If you are moving abroad for work, applying to a foreign university, or having your qualifications recognized in another country, you will likely be asked for an apostilled degree. Here is how it actually works in Canada, and where people lose weeks.
The rule that decides everything: the province, not your address
There is no single Canadian apostille office. Since Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention on 11 January 2024, six authorities issue apostilles, and the one that handles your diploma is decided by where the institution issued it, never by where you live now.
- A McGill University degree is a Québec document. It goes to the Ministère de la Justice du Québec, at $66.50 per document, even if you now live in Vancouver or Dubai.
- A University of Toronto or Seneca College document is an Ontario document. It goes to Official Document Services (ODS) in Toronto, at $32 per postsecondary degree or transcript.
- Degrees from British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan go to those provinces' own authorities. Everywhere else, including the territories, goes to Global Affairs Canada, which charges no fee.
Two degrees from two provinces mean two separate submissions, two fees and two timelines. They can run in parallel, but they never travel together.
Get the document from the university first
Authorities apostille a signature they can recognize. In practice that means the document has to come from the institution itself, in a form the authority accepts.
McGill, for example, is explicit that only official documents issued by the University can be apostilled, and directs graduates to the Ministère de la Justice for the apostille itself. The same logic applies elsewhere: the registrar issues, the authority certifies.
Two things follow from this:
- Photocopies are not documents. A scan you print at home has no signature to verify. You need an original or an officially issued copy.
- Digital PDFs usually do not work. Ontario's ODS requires physical, hard copies. A secure PDF diploma is convenient for employers, and useless for an apostille.
The trap: an old diploma with a signature nobody recognizes
This is the part almost nobody anticipates. Authorities verify the signature of the issuing official, and registrars change over the years. A diploma signed in 2009 may carry a signature the authority no longer has on file.
When that happens, the direct route closes and you fall back to a notarized certified true copy, which adds a notary step, a different fee and more delay.
The fix is often simple: ask the university to reissue the diploma or issue a fresh official transcript. A recent document carries a current signature, and it moves through the authority cleanly.
Private colleges in Québec: check the status first
Québec adds a wrinkle worth knowing. A document from a public or subsidized private college recognized by the Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur goes straight to the Ministère de la Justice.
But if the college is private and non-subsidized, or not recognized, the document must be accompanied by an official certificate from a lawyer or a notary before it can be apostilled. Same country, same city, completely different path and cost. This is exactly the sort of thing we check before you pay anything.
Do not forget the transcript
Many people apostille the diploma and stop there. Then the foreign authority asks for the academic transcript too, with subjects, hours and credits, and the whole cycle starts again.
Degree recognition procedures in particular, such as Spain's homologación, normally require both the diploma and the transcript. Each is a separate document, with its own apostille and its own fee. It is far cheaper to send everything through in one pass than to discover the gap two months later.
The apostille is not the last step
An apostille certifies the signature. It does not translate anything. Most destinations that do not work in English or French will require a certified or sworn translation, and the order matters: the apostille goes on the document first, and the translation then covers the document and the apostille page.
Spain is the strictest common example: it requires a traducción jurada by a translator accredited by its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. An ordinary certified translation gets refused. Other countries are more flexible. The receiving institution sets the rule, so ask them in writing before you spend anything.
The short version
- Find out which province issued your degree. That decides the authority.
- Get an original or officially issued document from the university, on paper.
- If it is old, consider asking for a reissue so the signature is current.
- Check whether you also need the transcript.
- Confirm the translation requirement with whoever is receiving it.
We handle all of it remotely, including for graduates who have already left Canada. Send us a scan and the destination country, and the free pre-check confirms the exact routing before you commit. See the university degree and transcript guide for details, or apostille from abroad if you are outside Canada.