Step-by-step guide to authenticating and legalising Canadian documents for use abroad — covering the post-2024 apostille regime, the Ontario competent authority (Official Documents Services), the federal competent authority (Global Affairs Canada), and the older consular legalisation route that still applies to a small number of non-Hague destinations.
The two-step framework (Hague destinations)
- Notarize in Ontario — sign in front of an Ontario notary public who applies their seal and notarial certificate. (For documents issued directly by a Canadian government authority — such as a polymer birth certificate, an Ontario court order, or a Canadian passport — notarization is not required and you go straight to step 2.)
- Apostille — submit the document to the correct Canadian competent authority for a single apostille certificate. For Hague Convention countries, no consular step is required after the apostille is issued.
Canada became a party to the Hague Apostille Convention on January 11, 2024. For documents going to any other Convention party — most of Canada’s trading partners — the apostille has replaced the older multi-step authentication-plus-consular-legalisation chain.
Which competent authority issues the apostille
Canada has multiple designated apostille authorities, divided between the federal government and the participating provinces:
- Official Documents Services (ODS), part of Ontario’s Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement — for documents notarized by an Ontario notary public and for many Ontario-issued public documents (provincial certificates, Ontario court documents, post-secondary transcripts).
- Global Affairs Canada (GAC) — Authentication Services Section — for federally-issued documents (Canadian passports, RCMP record checks, federal court documents, citizenship and immigration documents) and for documents originating from the eight jurisdictions without their own apostille service: Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon.
- Provincial competent authorities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Quebec — for documents issued or notarized in those provinces.
Submitting an Ontario-notarized document to GAC instead of ODS will result in a return — make sure the document goes to the right authority.
When consular legalisation is still required
For destinations that are not parties to the Hague Apostille Convention — examples include the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and a small number of other jurisdictions — the older two-step process still applies:
- Notarize the document in Ontario.
- Submit it to Global Affairs Canada for authentication.
- Take the authenticated document to the destination country’s embassy or consulate in Canada for legalisation.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law maintains an up-to-date list of member states. Before starting the process, confirm the current status of your destination country.
Common destinations
- United States: Hague party. Most US recipients accept an Ontario notarial seal on its own; where a federal agency or strict state recorder asks for “an apostille on the foreign document,” the apostille is issued by ODS (for Ontario-notarized documents) and no consular stamp is required.
- United Kingdom, European Union member states: Hague parties. ODS apostille (for Ontario notarial work) is sufficient.
- Mexico, Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand: Hague parties. ODS apostille is sufficient.
- India: Hague party (since 2005). ODS apostille is sufficient for documents notarized in Ontario.
- China: Hague party (effective November 7, 2023). ODS apostille is sufficient.
- Pakistan: Hague party (effective March 9, 2023). ODS apostille is generally sufficient; some Pakistani recipients are still adjusting their internal procedures, so confirm with the receiving party.
- United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia: Not Hague parties. Traditional GAC authentication plus consular legalisation still applies.
Documents issued directly by a Canadian authority
Some public documents do not need a notarization step — they can be apostilled directly by the competent authority. Examples in Ontario include polymer birth, marriage, and death certificates; business registry documents issued after 1990 by the Ontario Business Registry; court-issued documents bearing a court seal and issued after July 9, 2023; and public post-secondary transcripts and degrees issued since January 1, 2019. For these, skip the notary and submit directly to ODS.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do the apostille step myself?
Yes. Ontario residents can submit to ODS in person (by appointment) or by mail. Many Ontario notaries offer to handle the apostille step as an added service if you prefer not to deal with the government directly.
What if the destination country is not on the Hague list?
You will need traditional consular legalisation after GAC authentication. The destination country’s embassy or consulate in Canada handles the final step.
Does the apostille mean my document is automatically valid abroad?
An apostille confirms that the notarization (or government issuance) is genuine. It does not certify the content of the document. The receiving party still decides whether to accept the document on its merits.
Was the process different before 2024?
Yes. Before January 11, 2024, Canadian documents going abroad always went through Global Affairs Canada for authentication and then through the destination country’s consulate in Canada for legalisation. The apostille has replaced both steps for Hague Convention destinations. If you read older guidance that describes the GAC-plus-consulate chain as the default for the United States, the United Kingdom, or the European Union, that guidance is out of date.