but also establishes his or her capacity as notary.

If you wish to have the official signature of a notary certified on documents that have not been drawn up by a notary (judgment, police certificate, driver’s licence, birth or death certificate, passport, register, diploma/degree, academic transcripts, etc.), submitting an orginal or certified true copy of the documents issued by the organization in question is recommended. The simple mention of “true copy of original” or “certified true copy” on the photocopies followed by the notary’s signature is not accepted.

Subsequently and if applicable, these documents must be taken to the consulate of the country where they are intended to be used and/or Global Affairs Canada, so that the signature of the Secretary of the Order may in turn be authenticated. Validating the signatures at different levels gives the documents a probative force to be valid abroad, i.e. it gives a higher legal value to the documents which will allow them to be recognized abroad.

Note: We cannot authenticate documents bearing the signatures of lawyers or notaries public.

Certification process